Duolingo Tips and Notes at Duome - Eu

21/09/2023, 02:20 Duolingo · Tips and Notes @ duome.
eu
··········· Table of Contents ···········

Aleph-Bais 1 Friends Passover
Aleph-Bais 2 Shop Future
Aleph-Bais 3 Vacation Sick
Aleph-Bais 4 Languages Used to
Hello! Leisure Body
Home Caring Bedroom
Food 1 School Diminutive
You Furniture Passive
Me Shabbos Indef. Pronouns
Questions Party Reflexive
More Requests Cute!
Origin Numbers Religion
Need Clothes Phrases
Which University Would
Time Hanukkah Present
Trip Pets Sayings
Siblings Zoo Abbreviation
Family Park Forgive me!
Hobbies Travel Lushn Koydish
Suffix Job Work
Complain Living Wedding
Food 2 Whose Fantasy
How is it? Does! Good luck!
Mealtime Learning Chassidish
Restaurant Purim Litvish
Classroom Water Synonyms
Breakfast Forest
https://duome.eu/tips/en/yi 1/86
21/09/2023, 02:20 Duolingo · Tips and Notes @ duome.eu
Aleph-Bais 1 5 · 2021-04-19
Hello, and welcome to the Yiddish course!

There are tips and notes for the majority of the skills, please take your time to read them.
Whether you're learning Yiddish because your family used it as a secret language, or
because you're curious about what the other language Middle High German split off into
looks like, this course will help you get familiar with the Yiddish language.
Because Yiddish uses the Hebrew alphabet, the writing system is written from right to
left!.
English letters Yiddish letters

m ‫מ‬
a ‫ַא‬
n ‫ן‬
man ‫מַאן‬
The Yiddish Alphabet

The Yiddish alphabet has no capitalization, instead, there are 5 letters that, when at the
end of the word, change, just like the greek 'σ/ς'. Those letters look different when written
at the end of a word (their pronunciation does not change).
Each letter is given with the pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
and a close-matching example in English:
Please pay attention to the asterisks and ☞!

Ending
Name Letter IPA English example
form
silent, used at the beginning of a word that
Shtimer
‫א‬ - starts with a vowel (except ‫ע‬/ayin, ‫ַא‬/pasekh
Alef
alef, and ‫ָא‬/kumits alef)
Kumits ooh/uh/not (when said with a British
‫ָא‬ /u~ə~ɔ/
alef accent)
Pasekh
‫ַא‬ /ä~aː/ hop, stop
alef
Bays/ ☞ ‫ב‬ /b/, ☞/v/ boy, van

Vays
☞Vays** ☞ ‫**ֿב‬ /v/** van
Ending
Name Letter IPA English example
form
Gimel ‫ג‬ /g/ go
Daled ‫ד‬ /d/ dog
Hay ‫ה‬ /h/ hen
Vuv ‫ו‬
/ʊ~iː~i/ ,
☞
rarely /v/*
boo, in, see, ☞van
Melipm
‫***ּו‬ /ʊ~iː~i//* boo, in, see
vuv***
Zayin ‫ז‬ /z/ zoo
☞Khes ☞‫ח‬ /χ/ loch

Tes ‫ט‬ /t/ ten
Yeed ‫י‬ /j~i:~i/ yes, fin, see
Khirik
‫***ִי‬ /i/ fin
yeed***
☞Kuf ☞‫ּכ‬ /k/ cat

Khuf ‫כ‬ ‫ך‬ /χ/ loch
Lamed ‫ל‬ /l/ log
Mem ‫מ‬ ‫ם‬ /m/ man
Neein ‫נ‬ ‫ן‬ /n/ no
Samekh ‫ס‬ /s/ see
Ayin ‫ע‬ /ɛ/, /ej/ eh, hey
Pay ‫ּפ‬ /p/ pan
Fay ‫פ‬ ‫ף‬ /f/ four
Fay** ‫**ֿפ‬ ‫ף‬ /f/ four
Tsadik ‫צ‬ ‫ץ‬ /ts/ cats
Keef ‫ק‬ /k/ cat
Raysh ‫ר‬ /r/ bottle (like the Spanish R/RR)
Sheein ‫ש‬ /ʃ/ she
☞Seein ☞‫ׂש‬ /s/ sea notice the dot to the left
☞Tuf ☞‫ּת‬ /t/ tap
☞Suf ☞‫ת‬ /s/ so
*Very rarely used, in words of Semitic origin where the "v" sound is the first letter of the
word, like ‫ושּתי‬, Vashti.
**Not used in this course; used in YIVO standard spelling.

***Only used to disambiguate when located adjacent to other letters with which it could
theoretically combine (but doesn't).
☞ Only used in words of Semitic origin, like ‫חלום‬, dream.

If there are any mistakes in the IPA, let us know. There is no official IPA for the
Hungarian Yiddish dialect, which is the dialect used in this tree, so there might be
some inaccurate IPAs.
Aleph-Bais 2 2 · 2021-04-13
Letter IPA English example

‫או‬/‫אי‬ /i/ in, eerie used in the beginning of words
Aleph-Bais 3 2 · 2021-04-13
‫יי‬ /aj/~ (rarely)/ɛɪ/ Thai, (rarely) hey

‫טש‬ /t͡ ʃ/ hatch
‫זש‬ /ʒ/ garage
‫דזש‬ /d͡ ʒ/ Pajamas
‫וו‬ /v/ vote
‫ַײ‬ /aː/~/aj/ stop, Thai
Aleph-Bais 4 1 · 2021-03-03

‫יִי‬ /ji/ Yiddish
‫וי‬ /ɔj/~/oʊ/ oy vay, oh
Hello! 4 · 2021-09-03
In English, for 'negative' sentences you can use (no/not a), but in Yiddish there exists only
one option: ‫קיין‬. "She is not a boy." = "She is no boy." For both of these you would simply say
"‫ "קיין‬instead of " ‫"ַא‬. One important note for those of you who speak German: ‫( אײן‬which is
cognate with eine) does not mean "a" - it specifically means "one". So ‫ איין קַאץ‬is "one cat",
not "a cat". The indefinite article is ‫ ַא‬or ‫ַאן‬.
Home 3 · 2021-09-03
Yiddish, like German, has three grammatical genders, meaning a word can be masculine,
feminine, or neuter. Knowing the gender of the word is important, as it affects the words
around it. It can seem overwhelming trying to remember the gender of each word, but
don't worry! Here are a few tricks to help you out: - If the word ends in a schwa sound, a
vowel, or ‫ונג‬, then it is most likely feminine. - If a word ends in ‫ער‬, then it's most likely
masculine. - If the word is in the diminutive case, which indicates a smaller version of
something, then it is always neuter.
Great! Now that you've got those useful tricks, here's one way you'll use them. The definite
articles ("the") are dependent on the noun's gender. They are: ‫ דער‬for masculine (‫דער‬
‫קָאמּפיוטער‬, der kompyuter, the computer) ‫ די‬for feminine (‫די סָאפע‬, di sofe, the sofa) ‫דָאס‬
for neuter, (‫דָאס קינד‬, dus kind, the kid)
If there is a compound word, such as ‫ווַאשצימער‬, which is ‫צימער‬+‫ווַאש‬, it will almost

always take the gender of the last word.
In Yiddish, when you say "not a..." the "a" becomes negative as well, and the negative 'a' in
Yiddish is ‫קיין‬.
‫דָאס בעט איז נישט קיין הויז‬. The bed is not a house.
‫ = גַאנץ‬quite (NOT "very/so"), ‫ = זייער‬very (In Yiddish they are different!)
Food 1 1 · 2021-02-10
In Yiddish, just like in English, there are only two indefinite articles, "a" and "an." They are
used exactly like in English. Before a vowel sound, ‫ ַאן‬/ an is used. Before a consonant
sound, ‫ ַא‬/ a is used.
Examples: ‫ ַאן עּפל‬- an epl - an apple ‫ ַא בַאר‬- a bar - a pear
You 2 · 2021-09-03
Verb Conjugations
In the skills You and Me, you will learn the first person present and the second person
present conjugation. The first person present is just the base form of the verb (e.g., ‫איך‬
‫טרינק‬, I drink). The second person present conjugation is formed by adding ‫( ־סט‬e.g., ‫דו‬
‫)טרינקסט‬.
Here is a conjugation table of the verbs you'll learn in this skill:
First Person Second Person

‫איך בין‬ ‫דו ביסט‬
‫איך הָאב‬ ‫דו הָאסט‬
‫איך הײס‬ ‫דו הײסט‬
‫איך טרינק‬ ‫דו טרינקסט‬
‫איך קום‬ ‫דו קומסט‬
‫איך לויף‬ ‫דו לויפסט‬
‫איך שווים‬ ‫דו שווימסט‬
‫איך זינג‬ ‫דו זינגסט‬
‫איך מַאך‬ ‫דו מַאכסט‬
Note - the ‫ נ‬and ‫ ב‬drop away before the ‫־סט‬.*
*‫ הָאבן‬is an irregular verb
Introducing Yourself
In Yiddish, (like in French or Spanish), when you want to introduce yourself, you say "I am
called..." The verb for this is ‫הייסן‬, which means "to be called/named." So, if you want to tell
someone your name, you can say "...‫( „איך הייס‬Ikh hays..., I am called..., or My name is...)
Me 2 · 2021-09-03
Verb Conjugations
In the skills You and Me, you will learn the first person present and the second person
present conjugation. The first person present is just the base form of the verb (e.g., ‫איך‬
‫טרינק‬, I drink). The second person present conjugation is formed by adding ‫( ־סט‬e.g., ‫דו‬
‫)טרינקסט‬.
First Person Second Person
‫איך בין‬ ‫דו ביסט‬

