Questions & Answers about אני רוצה להכיר את המדינה הזאת טוב יותר.
What does להכיר mean here? Is it know, meet, or get to know?
Here, להכיר means to get to know or to become familiar with.
With people, places, cities, and countries, Hebrew usually uses להכיר for the idea of being acquainted or becoming familiar with something.
- להכיר אדם = to know / get to know a person
- להכיר עיר = to know / get to know a city
- להכיר מדינה = to know / get to know a country
With people, להכיר can also mean to meet in the sense of first getting acquainted, as in נעים להכיר = nice to meet you. But in this sentence, with country, it clearly means become more familiar with, not meet.
Why is להכיר used instead of לדעת?
Because להכיר and לדעת are not the same kind of know.
- להכיר = to know by acquaintance / to be familiar with / to get to know
- לדעת = to know a fact, piece of information, or how to do something
So:
- אני מכיר את האיש הזה = I know this man
- אני מכיר את העיר הזאת = I know this city
- אני יודע את התשובה = I know the answer
- אני יודע לשחות = I know how to swim
A country is something you become familiar with, so להכיר is the natural choice.