Lesson 24: Extended Family
You can already name your parents and siblings. Now let’s widen the circle to the whole extended family — uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents.
A big family
יֵשׁ לְךָ מִשְׁפָּחָה גְּדוֹלָה?
yesh lecha mishpacha gdola?
Do you have a big family?
כֵּן! יֵשׁ לִי שְׁנֵי דּוֹדִים וְדוֹדָה אַחַת.
ken! yesh li shnei dodim ve’doda achat.
Yes! I have two uncles and one aunt.
וּבְנֵי דּוֹדִים?
u’vnei dodim?
And cousins?
הַרְבֵּה! וְגַם סַבָּא וְסָבְתָא.
harbe! ve’gam saba ve’savta.
Many! And also a grandpa and grandma.
נֶחְמָד לִהְיוֹת בְּמִשְׁפָּחָה גְּדוֹלָה.
nechmad lihyot bemishpacha gdola.
It’s nice to be in a big family.
Grammar: relatives and “cousin”
The words come in neat male/female pairs: דּוֹד / דּוֹדָה (dod / doda, uncle / aunt), סַבָּא / סָבְתָא (saba / savta, grandpa / grandma).
“Cousin” is built as a construct: בֶּן דּוֹד (ben dod, literally “son of an uncle”) for a male cousin, and בַּת דּוֹדָה (bat doda, “daughter of an aunt”) for a female one.
Tip: סַבָּא and סָבְתָא are actually Aramaic words that became everyday Hebrew — a tiny piece of the Aramaic layer.
Vocabulary
Relatives
| דּוֹד / דּוֹדָה | dod / doda | uncle / aunt |
| בֶּן דּוֹד / בַּת דּוֹדָה | ben dod / bat doda | cousin (m. / f.) |
| סַבָּא / סָבְתָא | saba / savta | grandpa / grandma |
| נֶכֶד / נֶכְדָּה | neched / nechda | grandson / granddaughter |
Useful words
| הוֹרִים | horim | parents |
| קְרוֹבִים | krovim | relatives |