‫איך הָאב‬ ‫דו הָאסט‬
‫איך הײס‬ ‫דו הײסט‬
‫איך טרינק‬ ‫דו טרינקסט‬
‫איך קום‬ ‫דו קומסט‬
‫איך לויף‬ ‫דו לויפסט‬
‫איך שווים‬ ‫דו שווימסט‬
‫איך זינג‬ ‫דו זינגסט‬
‫איך מַאך‬ ‫דו מַאכסט‬
Note - the ‫ נ‬and ‫ ב‬drop away before the ‫־סט‬.*
*‫ הָאבן‬is an irregular verb
The letter ‫ח‬
The letter ‫( ח‬kh) is only used in words of Semitic (e.g. Hebrew) origin.
Important vocabulary
‫וויפל‬: how much/many
‫ אויך‬: also
‫ ַא סך‬: a lot/many
‫ קיין ַאנונג‬: no idea
‫קיין סך‬: not a lot/not many
Questions 2 · 2021-04-10
Yiddish has two words for "how"! 1. When you're using "how" together with an adjective or
an adverb - How old? How high? How quickly? - you would use "‫"( „ווי‬vi"). 2. When you're
using "how" together with a verb - How can I say this? How do you know him? How should
we do this? - you would use "‫"( „ווי ַאזוי‬vi azoy").
In questions, instead of saying ‫( דו ביסט‬you are), the words are inverted and the ‫ ד‬drops
off.
‫> ביסטו‬- ‫( דו ביסט‬di bist -> bisti)
‫ ?ביסטו סענדער‬Are you Sender?
‫> הייסטו‬-‫( דו הייסט‬di hayst -> haysti)
‫ ?הייסטו מירל‬Are you Mirl?
More 1 · 2021-02-10
A quick primer on possessives: Singular - ‫ מַײן‬means "my" and ‫ דַײן‬means "your" Plural - You
add an ‫ ע‬to the singular, so the plural possessive pronouns are ‫ דַײנע‬,‫מַײנע‬.
Origin 4 · 2021-10-20
‫ווַאנען‬
If you’re asking where someone is from, instead of saying ‫״פון װּו״‬, you say “‫ „פון ווַאנען‬or
"‫( „פון ווַאנעט‬both mean the same thing, it's just a dialectal difference).
Living
There are two ways to say "to live." “‫ ”וווינען‬means to live, as in "to reside,” while “‫”לעבן‬
means to live, as in to be alive.
Coming from
If you’re saying you’re from somewhere, you would use the verb "‫„שטַאמען‬, meaning
“originate”. Think of it as saying "stem" ("I stem from Poland" ‫איך שטַאם פון ּפוילן‬.) So if
you’re asking someone where they’re from, you’d say: “‫װַאנעט שטַאמסטו‬/‫”?פון װַאנען‬
Countrymen
If you want to describe yourself as being from another country, you wouldn't use the
adjective (e.g., ‫)איך בין פרַאנצייזיש‬. You would say the equivalent of "I am a Frenchman" (i.e.,
‫)איך בין ַא פרַאנצויז‬. In English, those constructions are generally archaic; the more natural
translation is "I am French".
Yiddish actually has different words for "A Jew from xx" and "a person (usually implied non-
Jew) from xx". A Jew from France would be called a ‫ ;פרַאנצייזישער‬someone who is not
specifically Jewish would be called a ‫פרַאנצויז‬. In this course, we teach the generic term.
Standalone Possessive Pronouns
Remember the genders we learned? Here’s a situation where it’s important: If you’re using
a possessive pronoun on its own (e.g. That book is mine, vs. My book), the ending of the
pronoun changes. If the noun is masculine, you add ‫ ־ער‬to the end - ‫דער קָאמּפיוטער איז‬
‫מַײנער‬, the computer is mine. If the noun is feminine or plural, you add ‫ ־ע‬to the end - ‫די‬
‫סָאפע איז דַײנע‬, the sofa is yours. If the possessive pronoun is before the noun, it doesn't
change. ‫ דַײן סָאפע‬,‫מַײן בעט‬.
‫ צי‬and Yes/No Questions
If you start a sentence with ‫צי‬, it signals that you’re asking a Yes/No question:
‫?צי הָאסטו ַא קַאץ‬
Do you have a cat? (Yes or no?)
If ‫ צי‬is used in the middle of a sentence, it means either/or - ‫הָאסטו ַא קָאמּפיוטער צי ַא‬
‫ ?בעט‬Do you have a computer or a bed? It must be either one of those, not neither.
Need 2 · 2021-09-03
‫זוכן‬
In English, you'd say you're "looking for" something. In Yiddish, this can be done in one
word: ‫זוכן‬. You don't say ‫ זוכן פַאר‬because that is superfluous.
‫נו‬/Nu
‫ נו‬is a popular exclamation. It has many meanings, often depending on the tone of voice.
Yiddish English
‫נו‬ agree
‫נו‬ not so bad
‫!נו‬ come on!
‫נו נו‬ I've heard worse
‫!נו‬ stop that right now!
‫?נו‬ why are you telling me this?
‫נו נו נו‬... don't you dare do that...
‫נו‬... go on...
‫נו‬ get on with it
‫?נווווו‬ well, spill the beans!
‫נו‬ stop bothering me
‫נו‬ that's all
(taken from https://i.redd.it/9ci8z81ugab41.jpg)
The Passive Voice
In Yiddish, the passive voice is introduced using the pronoun ‫מען‬/‫מע‬/‫מ׳‬. Think of it as
saying "one" in English. In English, you might say "What is sold here/What does one sell
here?" to ask about a shop, but in Yiddish, you would say ‫ ?ווָאס פַארקויפט מען דָא‬What does
"one" sell here? In Yiddish, this pronoun is used VERY frequently, and sometimes it's used as
the first person plural pronoun even, such as "We're working here!" ‫!מע ַארבעט דָא‬
Whether you should use ‫ מ׳‬or ‫ מע‬or ‫ מען‬depends on where it is in the sentence. If it is…
before a verb starting with a vowel, you should use ‫מ׳‬, such as ‫ מ׳עסט‬before a verb
starting with a consonant, you should use ‫מע‬, such as ‫מע זוכט‬, one searches (we search)
After a verb, you should use ‫מען‬. “How does one eat this/How is this eaten” becomes ‫ווי ַאזוי‬
‫?עסט מען דָאס‬
Which 2 · 2021-09-03
The word 'which' in Yiddish has to match the gender of the noun that follows. If the
accompanying noun is... Masculine: Use ‫װעלכער‬. Which computer (m) is ‫װעלכער‬
‫קָאמּפיוטער‬. Feminine: Use ‫װעלכע‬. Which cat (f) is ‫װעלכע קַאץ‬. Neuter: Use ‫װעלכעס‬. Which
house (n) is ‫װעלכעס הויז‬.
The word ‫ וועלכער‬gets conjugated like an adjective. You'll learn dative in a few lessons; it's
only included here for completeness.
Nominative Accusative Dative

Masculine ‫וועלכער‬ ‫וועלכן‬ ‫וועלכן‬
Feminine ‫וועלכע‬ ‫וועלכע‬ ‫וועלכער‬
Neuter ‫וועלכעס‬ ‫וועלכעס‬ ‫וועלכן‬
We learned ‫ מַײנע‬,‫ דַײנע‬,‫ מַײנער‬,‫דַײנער‬, and now we're teaching ‫דַײנס‬/‫ מַײנס‬for neuter.
Time 2 · 2021-04-13
If you want to say something will happen in a certain amount of time (e.g. I’m coming in
three minutes), you add the word ‫ ַארום‬after the time - ‫איך קום אין דרַײ מינוט ַארום‬. Note:
even though ‫ ַארום‬means "around", this does not mean "I am coming in around there
minutes".
Even though in English you say “in three minutes”, in Yiddish you just use the singular for
minute, “‫”אין דרַײ מינוט‬. Another example is with hours - in seven hours is in the singular,
“‫”אין זיבן שעה ַארום‬.
‫ גיין‬has two meanings: to walk and to go.
Trip 2 · 2021-09-03
Going Somewhere?
If you’re talking about going to a certain place, the word you use for “to” depends on where
you’re going. If you’re going to a named geographic location, such as a country, city,
continent, etc, you would say ‫קיין‬. For example, “‫”איך פָאר קיין ליטע‬, I am traveling to
Lithuania. However, if you’re going somewhere else, such as a park, you use ‫אין‬, as in, “‫איך‬
‫”גיי אין ּפַארק‬, I’m going to the park.
‫ֿפָארן‬
‫ פָארן‬can mean to travel in a vehicle, whether it's a train, car, or bus, or whether you’re
driving or just a passenger. There is also a special verb ‫ פירן‬if you want to highlight that
you're driving.
Going home
‫ היים‬means home, but ‫ ַאהיים‬means "homewards/towards home". “I’m going home” is "‫איך‬
‫גיי ַאהיים‬/‫"ֿפָאר‬
In a language
When saying something is in a certain language (e.g. the book is in English), you use ‫אויף‬
instead of ‫אין‬. “I’m speaking in Polish” - “‫”איך רעד אויף ּפויליש‬. “This book is in Yiddish” -
“‫”דָאס בוך איז אויף יִידיש‬.
The Dative Case
Until now, we've only learned about two cases: the nominative (for the subject of a
sentence) and the accusative (for the object of a sentence). The third case in Yiddish is
called the dative. In Yiddish, it can be used in several different context, including the
indirect object and following a preposition. In the dative case, the feminine ‫ די‬becomes
‫דער‬, and the masculine ‫ דער‬and neuter ‫ דָאס‬both become ‫דעם‬. For example, ‫ די שיף‬is
feminine. When adding the preposition ‫אויף‬, it becomes ‫איך בין אויף דער שיף‬.
‫ווּוהין‬
Type of adverb Where There Here
Adverb of location (no

