Lesson 9: Days of the Week
In Hebrew the week starts on Sunday, and most days are simply named “first day”, “second day”, and so on — so once you know the numbers, the days are easy.
The seven days
Days of the week
| יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן | yom rishon | Sunday (lit. “first day”) |
| יוֹם שֵׁנִי | yom sheni | Monday (“second day”) |
| יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי | yom shlishi | Tuesday (“third day”) |
| יוֹם רְבִיעִי | yom revi’i | Wednesday (“fourth day”) |
| יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי | yom chamishi | Thursday (“fifth day”) |
| יוֹם שִׁישִּׁי | yom shishi | Friday (“sixth day”) |
| שַׁבָּת | shabbat | Saturday (Sabbath) |
Notice that only Saturday has its own name, שַׁבָּת (shabbat) — the rest are just “day + an ordinal number”.
A short dialogue
אֵיזֶה יוֹם הַיּוֹם?
eize yom hayom?
What day is it today?
הַיּוֹם יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי.
hayom yom shlishi.
Today is Tuesday.
וּמָחָר?
u’machar?
And tomorrow?
מָחָר יוֹם רְבִיעִי.
machar yom revi’i.
Tomorrow is Wednesday.
וְשַׁבָּת? אֲנִי אוֹהֶבֶת שַׁבָּת!
ve’shabbat? ani ohevet shabbat!
And Saturday? I love Saturday!
Grammar: “which?” and the time words
To ask “which day?”, use אֵיזֶה (eize) — it means which or what kind of:
- אֵיזֶה יוֹם הַיּוֹם? eize yom hayom? — “What day is today?”
Three time words let you talk about when something happens:
- הַיּוֹם hayom — today (literally “the day”)
- מָחָר machar — tomorrow
- אֶתְמוֹל etmol — yesterday
Tip: Hebrew has no word for “is” here. הַיּוֹם יוֹם שֵׁנִי is literally “today — Monday”, and that is the full sentence “Today is Monday.”
Vocabulary
Time words
| יוֹם | yom | day |
| שָׁבוּעַ | shavua | week |
| הַיּוֹם | hayom | today |
| מָחָר | machar | tomorrow |
| אֶתְמוֹל | etmol | yesterday |
Question words
| אֵיזֶה | eize | which / what |
Verbs
| אוֹהֵב / אוֹהֶבֶת | ohev / ohevet | love, like (m. / f.) |