Lesson 76: When I Was Young
Reminiscing is a wonderful way to use the past tense at length. The key new tool is כְּשֶׁ־ (kshe-, “when”), which lets you anchor a memory in time.
A childhood memory
כְּשֶׁהָיִיתִי יֶלֶד, גַּרְתִּי בִּכְפָר קָטָן.
kshehayiti yeled, garti bichfar katan.
When I was a child, I lived in a small village.
כָּל קַיִץ שִׂחַקְתִּי בַּחוּץ עִם הַחֲבֵרִים.
kol kayitz sichakti bachuts im hachaverim.
Every summer I played outside with my friends.
לֹא הָיוּ לָנוּ טֶלֶפוֹנִים, אֲבָל הָיִינוּ מְאֻשָּׁרִים.
lo hayu lanu telefonim, aval hayinu me’usharim.
We didn’t have phones, but we were happy.
הַיּוֹם הַכֹּל שׁוֹנֶה.
hayom hakol shone.
Today everything is different.
Grammar: “when…”, “we were”, “we had”
To set a memory in time, use כְּשֶׁ־ (kshe-, “when”) attached to a past verb: כְּשֶׁהָיִיתִי יֶלֶד (kshehayiti yeled, “when I was a child”).
The past of “to be” is essential here:
| Who | Hebrew | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| I was | הָיִיתִי | hayiti |
| we were | הָיִינוּ | hayinu |
| they were | הָיוּ | hayu |
And “to have” in the past is “was/were to me”: הָיָה לִי (haya li, “I had”, one thing) / הָיוּ לָנוּ (hayu lanu, “we had”, many things).
Tip: For “used to”, Hebrew simply uses the plain past with a frequency phrase like כָּל קַיִץ (kol kayitz, “every summer”) — there’s no separate “used to” tense.
Vocabulary
Looking back
| יַלְדוּת | yaldut | childhood |
| כְּשֶׁ־ | kshe- | when |
| פַּעַם | pa’am | once, in the past |
| לִגְדֹּל | ligdol | to grow up |
"To be" (past)
| הָיִיתִי | hayiti | I was |
| הָיִינוּ | hayinu | we were |
Useful words
| כְּפָר | kfar | village |
| שׁוֹנֶה | shone | different |