‫ ווּו‬where ‫דָארטן‬/‫ דָארט‬there ‫ דָא‬here
motion)
Preposition (to/from) + ‫ ווַאנען‬prep. + ‫דָארטן‬/‫ דָארט‬prep. + ‫ דַאנען‬prep. +
place where (whence) there (thence) here (hence)
Adverb of motion ‫ ווּוהין‬to where ‫ ַאהער‬to here
‫ ַאהין‬to there (thither)
(place to which) (whither) (hither)
‫צו פוס‬
‫ צו פוס‬is a set phrase, meaning "by foot".
Siblings 1 · 2021-02-10
When using a direct object in a sentence (e.g. I see the computer), we use what is called
the accusative case. The accusative case is another example of when the definite article
changes, but only for masculine nouns. Even though computer (‫ )קָאמּפיוטער‬is masculine,
the proper way to say “I see the computer” is ‫איך זע דעם קָאמּפיוטער‬. This change only
occurs for masculine nouns (with the definite article ‫)דער‬. So in the sentence “‫איך זע די‬
‫”קַאץ‬, the definite article doesn’t change, because it is feminine.
When the possessive pronoun is on its own, the ending can be affected: ‫דָאס איז מַײן‬
‫ ווּו איז דַײנס‬,‫ ווּו איז דַײנער דָאס איז מַײן בוך‬,‫ קָאמּפיוטער‬In these examples, the independent
possessive pronoun changes its ending to match the object of the sentence. So with a
masculine object, the possessive pronoun will end in ‫־ער‬.
The same is true with direct objects (accusative case), but as explained above, the
masculine ending will change to ‫־עם‬, while the feminine and neuter remain the same. ‫איך‬
‫ ָאבער איך זע נישט דַײנעם‬,‫ זע מַײן קָאמּפיוטער‬- Masculine changes ‫ ָאבער איך‬,‫איך זע מַײן בוך‬
‫ זע נישט דַײנס‬- Neuter remains the same
Accusative endings: https://prnt.sc/tz6dn9
‫ קענען‬means to be familiar with/to know something, such as a person, place, or thing. ‫איך‬
‫קען דעם מענטש‬, I know this person. ‫איך קען זי‬, I know her.
Just like in English you would say "I see him and not I see he, in Yiddish you would say ‫איך‬
‫ זע אים‬and not ‫איך זע ער‬. (Put a small chart showing the changes).
‫ ַאהער‬means "here" direction-wise, so "Come here" would be ‫קום ַאהער‬, and "there" would
be ‫גיי ַאהין‬, ‫ַאהין‬, go there.
Family 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ ליב הָאבן‬is a verb with two parts. You would conjugate the verb ‫הָאבן‬, and put ‫ ליב‬at the
end, unchanged. So, ‫איך הָאב עס ליב‬, I like it. (Lit: I have it like). Another example would be
‫איך הָאב דיך ליב‬, I love you (lit: I have you like/love).
A select amount of nouns also end in ‫ן‬- in the dative case (indirect object): ‫>זיידן‬--‫זיידע‬
‫>בָאבען‬--‫>מַאמען בָאבע‬--‫ מַאמע‬,‫>רבין‬--‫>הַארצן רבי‬--‫>טַאטן הַארץ‬--‫טַאטע‬
Hobbies 2 · 2021-09-03
‫ פונעם‬,‫אינעם‬, etc
When you use a preposition with a neuter or masculine noun, for example "In + the house"
then you would combine the preposition with the definite article to create the equivalent
of "inthe". So ‫ אין דעם הויז‬becomes ‫אינעם הויז‬. This isn't a must, like de+el in Spanish-->del,
but it is recommended to write like this.
‫>אינעם‬--‫אין דעם‬
‫>פונעם‬--‫פון דעם‬
‫>צום‬--‫צו דעם‬
‫>פַארן‬--‫פַאר דעם‬
‫>אויפן‬--‫אויף דעם‬
For masculine nouns, you generally don't need to add a definite article after "‫ „אין‬and
sometimes even for "‫„פון‬.
‫איך גיי אין דעם מוזיי‬
‫איך גיי אין מוזיי‬
‫איך גיי אינעם מוזיי‬
‫איך קום פון מוזיי‬
‫איך קום פון דעם מוזיי‬
‫איך קום פונעם מוזיי‬
These are all correct and mean the same thing; however, if you want to emphasize that you
are going to this museum, then you should use ‫דעם‬.
Suffix 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ שוין‬can mean two things: 1. Already, ‫איך בין שוין דָא‬, I am already here 2. Right now/This
instant, ‫ !קום שוין ַאהער‬Come here right now/this instant!
Complain 2 · 2021-09-03
Hot and cold
In Yiddish, we don't say "I am cold" you would say "Me (dative) is cold" (‫)מיר איז קַאלט‬, or
"It's cold for me" (‫)ס׳איז מיר קַאלט‬. The same goes for several other senses, such as "hot",
"nauseous", "uncomfortable".
Adjective conjugations
Adjectives are conjugated the same way definite articles are: for case and gender. The
neuter case also has two special subcategories: when the noun is preceded by ‫( דָאס‬e.g.,
‫ )דָאס קינד‬and when it is not (e.g., ‫ ַא קינד‬,‫)מַײן קינד‬.
Conjugation Table Neuter (with Neuter (without

Masculine Feminine Plural
for ‫גוט‬ ‫)דָאס‬ ‫)דָאס‬
Nominative ‫גוטער‬ ‫גוטע‬ ‫גוטע‬ ‫גוט‬ ‫גוטע‬

Accusative ‫גוטן‬ ‫גוטע‬ ‫גוטע‬ ‫גוט‬ ‫גוטע‬
Dative ‫גוטן‬ ‫גוטער‬ ‫גוטן‬ ‫גוטן‬ ‫גוטע‬
Food 2 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ וועלן‬means to want to, not to be confused with the English "will". ‫איך וויל עסן‬, I want to eat.
‫ נָאך נישט‬means not yet.
How is it? 2 · 2021-09-03
‫ ?ווי איך‬or ‫?פון מיר‬
They both mean the exact same thing ("than"). The only difference is that after ‫ ווי‬you must
use the nominative case and after ‫ פון‬you must use the dative case.
‫ פון‬+ dative
‫ ווי‬+ nominative
Mealtime 1 · 2021-02-10
The plural and singular for male vegetarians are the same: ,‫ איין וועגעטַאריער‬.‫וועגעטַאריער‬
‫צװיי וועגעטַאריער‬.
In Jewish culture, ‫ּכשר‬/kosher means food that follows the strict dietary standards of
traditional Jewish law, such as not mixing meat with dairy. ‫ טרייף‬means anything that isn't
‫ּכשר‬.
‫ נָאר‬can mean "only/just", and also "but/rather" in the sense of "‫ נָאר‬,‫איך עס נישט קיין טרייף‬
‫ „ּכשר‬I am not eating treif, but kosher."
Restaurant 2 · 2021-09-03
There is no/There isn't any
When saying "there isn't any" or "there is no" in Yiddish, you'd say ‫עס איז נישטָא‬, or ‫ס׳איז‬
‫נישטָא‬. For example:
‫ = עס איז נישטָא קיין פעפער‬there is no pepper
‫סּתם‬
‫ סּתם‬means "just" in the sense of "just like that", "just because" or "for no reason."
‫שבת‬
‫ שבת‬is one of the most important days of the week for Jews. It is the day of rest, when one
cannot work or many do not use any technology. There is a skill coming up teaching
important vocabulary pertaining to Shabbos.
Idiom
‫ איך מַאך נישט קיין חשבונות‬is an idiom meaning literally "I do not make any calculations".
Figuratively, it means I don't poke into someone else's business. A good example of this
can be when donating money, your friend might say "Don't donate to him/her, he/she uses
the money to buy bad things!" then you might answer "‫ ;„איך מַאך נישט קיין חשבונות‬I just
give him/her money, and let God figure out the rest. I am not here to judge/calculate their
life.
‫ אינדערפרי‬vs ‫אין דער פרי‬
‫ אינדערפרי‬is a noun, meaning 'a morning'
‫ אין דער פרי‬is an adverb, meaning in the morning.
Classroom 3 · 2021-10-20
Grades
In many Yiddish communities, grades don't go by number, but rather by alphabet.
‫ = ּכיּתה א‬First grade. ּ‫ = ּכיּתה ב‬Second grade, etc.
‫ איינס‬vs ‫?איין‬
‫ איינס‬is the noun; e.g., when counting, ‫ דרַײ‬,‫ צוויי‬,‫איינס‬, or when saying "I want one" with no
noun following it.
‫ איין‬is the adjective, i.e., when it's followed by a noun.
For comparison:
‫( איך װיל איין עּפל‬I want one apple)
vs.
‫( איך װיל איינס‬I want one)
Breakfast 2 · 2021-09-03
‫ קַאשע‬vs ‫גרַײ ּפלעך‬
‫ קַאשע‬is hot cereal, such as oatmeal or farina.
‫ גרַײ ּפלעך‬is cold cereal, such as Cheerios or Rice Krispies.
Friends 2 · 2021-09-03
Suffixes in the Dative Case for Names
Some names (usually, Jewish ones), when in the dative case (indirect object), get an ‫)ע)ן‬, so
‫ איך רעד מיט מענדלען‬and not ‫איך רעד מיט מענדל‬.
What to Call Your Parents
‫מוטער‬/‫ פָאטער‬vs ‫מַאמע‬/‫ ?טַאטע‬They mean the same thing, but ‫ פָאטער‬and ‫ מוטער‬are
much more formal. Kind of like father/dad, but ‫ טַאטע‬is not necessarily as informal as "dad".
‫ ווַײל‬vs ‫?וועגן‬
‫ ווַײל‬means because (not "while"!!), while ‫ וועגן‬means "about" or "because of".
‫איך בין פריילעך ווַײל ער העלפט מיר‬. = I am happy because he is helping me.
‫איך בין פריילעך וועגן זַײן הילף‬. = I am happy because of his help.
‫בַײ‬
‫ בַײ‬can be used to mean at (someone)'s house.
)‫ איך בין בַײ מענדלען (אין דער היים‬I am by Mendl('s house).
Some of you may be familiar with this due to Jewish American English syntax (I ate by her
house yesterday).
‫נָאך‬
‫ נָאך‬has 2 meanings, with 2 pronunciations.
‫נָאך‬, with the vowel "oo" (as in book), means "after", as in:
‫ = מיר שווימען נָאך זיי‬We are swimming after them.
‫נָאך‬, with the vowel sound "o" (as in enough), means "more", as in:
‫איך וויל נָאך איינס‬, I want one more.
Shop 1 · 2021-02-10
Good news! There is only one past tense. The same way English uses the verb "to have",
Yiddish uses ‫הָאבן‬, so "I have eaten" = ‫ איך הָאב געגעסן‬This means both, I have eaten, and I
ate.
‫ געשעפט‬means business as well as shop.
Vacation 1 · 2021-02-10
When using cardinal directions (e.g. North, West) in a sentence, you usually say the word
‫ אויף‬before. Here are some cases and examples: 1. Traveling in a direction. For example, “I
am traveling westward/to the west” is “2 ”‫איך פָאר אויף מערב‬. Comparing one area to
another. For example, “Is France to the west of Spain?” is “‫איז פרַאנקרַײך אויף מערב פון‬
‫”?שּפַאניע‬
Languages 2 · 2021-09-03
‫ סַײ ווי סַײ‬means anyway, and it's also often shortened to just ‫סַײ ווי‬.
You may notice that some verbs have prefixes. In Yiddish grammar, this is called a converb.
‫( פָארשטעלן‬to introduce) is an example of this. When conjugating these types of words, the
parts separate. Here’s an example in the present tense: She introduces me - ‫זי שטעלט מיך‬
‫ פָאר‬The main (second) part of the verb is conjugated on its own and comes right after the
subject, while the prefix gets pushed to the end. In the past tense: She introduced me - ‫זי‬
‫ הָאט מיך ֿפָארגעשטעלט‬Because it’s past tense, the verb ‫ הָאבן‬is conjugated first as usual.
The whole verb ‫ פָארשטעלן‬is pushed to the end, and the “‫ ”גע‬comes right before the main
part of the verb, while the prefix stays at the beginning.
Leisure 1 · 2021-02-10
We saw the first example of a separable verb in the previous module. There are a few more
examples in this one: ‫ ָאנקוקן‬,‫אויפשטיין‬. Remember, you conjugate the second part of the
verb, and in some case the prefix appears separate from the main part of the verb.
‫ טעלעוויזָאר‬means the actual tangible TV, while ‫ טעלעװיזיע‬is the content you watch. This
difference exists in English too, but more subtly: "I'm watching TV" versus "I'm looking at
the TV".
Caring 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ שטערן‬vs ‫ ַארן‬- Both mean “bother”, but in different contexts. ‫ שטערן‬is used in the context
of bothering someone/something, such as when I hug my cat, it bothers her, or when I
bother my brother and don't let him do his homework. ‫ ַארן‬is more like to care about
something, such as “It doesn't bother me that my cat sleeps all day,” or “It doesn't bother
my mother when I call her 500 times a day.” ‫ ָאנגיין‬is similar to ‫ַארן‬, except it's a separable
verb.
There are several ways to say you like something/someone: ‫ געפעלן‬,‫ ליב הָאבן‬,‫שמעקן‬
‫ שמעקן‬is used in the context of food. ‫ דָאס עסן שמעקט מיר נישט‬- I do not like this food.
(literally, the food doesn’t smell to me)
‫ געפעלן‬means “it pleases me” or “it’s attractive to me”. It introduces the dative case. It’s
similar to relevant words in other languages, like the Spanish 'me gusta.' ‫דָאס בענקל‬
‫ געפעלט מיר‬- This chair pleases me, or I like this chair.
‫ ליב הָאבן‬can mean to love or to like and can be used in most cases, about people or
things. ‫ איך הָאב אים ליב‬- I love him.
Similar to ‫ליב הָאבן‬, the verb for hate is ‫פַײנט הָאבן‬, and it works the same as ‫ איך‬.‫ליב הָאבן‬
‫ הָאב אים פַײנט‬I hate him.
School 1 · 2021-02-10
Numbers in the 20-90s are said "backwards". 23 would be verbalized as "three-and-twenty"

