- Forum >
- Topic: Hebrew >
- "תודה, תהנו."
30 Comments
What's the different between תהנו and תהנה? They are both translated as "Have fun"
Is this תהנו an imperative form? And did I get it right that it has three versions, the masculine singular, the feminine singular, and the plural?
To add up – we very often use future tense instead of the imperative form to express an order.
Isn't this a version for any plural (we, you, they)? Or just for they? Also, it seems to me that Israelis sometimes use the future form instead of imperative, is this correct?
almost alway rokssolana. only a few verbs have kept their imperative form. instead we just use the equivalent future form. you were also right about the three forms, since in hebrew we use the imperative only for you: masc sg, fem sg, or plural. this form would usually be pronounced te-he-nu and not te-ha-nu in speech.
What's sg after masc? I've seen this before but searching resulted in nothing.
why te-he-nu over te-ha-nu? The conjugation table I've seen (wiktionary) says te-ha-nu. Is the difference just informal speech?
Formally it should be te-ha-nu, as the course's reader says it above, and as (I think) I say it; but it seems to me that everybody in Israel now say te-he-nu, or maybe I'm just hearing this word only from young people (waiters in restaurants, cashiers in theaters...).
From Reverso language app: conjugation section: תֵּהָנֶה/תֵּיהָנֶה , There's a lot more; these are the 2nd person, future tense (The word to the left of the forward slash shows the variation. Transliteration is theirs). Here's the chart on their website: http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-hebrew-verb-%D7%AA%D7%94%D7%A0%D7%99.html
And the same from my 2nd fav resource: https://www.pealim.com/dict/465-lehanot/
תֵּהָנוּ ~ תיהנו tehanu
Future tense, 2nd person, masculine, plural:
you m. pl. will enjoy
teyhaneh
תֵּהָנִי/תֵּיהָנִי
teyhani
תֵּהָנוּ/תֵּיהָנוּ
teyhanu
תֵּהָנוּ/תֵּיהָנוּ
teyhanu
Hello. I use nick Tehanu from Ursula le Guin book, I didn't know that I'm so hebrew before
Thanks can't have an apostrophe, unless someone's name was "thank" or "thanks." It's either for possession ('s cat) or shortening from, for example, there is = there's. Wrong = Thank's, because it can't be 'thank is'. So if you have a cat named thank; you could use the apostrophe (example: Thank's litter box needs cleaning). There's a lot of contrary information about English rules, but if you need more info I recommend: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/apostrophe/ (where they explain the rules and if there are different opinions, your options).
725
Why was "enjoy" marked wrong? Isn't the same word translated as "enjoy" in other sentences?
As dovbear57 wrote, in most verbs Hebrew speakers prefer the future form, and the imperative sounds very formal. With this particular verb, it's one step beyond: the imperative is not in any kind of use. Most native Hebrew speakers, if you ask them "what's the proper imperative of תהנו", would be puzzled for at least several seconds. Then, they will realize it must be ההנו (at least those among them that are language-minded will realize that), and then - it should be fun to see their faces, because it sounds so terribly... wrong...
Now, what would a writer or an editor who insist on proper Hebrew would do if pushed into this corner? Surely they'll just just side-step the issue by looking for another verb.
- 592
It's not a question of correct or formal Hebrew versus colloquial Hebrew. Though what you are saying about this particular verb makes sense, given its meaning. Using the future tense as an imperative has existed since Biblical times. Modern usage has simply sorted verbs into which are most suited to which kind of imperative, rather than leave you to decide at the last moment.
It's true that some verbs are still used in proper imperative, even in everyday speech. But I think formal vs. colloquial distinction is true for the other (majority of) verbs: I'd consider it wrong to see future used in an imperative sentence structure in texts that are formal, that intend to follow "proper rules".
It's usual in spoken Hebrew to use the future form as an imperative: for example תגיד לי (tell me...), nobody says "הַגֵּד לי" which is technically the imperative (I think).
