Lesson 72: Giving Advice
A good friend gives good advice. This lesson teaches the natural ways to say “you should” and “I recommend” in Hebrew.
A sleepless friend
אֲנִי לֹא יְשֵׁנָה טוֹב בַּלַּיְלָה.
ani lo yeshena tov balaila.
I don’t sleep well at night.
כְּדַאי לָךְ לֹא לִשְׁתּוֹת קָפֶה בָּעֶרֶב.
keday lach lo lishtot kafe ba’erev.
You should not drink coffee in the evening.
בֶּאֱמֶת?
be’emet?
Really?
כֵּן, וַאֲנִי מַמְלִיץ לָלֶכֶת לִישֹׁן מֻקְדָּם.
ken, va’ani mamlits lalechet lishon mukdam.
Yes, and I recommend going to bed early.
תּוֹדָה עַל הָעֵצָה.
toda al ha’etsa.
Thanks for the advice.
Grammar: “you should” and “I recommend”
The most natural “you should” is כְּדַאי לְךָ / כְּדַאי לָךְ (keday lecha / lach, “it’s worth your while”, to m. / f.) + an infinitive:
- כְּדַאי לְךָ לָנוּחַ keday lecha lanuach — “you should rest”
To recommend, use אֲנִי מַמְלִיץ / מַמְלִיצָה (ani mamlits / mamlitsa, “I recommend”, m. / f.) + an infinitive. And you’ve already met צָרִיךְ (tsarich, “should / need to”) from the doctor’s lesson — it works the same way.
Tip: To give the opposite advice (“you shouldn’t”), just add לֹא before the infinitive: כְּדַאי לְךָ לֹא לְאַחֵר — “you shouldn’t be late”.
Vocabulary
Giving advice
| עֵצָה | etsa | advice |
| כְּדַאי לְךָ | keday lecha | you should (m.) |
| לְהַמְלִיץ | lehamlits | to recommend |
| מוּטָב | mutav | better, preferable |
Useful words
| בֶּאֱמֶת | be’emet | really, truly |
| לִישֹׁן | lishon | to sleep |
| לְאַחֵר | le’acher | to be late |