instead of the standard "twenty-three" in English. Here are some examples: ‫איין־און־צווָאנציק‬
twenty-one (Lit: one and twenty) ‫ צוויי־און־צווָאנציק‬twenty-two (lit: two and twenty)
‫ נַײן־און־דרַײסיק‬thirty-nine (lit: nine and thirty)
Furniture 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ פַאר‬has three meanings: before, for, and in front of. ‫ איך עס ַאן עּפל פַאר מיטָאג‬- I eat an
apple before lunch. ‫ איך הָאב ַאן עּפל פַאר דיר‬- I have an apple for you. ‫ איך בין פַאר ַאן עּפל‬-
I am in front of an apple.
‫=הינטער‬behind (Some Yiddish speakers don't pronounce the ‫=אונטער )ה‬under(neath)

‫=איבער‬over ‫ =צווישן‬between/among
Shabbos 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ סעודה‬is a feast - typically used to refer to a Shabbos or holiday meal.
Many people try to make the day special, either by preparing lavish meals or wearing nice
clothes to honor the day. A common saying is ‫לכבוד שבת קודש‬, meaning “in honor of the
holy Shabbos”.
Party 1 · 2021-02-10
A ‫ ׂשימחה‬is a celebration or a party, such as a birthday, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a wedding, and so

