Word
המדינה הזאת חופשית.
Meaning
This country is free.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
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Questions & Answers about המדינה הזאת חופשית.
Why is there no word for is in this sentence?
In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not written in the present tense.
So:
- המדינה הזאת חופשית = This country is free
Literally, it is closer to:
- The-country הזאת free
This is completely normal Hebrew. In the past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be, but in the present tense it is usually omitted.
For example:
- המדינה הזאת הייתה חופשית = This country was free
- המדינה הזאת תהיה חופשית = This country will be free
How do you pronounce המדינה הזאת חופשית?
A common pronunciation is:
- ha-medee-NA ha-ZOT chof-SHEET
More carefully:
- המדינה = ha-medina
- הזאת = ha-zot
- חופשית = chofshit or chof-sheet in English-style transliteration
Notes:
- ח is a throaty sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch, not like English ch in chair.
- The stress is usually on the last syllable in מדינה and חופשית, and on zot in הזאת.