Hebrew Word of the Day 4

After a long hiatus my Hebrew Word of the Day series is back!

In today's posting I will compare two words that can mean 'to telephone'.

התקשר (heetkashair)
טלפן (teelpen)

The first verb is a reflexive conjugation of the verb 'to connect', whereas the second one is a definite borrowed term from English meaning 'to telepone'.

The reflexive conjugation is used to connote an action that you do but has more bearing on you than the outside world. When 'to connect' takes a reflexive conjugation, it is taken to mean 'to connect with', or simply, 'to telephone'. This word works better in Hebrew, in my opinion, because its conjugation into past or future tense is much clearer than the borrowed term.

For example:

התקשרתי החבר שלי ביום שני
אתקשר אותך כאשר אני רוצה!
אני חושב שתתקשרו האמא שלכם כאשר השמש בא לסוף שלה

I phoned my friend on Monday.
I will phone you when I want!
I think that you will call your mother when the sun comes to its end!

That's all for today!

תודה לקראות את הבלוג שלי!

- Inkhorn