on.
Most verb in Yiddish use ‫ הָאבן‬in the past tense form (i.e. as an auxiliary verb). However, a
few verbs use ‫ זַײן‬instead. These verbs tend to have to do with motion or lack thereof. Some
examples: I went - ‫ איך בין געגַאנגען‬They slept - ‫ זיי זַײנען געשלָאפן‬We sat - ‫מיר זַײנען געזעסן‬
Requests 1 · 2021-02-10
The imperative (commands) case in Yiddish is very simple. To command a single person,
you conjugate the verb the same as the standard first person singular. ‫איך גיי ַאהיים‬, I go
home -> ‫ !גיי ַאהיים‬Go home! ‫איך עס בַאבקע‬. I eat babka -> ‫ !עס בַאבקע‬Eat babka!
To command multiple people, it's even simpler. All you have to do is remove the pronoun,
so for example ‫ איר עסט ברויט‬You (all) eat bread ‫ !עסט ברויט‬Eat bread! (all of you/formal)!
‫ איר לויפט דָא‬You run here ‫ !לויפט דָא‬Run here!
‫ נָאך ַא מָאל‬is a set phrase which means “again” (literally, once more).
‫ בעטן‬vs ‫ פרעגן‬.‫ פרעגן‬is used for asking questions, while ‫ בעטן‬is used for asking for
something (i.e. request). Just like you don’t “request for” things in English, you also wouldn’t
say that in Yiddish. For example, ‫ איך בעט געלט‬- I request money.
Use of ‫מיך‬/‫זיך‬: In Yiddish, like Spanish, French, and German, there are reflexive verbs. These
verbs often refer to actions performed on oneself, but this is not always the case. In this
course, ‫ מיך‬is used for the first person singular while ‫ זיך‬is used everywhere else*. Some
verbs exist as both standard verbs and reflexive verbs, and in these situations it’s extra
important to know which you’re using. For example: ‫ קענסטו זיך זעצן‬- can you take a seat?
‫ קענסטו זעצן‬- can you punch/strike? Alone, ‫ זעצן‬means to hit, but as a reflexive verb, it
means to sit.
*Note that in the YIVO standard, the reflexive is always ‫זיך‬.
Numbers 2 · 2021-09-03
When using ordinal numbers, the endings must match the related noun. For example: ‫איך‬
‫בין דער ערשטער‬- I am the first one (masculine) versus ‫( איך בין די ערשטע‬feminine)
In the above example, the noun is the speaker. However, this is not always the case. For
example: ‫ איך בין דער ערשטער קַא ּפיטַאן‬- I am the first captain Note that ‫ ערשטער‬will
always appear masculine in this sentence even if used by a female speaker, because the
related noun (captain) is masculine. This can get even trickier when the noun is implied
but not verbalized (e.g. in a discussion about captains, someone can just say “‫איך בין דער‬
‫)”ערשטער‬.
Ordinal numbers (usually used with the proper endings): ‫ ערשט‬- first ‫ צווייט‬- second ‫ דריט‬-
third ‫ פערט‬- fourth ‫פיפט‬/‫ פינפט‬- fifth ‫ זעקסט‬- sixth ‫ זיבעט‬- seventh ‫ ַאכט‬- eighth ‫ נַײנט‬-
ninth ‫ צענט‬- tenth
The format for dates in Yiddish is adding ‫ ־ער‬after the cardinal number. For example: ‫הַײנט‬
‫ איז דער צענטער יולי‬An exception is when the cardinal number ends in a ‫ק‬, then ‫ ־סטער‬is
added: ‫צווָאנציקסטער דרַײסיקסטער‬
Clothes 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
‫ טרָאגן‬means to carry but it also means to wear.
The plural of ‫ קלייד‬is ‫( קליידער‬dresses). Note though, that ‫ קליידער‬also just means
clothing! Another synonym for clothing to avoid confusion is ‫קליידונג‬, although it is
less widely used.
‫( הויזן‬pants) doesn’t have a singular form. You might think it’s ‫הויז‬, but that actually
means “house”!
Grammar
In Yiddish, you don't use the possessive as much as in English when talking about
body parts; meaning, you wouldn't say "I put on my jacket" but rather "I put on the
jacket." unless you want to specify that it is your jacket that you're putting on, and
not someone else's.
‫זיך ָאנטָאן‬, to get dressed, is a separable verb. You conjugate the ‫ טָאן‬part, but not ‫ָאן‬.
Example:
I am getting dressed - ‫איך טו מיך ָאן‬
If you're putting on an article of clothing then you use the accusative (direct object)
for the article of clothing along with the reflexive pronoun. As a reminder, with the
accusative case, the definite article often changes. Example:
‫ איך טו מיך ָאן דעם מַאנטל‬- I am putting on the coat
Note: The ‫ מיך‬in this sentence is indicating the reflexive nature of the verb. In this usage,
‫ מיך‬is the first-person form of ‫זיך‬. For all other pronouns, you would just use ‫זיך‬. Example:
‫דו טוסט זיך ָאן די שיך‬. You put on the/your shoes.
‫ זיך אויסטָאן‬works in the same way that ‫ זיך ָאנטָאן‬does.
Examples:
‫ ער טוט זיך אויס‬- He is getting undressed ‫ ער טוט זיך אויס דעם מַאנטל‬- He takes
off the coat
University 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
‫ ווי‬vs ‫?פון‬
Both words are used to compare and have the same meaning. Example:
‫ = איך בין עלטער ווי איר = איך בין עלטער פון אַײך‬I am older than you
(plural)
The only difference, as you can see, is that the word ‫ פון‬is a preposition in Yiddish, so it
introduces the dative case, and thus it's ‫ אַײך‬and not ‫איר‬. However, ‫ ווי‬on the other hand, is
an adverb in this case, thus after it comes the nominative case and NOT the dative case.
Grammar
Like the word ‫ליב הָאבן‬, there are hundreds of Yiddish verbs that are compound
verbs (not the same as separable verbs). Many of these compoud verbs consist of one
word or Hebrew origin and one Yiddish word (usually ‫ ווערן‬,‫ זַײן‬,‫הָאבן‬, or ‫)טָאן‬.
An example of this is ‫מסביר זַײן‬. On its own, ‫ מסביר‬does not mean anything in Yiddish, but
combined with the verb "‫„זַײן‬, it means "to explain." When using this compound verb, the ‫זַײן‬
is the part that’s conjugated. Example:
‫איך בין מסביר‬: I explain
‫דו ביסט מסביר‬: you explain
... ‫ער איז איר מסביר‬: he explains ... to her.
Hanukkah 1 · 2021-02-10
Hanukkah
The Jewish festival of Hanukkah (‫ )חנוּכה‬is a celebration of a miracle that took place during
the second century B.C.E. The miracle was two-fold: The Jews were successful in their
revolt of their Greek-Syrian oppressors (led by King Antiochus IV) and after their Second
Temple was looted, the only oil that was left burned for eight days (though it was only
enough for one), allowing them time to prepare more oil. Hanukkah is celebrated in many
ways: lighting the menorah, eating fried foods (e.g. latkes and doughnuts), and playing
dreydl (a four-sided spinning top) are a few examples.
Pets 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
‫ חיה‬vs ‫בהמה‬
Both mean “animal”. A ‫ חיה‬is any animal, while a ‫ בהמה‬usually refers to bigger animals or
cattle that are found on farms, such as cows, sheep, goats, and even camels. ‫ בהמה‬does not
include animals such as snakes.
In some dialects, ‫ בהמה‬is another term for "cow."
‫ פרעסן‬vs ‫עסן‬
Both mean “to eat”. ‫ עסן‬is the general term. ‫ פרעסן‬is used specifically to indicate gorging
on food. Humans and animals alike can ‫ פרעס‬or ‫ עס‬their food, depending on how
quickly/in what manner they are eating.
‫ָאן‬
‫ ָאן‬can mean without, but it can also mean "onward" in the sense of "From now on..." or
"Starting from now" or “from here and onward”. Example:
‫ פון יעצט ָאן‬- From now on
‫ פון דעם הויז ָאן‬- From this house and on(ward)
‫ פון הַײנט ָאן‬- Starting from today/from today on
Zoo 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ ַאנדער‬vs ‫ַאנדערש‬
These words mean “different”.
If a noun follows, then you use ‫ ַאנדער‬with the correct declensions.
Examples:
‫ דער ַאנדערער מַאנטל‬- The other coat
‫ די ַאנדערע לערערין‬- The other teacher (f.)
‫ דָאס ַאנדערע בוך‬- The other book
Declensions of ‫ַאנדער‬:
As an adverb, use ‫ַאנדערש‬. The form doesn’t change.
Examples:
‫ איך וויל עּפעס ַאנדערש‬- I want something else/different
‫ ?איז דָאס ַאנדערש ווי יענס‬- Is this different than that?
‫ ?פַארווָאס שווימסטו ַאנדערש ווי זיי‬- Why do you swim differently than them?
‫ יִידיש איז ַאנדערש פון דַײטש‬- Yiddish is different than German
‫ טו עס ַאנדערש‬- Do it differently
‫ַאן ַאנדער‬
After the word ‫ַאן‬, you say ‫ַאנדער‬, and you do not decline it (i.e. the ending doesn’t
change).
Examples:
‫ איך וויל ַאן ַאנדער‬- I want a different one
‫ איך זע ַאן ַאנדער קַאטשקע‬- I see a different duck
‫ ַאן ַאנדער קינד זָאגט דָאס‬- A different kid says this
The only exception is when the noun is implied. Examples:
‫ ?ווילסטו דעם דעסערט ָאדער ַאן ַאנדערן‬- Do you want this dessert or a different
one?
‫ נעם דעם מַארַאנץ ווַײל ער איז ַאן ַאנדערער‬- Take this orange because it’s a
different one.
‫ַאנדערע‬
‫ ַאנדערע‬can also mean “other people”. Example:
‫ נָאר איך‬,‫ ַאנדערע עסן דָאס נישט‬- Other people don't eat it, just I (do).
Park 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
‫ נעכטן‬vs ‫אייערנעכטן‬
‫ נעכטן‬- yesterday
‫ אייערנעכטן‬- the day before yesterday (‫ איינעכטן‬in some dialects)
‫ דורך‬vs ‫ ַאדורך‬These are usually used interchangeably to mean “through”. For this course,
however, we added a distinction:
‫ ַאדורך‬- shows direction
‫ דורך‬- simple definition of “through”
This is similar to ‫ ַאהין‬vs ‫דָארט‬:
‫ ַאהין‬means “to there,” while ‫ דָארט‬simply means “there.”
Travel 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ פַארלוירן גיין‬vs ‫זיך פַארבלָאנדזשען‬
Both mean “to get lost”.
‫ פַארלוירן גיין‬is more often used for objects. Example:
‫ מַײן העמד איז פַארלוירן געגַאנגען‬- My shirt went missing
‫ זיך פַארבלָאנדזשען‬is only for humans. Example:
‫ ער הָאט זיך פַארבלָאנדזשעט אין ַא נַײער שטָאט‬- He got lost in a new city
Job 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ ַאזַא‬vs ‫ַאזעלכע‬
Both words mean “such.”
For singular, use ‫ַאזַא‬. Example:
‫ איך הָאב ליב ַאזַא קַאץ‬- I like a cat like that/such a cat.
For plural, use ‫ַאזעלכע‬. Example:
‫ איך הָאב ליב ַאזעלכע קעץ‬- I like cats like that/such cats.
Living 1 · 2021-02-10
There are several ways to say floor (as in story of a building):
‫דער שטָאק‬
‫דער גָארן‬
Whose 2 · 2021-03-03
Grammar
Possessive
In Yiddish, just like in English, the genitive (possessive) case is simply done by adding ‫ ס‬to
the end of the word. Note that unlike in English, there is no apostrophe before the ‫ס‬.
Examples:
‫ דַײן מַאמעס הויז‬- Your mother’s house
‫ ?װעמענס הויז איז דָאס‬- Whose house is this?
When using the possessive for nouns, such as "The dog's bed", you would introduce the
dative case, so it would be ‫דעם הונטס בעט‬. Examples:
‫ דער שװעסטערס קַאץ‬- The sister’s cat (‫ קַאץ‬is feminine)
‫זייער‬
‫ זייער‬is the possessive third person plural. Example:
‫ דָאס איז זייער הויז‬- That is their house.
Does! 1 · 2021-02-10
Emphasis
In order to enforce positive emphasis that you do do something, you would say ‫יָא‬.
Example:
‫ דו קענסט נישט קָאכן‬- You can’t cook. ----> ‫ איך קען יָא קָאכן‬- Yes, I can cook
The opposite would be ‫נישט‬. Example:
‫ איך קען גוט טַאנצן‬- I can dance well ----> ‫ דו טַאנצט נישט גוט‬,‫ ניין‬- No, you do
not dance well
Learning 2 · 2021-03-03
‫ ָא ּפלָאזן‬vs ‫לָאזן‬
‫ ָא ּפלָאזן‬is to let go. It is a separable verb. Example:
‫ לָאז ָא ּפ מַײן הַאנט‬- Let go of my hand
‫ לָאזן‬is to let/allow. Example:
‫ לָאז מיך גיין‬- Let me go
‫ דערציילן‬vs ‫חזרן‬
‫ דערציילן‬means to tell, usually a story. Example:
‫ דערצייל אונדז ַא מעׂשה‬- Tell us a story
‫ חזרן‬means to study/review material, such as for an exam. Example:
‫ איז דַארף חזרן אויף מַײן עקזַאמען‬- I need to study/review for my exam
‫לָאז מיר = לָאמיר‬
‫ לָאמיר‬is a contraction of ‫לָאז מיר‬. It functions just like “let's” in English.
Purim 1 · 2021-02-10
The Jewish Calendar and Purim
Unlike the solar Gregorian calendar, the Jewish calendar, known in Yiddish as the ‫לוח‬, is
lunisolar (months are dependent on the moon, years are based on the sun). The ‫ לוח‬also
has twelve months, but with distinct names. For example, the month during which we
celebrate the festival of Purim, is called ‫( אדר‬usually around February/March). A unique
feature of the ‫ לוח‬is that a leap month is added every few years.
Purim is a celebration of when the Jewish people were saved from Haman, an official in
the Persian Empire, who was planning on killing them. Two important individuals who led
to the positive outcome are Queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai. The story and events
are recounted in the Book of Esther. Purim is a one-day celebration, during which children
dress up in costume, the Book of Esther is read, gifts of food are exchanged, and charity is
given.
Water 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
Heavy rain
There are several ways to say it’s pouring or it’s raining cats and dogs:
‫סע גייט ַא שלַאקסרעגן‬
‫סע גייט ַא מבול‬
‫ס׳מבולט‬
A ‫ מבול‬is a very heavy downpour, most famously the one from Noah's Ark.
Just like in English, you can also say: ‫ס׳גיסט‬/‫ סע גיסט‬- literally, it's pouring,
when referring to heavy rain.
Laundry
‫ וועש‬- laundry
‫ די שמוציקע װעש‬- dirty laundry
‫ די ריינע װעש‬- clean (i.e. washed) laundry
Instead of doing laundry, in Yiddish we wash laundry. Example:
‫ װען װעסטו װַאשן די װעש? איך הָאב צו פיל שמוציקע װעש‬- When will you do (wash) the
laundry? I have too much dirty laundry
Although „‫ „איבערגיין‬has "‫ „איבער‬in it, you still use the accusative for the direct object.
Forest 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
Scare
‫ דערשרעקן‬- to scare
‫ זיך דערשרעקן‬- to get scared
‫ ָא ּפשרעקן‬- to scare off
Passover 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ּפסח‬
The Story
Passover is an eight-day (seven-day, in Israel) holiday celebrated in the Jewish month of

‫( ניסן‬usually April/May) that commemorates the miracle of God bringing the Jewish people
out of slavery from Egypt. In commemoration of the story that their dough didn’t have time
to rise as they rushed to leave Egypt, we eat ‫( מצה‬unleavened bread) but don’t eat ‫חמץ‬
(leaven) during the entire holiday. In preparation of the holiday, we clean our houses to
ensure no ‫ חמץ‬is found.
‫ּפסח סדר‬
The iconic part of the Passover celebration is the ‫סדר‬, a multi-part ritual feast that
includes the retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, guided by the text of the
‫הגדה‬.
Two highlights from the ‫ּפסח סדר‬:
Throughout the ‫סדר‬, we drink four cups of wine. We also leave a cup for ‫אליהו הנביא‬
in the hope that he will come to announce the arrival of ‫( משיח‬Messiah).
The leader of the ‫ סדר‬hides part of the main ‫מצה‬, called the ‫אפיקומן‬. Traditionally,
the children search for it, and once it’s found, it’s eaten as the “dessert” - the final
food of the ‫סדר‬.
‫חול המועד‬
The ‫ סדר‬happens on the first night of Passover (and on the second night, outside of Israel).
The beginning and end of Passover are celebrated similar to Shabbos, in that no work is
allowed. The middle days, called ‫חול המועד‬, have looser restrictions - some people have
traditions to do less work, but others treat it like a standard day (minus the eating of ‫)חמץ‬.
Future 1 · 2021-02-10
Grammar
Future
In Yiddish, the future tense is formed with the verb ‫( וועלן‬not to be confused with the
infinitive for the verb “to want”=‫)וועלן‬.
Examples:
‫ איך װעל עסן רַײז‬- I will eat rice
‫ מיר וועלן וועלן קויפן עּפל‬- We will want to buy apples
‫ איך וועל מיך לערנען איטַאליעניש‬- I will learn Italian
‫ ווָאס װעט ער טָאן‬- What will he do?
Sick 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
It hurts
‫ וויי טָאן‬- to hurt
‫ זיך וויי טָאן‬- to hurt (your/one)self
When referring to a body part that hurts, you say "the X hurt me" instead of "my X hurts me."
Examples:
‫ דער קָא ּפ טוט מיר וויי‬- My head hurts
‫ די הענט טוען איר וויי‬- Her hands hurt
‫ דָאס אויער טוט אים וויי‬- His ear hurts/is hurting
Used to 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
‫פלעגן‬
‫ פלעגן‬is an auxiliary verb meaning "used to," that must be conjugated. Example:
‫ איך פלעג עסן קארטָאפל‬- I used to eat potatoes
‫ דו פלעגסט לויפן גיך‬- You used to run fast
‫זיך צוגעווויינען‬
‫ זיך צוגעווויינען‬- to get used to
Example:
‫ דו דַארפסט זיך צוגעװוינען צו מַײן קַאץ‬- You need to get used to my cat
‫ ַארַײן‬vs ‫אין‬
‫ אין‬- in
‫ ַארַײן‬- into
Examples:
‫ איך בין אין שול‬- I am in/at school
‫ איך בין ַארַײן אינעם געשעפט‬- I went into the store
Everyone
in the nominative: ‫יעדער איינער‬/‫ַאיעדער‬
in the accusative/dative: ‫יעדן איינעם‬/‫ַאיעדן‬
Examples:
‫ יעדער איינער איז װיכטיק‬- Everyone is important
‫ איך העלף יעדן איינעם‬- I help everyone
‫ ַאיעדער‬and ‫ יעדער איינער‬are synonymous, and the same is true for ‫ ַאיעדן‬and ‫יעדן איינעם‬.
Another way to say “everyone” is ‫ַאלע‬, all. Like in English, all words meaning “everyone” are
considered third person singular, so it conjugates the same as "he/she".
‫ געשעט‬vs ‫געשען‬
‫ געשעט‬- Happening in the present tense
‫ געשען‬- Happening in the past tense
Examples:
‫ װָאס געשעט‬- What is happening?
‫ װָאס איז געשען‬- What happened?
Body 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
‫שטערן‬
The word ‫ שטערן‬has several meanings:
‫( שטערן‬verb) - to annoy/bother
‫( שטערן‬noun) - star/stars
‫( שטערן‬noun) - forehead
‫קישקע‬
‫ קישקע‬means intestines, but it also refers to a Shabbos delicacy cooked in cholent

(traditional Ashkenazi stew). This delicacy used to be encased in intestines, hence the
name.
‫הָאר‬
The word for hair, ‫הָאר‬, is always plural in Yiddish.
Bedroom 1 · 2021-02-10
Vocab
‫ קָאלדרע‬vs ‫קָאץ‬
Both words mean blanket. A ‫ קָאץ‬is usually a thinner blanket, but in some dialects, the two
words are completely interchangeable.
Just for show
You know the set of dishes your parents proudly display but never end up using? There’s an
expression in Yiddish that describes items that are just for show, or just used as a
decoration:
"‫ „סּתם פַאר שיינקייט‬or "‫( „נָאר פַאר שיינקייט‬lit. just for beauty)
Diminutive 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ טַאטי מַאמי זיידי‬and ‫ בָאבי‬are all used when talking to ones own parents, like
mommy/mom/mama, daddy/dad/papa, grandpa/pawpaw, grandma/nana/mawmaw etc
Most diminutives are formed by adding ‫ ל‬to the end of the word. There are some vowel
changes when forming the diminutive case. This isn't always true though.
https://prnt.sc/u17hpc Essentially all words in the diminutive case are neuter, and the
plural is usually -‫לעך‬. example: (‫ די חזירלעך‬,‫ דָאס חזירל‬,‫ די חזירים‬,‫) דער חזיר‬. When talking
about children's body parts usually the diminutive case is used. It not only shows more
affection but can also make the object sound smaller and daintier, like ‫ ביכל‬sounds like
booklet rather than a book, or ‫ שיפל‬is like a boat rather than a ship, ‫שיף‬.
NOT ALL WORDS CAN BE MADE DIMINUTIVE
Many names can also be made diminutive by adding ‫>דודל‬--‫ דוד‬.‫ל‬, David.
Some exceptions to this include ‫קינדער‬, which is plural and can get the diminutive ending
‫ קינדערלעך‬meaning kids, but nobody would say ‫ קינדל‬for a small child. ‫יונגערמַאנטשיק‬
means a small child, it's an endearing term, kind of like saying "Squirt" in English.
Passive 1 · 2021-02-10
You've previously learned that the passive can be formed using the pronoun ‫ מע קען דָא‬,‫מע‬
‫קויפן ווַײן‬-wine can be bought here However, not always can ‫ מען‬be used, for example when
using a pronoun: ‫זי ווערט שענער און שענער‬. She becomes more and more beautiful. ‫ער‬
‫ווערט מָארגן געבוירן‬-he will be born tomorrow.
‫דָאס ווערט געטוישט יעדן טָאג‬-this gets changed every day. ‫מע טוישט דָאס יעדן טָאג‬- This
gets changed every day the difference here is that when using ‫ מע‬in this case, it gives it a
'human' sense, so, when saying ‫ דָאס ווערט געטוישט‬it means it gets changed, whether on
its own, or through human help, but when saying ‫מע טוישט דָאס יעדן טָאג‬, it means that
there is a person, or many people changing the thing every day.
Prepositions can sometimes be combined with the definite pronoun: ‫>דערמיט צו‬--‫מיט דעם‬
--‫>דעריבער וועגן דעם‬--‫>דערווַײל איבער דעם‬--‫>דערפַאר ווַײל דעם‬--‫>דערצו פַאר דעם‬--‫דעם‬
‫>דערנָאך‬--‫ >דערוועגן נָאך דעם‬Some get a new meaning, while others mean the exact same
thing. ‫ דערפַאר‬can mean "therefore", or "for it". ‫ דערווַײל‬means "in the meantime" ‫דעריבער‬
can mean over it, such as I am stepping over it, or "consequently/hence". ‫ הַאלטן‬can mean
"Observe" as in "observe a holiday" or to physically hold. ‫ הַאלטן וועגן‬means to have an
opinion about, ‫ווָאס הַאלטסטו וועגן אים‬-what do you think of him/What is your opinion on
him?
Indef. Pronouns 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ געבן ַא‬means to do an action but in a momental aspect, such as in the English "have a
look" or "give a kiss" rather than "kiss" or "look". ‫גיב ַא קוק‬-have a look ‫גיב ַא שרַײב‬-write
quickly, and shortly. ‫ !גיב ַא זוך שנעל‬go search quickly/shortly.
‫ ערגעץ‬vs ‫ ערגעץ ווּו ערגעץ‬means someplace, but with knowledge where the place is. ‫ערגעץ‬
‫ ווּו‬is somewhere, but without the knowledge where.
‫ ַאבי‬means at least, ‫ ַאבי ביסט געקומען‬at least you came ‫ ַאבי געזונט‬at least health (at least
you're healthy), but, this is used rather sarcastically meaning to do something without any
desire/will and do it sloppily. ‫ !ער טוט דעם ּפרָאיעקט ַאבי געזונט‬He is doing the project
sloppily/just to get it over with/without any care and dedication. ‫ ַאבי‬can also mean just
about in the sense of He isn't just about anyone! He is the president! !‫ער איז נישט ַאבי ווער‬
‫!ער איז דער ּפרעזידענט‬
‫ נישט טָארן‬means to not be allowed to
Reflexive 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ זָאלן‬is an auxiliary verb meaning ought to, should, or shall, it needs to be conjugated. ‫ער‬
‫זָאל ַאהיים קומען‬-he should/shall come home.
(‫ זיך נעמען (ווערב‬means to start (verb) rather suddenly and quickly. ‫ער נעמט זיך שרַײבן‬. He
is starting to write (present progressive, not habitually). ‫ווען כ׳הָאב אים דָאס געזָאגט הָאט‬
‫ער זיך גענומען וויינען‬, when I told him that, he started to cry.
‫ זיך פילן‬is not exactly the same as in English. It specifically is talking about emotionally or
healthwise, and not to feel something physically with your bodyparts/hand.
(‫ עס דַאכט זיך (דַאטיוו‬means to believe/think, or to seem to someone.. or methinks.
‫ עקשנען‬means to be stubborn about something and not budge/change your mind.
Cute! 1 · 2021-02-10
You've learned the diminutive, now imagine a way to make words even smaller and
possibly more affectionate sounding. Well, Yiddish has what is called a second-degree of
diminutive, or the iminutive case. This case works very similarly to the diminutive case a
few lessons back. In order to make something in the iminutive case, there usually is the
same vowel changes as seen in the diminutive cases, such as ‫>דָאס הַײזל‬--‫דָאס הויז‬, or ‫דער‬
‫>דָאס פישל‬--‫פיש‬
In order to form the iminutive case, you must add an ‫ ע‬before and after the ‫ל‬. For example,
‫>דָאס קעּפעלע‬--‫>דָאס קעּפל‬--‫ דער קָא ּפ‬.‫>דָאס פישעלע‬--‫>דָאס פישל‬--‫דער פיש‬. This is usually
used to describe things that belong to babies, whether it's their foot (‫ )פיסעלע‬or their
shoes (‫)שיכעלע‬.
‫ מַא‬and ‫ טַא‬are like ma and pa in English when referring to your parents. ‫ מַאמעלע‬and
‫טַאטעלע‬, although they sound like little tiny cute fathers and mothers, it really is not used
in that context. When calling a little kid ‫ טַאטעלע‬or ‫מַאמעלע‬, depending on his or her
gender, it's kind of like saying sweetie or darling.
‫ קליינטשיק‬is one of the other really irregular (d)iminutives.
Religion 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ בטחון‬does not mean faith as in religion or belief. It just means faith in the context of
having faith in someone or something. ‫ צדיק‬and ‫ צדיקת‬are basically very holy, spiritual
people, like a Rabbi, but more righteous and holy. They are very important figures in
Judaism. Not to be confused with ‫ צדקה‬which just means charity. Where Jews live, it is
common to find Jews knocking on people's door to collect money for charity for an
organization, school, etc.
While ‫ צניות‬means modest in terms of clothing, it's mostly referring to the rules of dressing
for females, such as wearing clothing that covers the collar bone, knees, and elbows. If
something aligns by these rules, then the woman is ‫צניות‬. The article of clothing is
‫צניותדיק‬.
Phrases 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ שעּפן נחת‬means to get second-hand pleasure from someone you love. For example if your
son receives an award, you will get pleasure or feel pride from him getting the award
because he is your son and all. ‫ שעּפן‬means to scoop and ‫ נחת‬is the second-hand pleasure
itself.
A ‫ משוגעת‬means a craze someone has or does, kind of like a weird quirk or weird
shenanigan they like to do. For example, a ‫ משוגעת‬can be that when someone eats, they
need to listen to music. Another ‫ משוגעת‬can be that when they sleep, they like sleeping
with 2 blankets. Or when getting your nails painted, you ask the nail technician if they
speak another language and if they don't you recommend duolingo to them.
While ‫ חלשן‬means to faint, it's kind of used in the same way "to die" in English is used. Like
"I am dying to see him!" ‫!איך חלש אים צו זען‬
‫ יענטע‬is a (usually) old lady who loves to talk gossip and knows everything about everyone.
‫זיצפלייש‬, or "sit-meat" means your perseverance in staying still. When you have ADHD you
have no ‫זיצפלייש‬.
‫ ממש‬is used nearly in the same way as "literally" is, but not the literal definition of
"literally". I am literally not going! ‫ !איך ממש גיי נישט‬It also means "really" or
"exactly/specifically". ‫ !ס׳איז געווען ממש דער אויטָא‬It was exactly/precisely this car!
‫ בַאשערט‬if something is supposed to happen it will happen because it is ‫בַאשערט‬, it's
meant to be/happen. ‫ס׳איז בַאשערט ַאז כ׳הָאב אים נישט געזען‬. It is meant to be that I did
not see him.
‫ קיין עין הרע‬is used like "knock on wood".
Would 1 · 2021-02-10
When using the verb ‫ווָאלט‬, the past tense follows (in some dialects the infinitive follows)
‫אויב זי ווָאלט מיך געקענט‬...if she knew me... ‫=איך ווָאלט געגַאנגען‬I would go.
Sometimes the words ‫ ווען‬,‫ ַאז‬,‫ אויב‬and ‫ צי‬work in the same way to mean "if" when giving a
hypothetical situation. ‫ווען איך ווָאלט געווען רַײך‬...If I were rich...
Present 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ כַא ּפן‬means both to catch and to understand. ‫ ?כַא ּפסטו ווָאס איך זָאג‬Do you understand
what I am saying? ‫ !כַא ּפ דעם בַאלעם‬catch the ball!
‫ הַאלטן‬means to have an opinion about something, ‫איך הַאלט ַאז ער איז נישט ַא גוטער מַאן‬- I
think that he is not a good guy,
or to observe a holiday. ‫ ?הַאלטסטו שבת‬Do you observe the Sabbath/Shabbos?
‫ הַאלטן אין איין‬.. means to keep on... ‫זיי הַאלטן אין איין טעלעפָאנירן‬-they keep on calling
‫ מעגסט‬used in an imperative way can be like ‫ !מעגסט זיך שעמען‬May you be ashamed of
yourself!
Sayings 2 · 2021-10-20
‫ געזונטערהייט‬means 'healthily'', but it can be used in a way meaning "by all means" or "go
ahead" and "be my guest". ‫ טשיק טשַאק‬is a sound meaning 'chop-chop,' like rushing
someone. You already leaned ‫ חוצּפה‬now you learn the person who is doing the ‫ חוצּפה‬is a
‫מחוצף‬, or an insolent, disrespectful person
A ‫ נעבעך‬is an unfortunate, sad person. It can also just be used for an unfortunate or sad
situation, such as ‫ זַײנע שיך זענען צעריסן‬,‫נעבעך‬. Poor guy, his shoes are ripped.
Abbreviation 1 · 2021-02-10
In Yiddish, abbreviations are usually done with an apostrophe or a double apostrophe, or

gershayim (‫)״‬, depending on the word. Do not confuse the gershayim with a quotation
mark (‫ ״‬vs “). In English, abbreviations can be done by just shortening the word and adding
a period after the abbreviation, this does not always work in Yiddish.
Miss Smith-->Ms. Smith ‫>פר׳ שמיד‬--‫פרוי שמיד‬.
Doctor Smith-->Dr. Smith ‫>ד״ר שמיד‬--‫דָאקטער שמיד‬.
Some abbreviations do have periods in Yiddish. ‫וו‬.‫אז‬.‫א‬/‫וו‬.‫ז‬.‫א‬.‫>א‬--‫אַאז״וו‬
Forgive me! 1 · 2021-03-27
Yiddish has inherited many words from ancient Hebrew, these are collectively called
"lushn-koydesh" or "loshn koydesh" words (lushn-koydesh meaning "the holy tongue").
Spelling
These words are traditionally written the way they are in Hebrew, which doesn't follow
Yiddish spelling rules.
1. ‫ ב‬can also represent the sound _V_;
2. vowels are rarely spelled out;
3. the vowel ‫ ו‬can represent either an U_, or an _OY (OY in closed lushn-koydesh
syllables usually becomes _O_, so while a merchant is a soykher, the plural form is
sokhrim).
Verb conjugation
The way verbs of lushn-koydesh-origin are formed can be a bit confusing at first, but once
you get the hang of it it's really very simple.
Very few verbs blended completely into Yiddish and conjugate the way Yiddish verbs do.
Examples are ‫ הרגענען‬,‫גנבענען‬.
Most verbs however, are just said in their infinitive form along with an auxiliary verb which
conjugates for past present future, first second or third person. This auxiliary is in addition
to the auxiliary used to form the past tense.
So as an example we have the verb "to succeed". The infinitive ‫( מצליח‬matzliyekh) is used
along with the auxiliary ‫זַײן‬. So "I succeeded" - "‫"איך הָאב מצליח געווען‬, "I will succeed" - "‫איך‬
‫"וועל מצליח זַײן‬.
Lushn Koydish 1 · 2021-02-10
Yiddish has inherited many words from ancient Hebrew, these are collectively called
"lushn-koydesh" or "loshn koydesh" words (lushn-koydesh meaning "the holy tongue").
Spelling
These words are traditionally written the way they are in Hebrew, which doesn't follow
Yiddish spelling rules.
1. ‫ ב‬can also represent the sound _V_;
2. vowels are rarely spelled out;
3. the vowel ‫ ו‬can represent either an U_, or an _OY (OY in closed lushn-koydesh
syllables usually becomes _O_, so while a merchant is a soykher, the plural form is
sokhrim).
Verb conjugation
The way verbs of lushn-koydesh-origin are formed can be a bit confusing at first, but once
you get the hang of it it's really very simple.
Very few verbs blended completely into Yiddish and conjugate the way Yiddish verbs do.
Examples are ‫ הרגענען‬,‫גנבענען‬.
Most verbs however, are just said in their infinitive form along with an auxiliary verb which
conjugates for past present future, first second or third person. This auxiliary is in addition
to the auxiliary used to form the past tense.
So as an example we have the verb "to succeed". The infinitive ‫( מצליח‬matzliyekh) is used
along with the auxiliary ‫זַײן‬. So "I succeeded" - "‫"איך הָאב מצליח געווען‬, "I will succeed" - "‫איך‬
‫"וועל מצליח זַײן‬.
Work 1 · 2021-02-10
‫ ּפָאליציי‬is the police in general, as a police force. ‫ ּפָאליציסט‬or ‫ ּפָאליציַאנט‬means the police
officer
Wedding 1 · 2021-02-10
In Yiddish, there are many in-law terminologies. ‫ שוויגער‬- mother-in-law ‫ שווער‬- father-in-
law ‫ שוועגערין‬- sister in law ‫ שווָאגער‬- brother-in-law ‫ שנור‬- daughter-in-law ‫ איידעם‬- son-
in-law ‫ מחוּתן‬- the son or daughter's father-in-law. ‫ מחוּתנתטע‬- the son or daughter's
mother-in-law. ‫ מחוּתנים‬- the son or daughter's parents-in-law.
‫ שדכן‬is the person who finds you a match; a matchmaker In Jewish weddings, the bride
and groom officially get married under a canopy called a ‫חוּפה‬, or a Chuppah. The marriage
contract is called a ‫ּכתובה‬.
‫ שבע־ברכות‬is seven days after the wedding where people invite the newly married couple
to eat by them and people celebrate it.*double check this
Fantasy 1 · 2021-02-10
In Yiddish, to say "Once upon a time" we say "‫ ַא מָאל‬...„ so "Once upon a time, there was a
princess who...„ „‫ַא מָאל איז געווען ַא ּפרינצעסין ווָאס‬..."
A remnant of archaic grammar remains in the phrase "‫ „אין דער לופטן‬meaning "in the air"
and not "in the airs."
Good luck! 1 · 2021-04-13
Verbs like ‫ מסביר זַײן‬,‫ מחליט זַײן‬,‫מצליח זַײן‬, ‫ הנאה הָאבן‬are called periphrastic verbs in
Yiddish. The auxiliary verbs ‫ הָאבן‬and ‫ זַײן‬are conjugated just as they would be with regular
verbs; however, whether they take ‫ זַײן‬or ‫ הָאבן‬in the present/future, they all take ‫ הָאבן‬in
the past tense. For example: ‫ איך הָאב הנאה געהַאט‬.‫ איך הָאב הנאה‬.‫איך וועל הנאה הָאבן‬.
‫ איך הָאב מסביר געווען‬.‫ איך בין מסביר‬.‫איך וועל מסביר זַײן‬.
Chassidish 1 · 2021-02-10
The dialect spoken by Chassidim is the most spoken dialect in today's day. The dialect is
heavily based on that of Central Yiddish (or Polish-Hungarian Yiddish).
Spelling
Although not taught in the course, Chassidish spelling is varied. Since Chassidim tend to be
unaware of the standardization of Yiddish spelling, they spell words however they sound to
them; this means you might see ‫ דו‬spelled as ‫די‬, or ‫ און‬as ‫אין‬.
As seen in the Litvish skill, the silent alef in the middle of the word is usually used to avoid
confusion. "Thus ‫ ווּו‬will be spelled ‫וואו‬, and ‫ רוִיק‬will be spelled ‫רואיק‬, etc".
Vocabulary
Many Chassidim use English words for technical terms, such as medical terminology. In this
course, however, we tried to remain true to the Yiddish language, so we did not teach any
anglicized vocabulary. There are major differences between YIVO and Chassidish Yiddish.
Here are some of them:
1. The use of an additional pronoun for the familiar second-person plural, or "you
all/you guys" in English.
‫( עטס‬nominative)
‫( ענק‬accusative/dative)
‫( ענקער‬possessive)
2. The lack of genders. ‫די‬/‫דָאס‬/‫ דער‬formed into just ‫די‬. Some gender of words did,
however, stay in set phrases, such as "‫ „ַא גוטן טָאג‬and "‫„גוטע נַאכט‬.
3. Although all definite pronouns changed from ‫די‬/‫דָאס‬/‫ דער‬to just ‫די‬, two new definite
pronouns appeared: ‫ דעיע‬,‫דעיס‬.
‫ דעיס‬meaning "this", and "‫ "דעיע‬meaning "This (noun)" or "this one."
Litvish 1 · 2021-02-10
Congratulations! You have almost reached the end of the course. Now it's time to dive into
some dialectal variety.
The Litvish (Lithuanian) dialect was never spoken by the majority of Yiddish speakers, but
it always had a special prestige and influence.
Once spoken throughout Lithuania and Belarus, it survives today as the vernacular of
Chabad Jews.
In this skill, we will be focusing mostly on the Litvish pronunciation, and less on the
peculiarities of the Litvish grammar and vocabulary.
Pronunciation
In the Litvish dialect, most vowel marks represent one sound only. There are no long
vowels in Litvish. So:
1. the vowel ‫ ָא‬is always pronounced _O_ (American English hut, British English hot);
2. the vowel ‫( ו‬as in ‫ )דו‬is pronounced _U_ (like English tooth);
3. the vowel ‫ יי‬is pronounced EY (like English break);
4. the vowel ‫ ַײ‬is always pronounced AY (like English light);
5. the vowel ‫ ע‬is always pronounced _E_ (like English let);
6. vowels ‫ ַא‬and ‫ י‬are pronounced like in all other dialects, but they are always short.
The only exception is the vowel ‫וי‬, which is sometimes pronounced EY and sometimes UY.
Spelling
As the Litvish dialect is mostly consistent with its pronunciation, the spelling is largely the
same as the standard language.
One important difference of spelling, which is used in other dialects as well, is the use of
the silent alef in the middle of the word to avoid confusion. Thus ‫ ווּו‬will be spelled ‫וואו‬,
and ‫ רוִיק‬will be spelled ‫רואיק‬, etc.
Vocabulary
For the most part, we haven't added much Litvish specific vocabulary, but there are a few
words that are written/said differently:
1. ‫ זענען‬in Litvish would be ‫;זַײנען‬
2. ‫ נישט‬in Litvish is (for the most part) ‫;ניט‬

3. ‫ אים‬in Litvish is ‫עם‬.
One thing that characterizes the Belarusian subdialect of Litvish, is the large number of
Russian borrowings. We have added some of those in the final lesson of this skill.
Synonyms 1 · 2021-02-10
This skill is meant to teach you how to say the same word in more than one way. Some of
them are used more in certain dialects vs other ones, and some might just be a big
spelling change.
80 skills with tips and notes
0.017

Duolingo Tips and Notes at Duome - Eu

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Duolingo Tips and Notes at Duome - Eu

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

21/09/2023, 02:20 Duolingo · Tips and Notes @ duome.

··········· Table of Contents ···········

Hello, and welcome to the Yiddish course!

English letters Yiddish letters

The Yiddish Alphabet

Please pay attention to the asterisks and ☞!

Bays/ ☞ ‫ב‬ /b/, ☞/v/ boy, van

☞Vays** ☞ ‫**ֿב‬ /v/** van

☞Khes ☞‫ח‬ /χ/ loch

☞Kuf ☞‫ּכ‬ /k/ cat

☞Seein ☞‫ׂש‬ /s/ sea notice the dot to the left

☞Tuf ☞‫ּת‬ /t/ tap

☞Suf ☞‫ת‬ /s/ so

**Not used in this course; used in YIVO standard spelling.

☞ Only used in words of Semitic origin, like ‫חלום‬, dream.

Letter IPA English example

Letter IPA English example

‫יי‬ /aj/~ (rarely)/ɛɪ/ Thai, (rarely) hey

Letter IPA English example

If there is a compound word, such as ‫ווַאשצימער‬, which is ‫צימער‬+‫ווַאש‬, it will almost

‫ = גַאנץ‬quite (NOT "very/so"), ‫ = זייער‬very (In Yiddish they are different!)

Examples: ‫ ַאן עּפל‬- an epl - an apple ‫ ַא בַאר‬- a bar - a pear

Here is a conjugation table of the verbs you'll learn in this skill:

First Person Second Person

Note - the ‫ נ‬and ‫ ב‬drop away before the ‫־סט‬.*

*‫ הָאבן‬is an irregular verb

First Person Second Person

‫איך בין‬ ‫דו ביסט‬

Note - the ‫ נ‬and ‫ ב‬drop away before the ‫־סט‬.*

*‫ הָאבן‬is an irregular verb

The letter ‫ח‬

‫וויפל‬: how much/many

‫ קיין ַאנונג‬: no idea

‫קיין סך‬: not a lot/not many

‫> ביסטו‬- ‫( דו ביסט‬di bist -> bisti)

‫ ?ביסטו סענדער‬Are you Sender?

‫> הייסטו‬-‫( דו הייסט‬di hayst -> haysti)

‫ ?הייסטו מירל‬Are you Mirl?

Standalone Possessive Pronouns

‫ צי‬and Yes/No Questions

‫?צי הָאסטו ַא קַאץ‬

Do you have a cat? (Yes or no?)

(taken from https://i.redd.it/9ci8z81ugab41.jpg)

The Passive Voice

Nominative Accusative Dative

‫ גיין‬has two meanings: to walk and to go.

The Dative Case

Type of adverb Where There Here

Adverb of location (no

‫ צו פוס‬is a set phrase, meaning "by foot".

Accusative endings: https://prnt.sc/tz6dn9

‫איך גיי אין דעם מוזיי‬

‫איך גיי אין מוזיי‬

‫איך גיי אינעם מוזיי‬

‫איך קום פון מוזיי‬

‫איך קום פון דעם מוזיי‬

‫איך קום פונעם מוזיי‬

Hot and cold

Conjugation Table Neuter (with Neuter (without

Nominative ‫גוטער‬ ‫גוטע‬ ‫גוטע‬ ‫גוט‬ ‫גוטע‬

‫ נָאך נישט‬means not yet.

How is it? 2 · 2021-09-03

‫ ?ווי איך‬or ‫?פון מיר‬

☞Vays ☞ ‫ֿב‬ /v/** van