# אני בנהיגה



## elroy

Hello!

Are there any other verbs that allow this construction (ב + שם פעילה) with a progressive meaning ("I am doing")?  I've only ever heard it with נהיגה.

Thanks!


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## slus

אני בריצה
אני בהליכה
Immediately come to mind.


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## aavichai

I think in English it is also like that
(and correct me if i'm wrong)
but in English you us that with the word "middle"

for example:
I'm in (the middle of) a walk


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## elroy

Thanks for your answers!

Aavichai, you could say "I'm *on* a drive/walk/run" but those aren't really the same as "I'm driving/walking/running."  "I'm in the middle of a drive/walk/run" are grammatically acceptable but there are probably very few, if any, contexts where they can be used naturally.

Are there any other verbs that do this?  Or is it just these three?


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## aavichai

Hi and thanks for the explanation

in hebrew you also cannot use that for with any verb-noun
because it would sound ridicolous

i am eating - אני אוכל
but you don't say אני באכילה

or I am lying אני שוכב
but not אני בשכיבה
(אני בשכיבה would sound like I'm in a state of lying)

so I don't want to say that those are the only three
but there are "special' roots that are used in that way

and maybe, and i really don't know
the hebrew, in this case, was influenced by the English

because people sometimes say
אני באמצע נהיגה
exactly like
I'm in the middle of driving (or drive)
i'm in the middle of a walk

so maybe the hebrew speakers just copied the style of the english


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## elroy

Hm...I doubt this is an English influence, first, because in English "I'm driving" doesn't have a preposition (and "I'm on a drive" has a different meaning), second, because in English "driving" in "I'm driving" is not actually a gerund but a participle (and neither is "drive" in "I'm on a drive") and third, because this construction seems to be limited to a small number of verbs in Hebrew, and they do seem to be related (the three that have been mentioned so far are all verbs of motion that, additionally, refer to a specific _mode _of motion).  Please note that I'm not asking about _any_ verbs that license ב + שם פעילה, but only about verbs for which this construction can have a progressive meaning ("I'm doing").

The construction itself, from a Hebrew perspective, reminds me of אני בהריון, except of course הריון is not a שם פעילה.  But it's a similar idea: "I'm driving" and "I'm pregnant" both refer to a current state.


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## origumi

elroy said:


> Are there any other verbs that do this?  Or is it just these three?


אני בנסיעה
אני בשמירת הריון
אני בהפסקת צהריים (based on hif`il rather than pa`al)
אני בהאזנה (again hif`il)

It doesn't look like a rare form.


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## elroy

Thanks!

I would say אני בשמירת הריון and אני בהפסקת צהריים are different, because the gerunds there are used as nouns with no progressive meaning.  I would say these are like אני בהריון; they express a current state but not a progressive verbal action.

אני בנסיעה and אני בהאזנה do count, though.  אני בהאזנה is particularly interesting because it's not a verb of motion!  Maybe there isn't a pattern after all.


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## slus

You can still say אני בשמירה (a soldier, for example would say it)
אני בהפסקה (very common)


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## elroy

slus said:


> You can still say אני בשמירה (a soldier, for example would say it)


 What would that mean exactly? 


slus said:


> אני בהפסקה (very common)


 Doesn't that just mean "I'm on a break"?


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## Flaminius

Maybe distinguishing continued actions from states is not always possible.  A continued action seems to me a state in a sense.

.אני בחזקת סמים  - I am in possession of drugs.
By the way, does ב for those gerunds subsume hey ha-yedi'a?


[Moderator note: discussion about translation of "I'm in possession of drugs" has been moved to a new thread.]


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## amikama

I also doubt it's an English influence. As אני בנהיגה is a common 'excuse' to reject phone calls, my guess it's by analogy to similar 'excuses':
אני בסרט / בישיבה / בפגישה / בשיעור (וכו' וכו')‏
So אני בנהיגה (rather than אני נוהג) surged "naturally".
Just a speculation.


PS: gerund is שם פע*ו*לה.


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## slus

elroy said:


> What would that mean exactly?



אני בשמירה means something like I'm on my watch. [Literally - I'm on watching]



elroy said:


> Doesn't that just mean "I'm on a break"?


Yes, it does.


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## slus

Flaminius said:


> By the way, does ב for those gerunds subsume hey ha-yedi'a?


No. The ב is pronounced "beh" and not "bah" - meaning there's no hey ha-yedi'a.


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## elroy

אני בהפסקה doesn't seem unusual.  This is a normal use of שם פעולה (thanks for the correction, amikama!).

What is striking about אני בנהיגה is that ist means "I*'m* driv*ing*" (אני נוהג עכשיו).  Hebrew doesn't normally express the progressive this way. 

אני בשמירה is an interesting one.  I think in English I would say "I'm on duty" (at least in the military context).  Do Hebrew native speakers perceive אני בשמירה as synonymous with אני שומר עכשיו (hmmm...does אני שומר even work intransitively?  Or does it always mean "I'm a watchman/(security) guard"?).


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## slus

elroy said:


> אני בהפסקה doesn't seem unusual.  This is a normal use of שם פעולה (thanks for the correction, amikama!).
> 
> What is striking about אני בנהיגה is that ist means "I*'m* driv*ing*" (אני נוהג עכשיו).  Hebrew doesn't normally express the progressive this way.
> 
> אני בשמירה is an interesting one.  I think in English I would say "I'm on duty" (at least in the military context).  Do Hebrew native speakers perceive אני בשמירה as synonymous with אני שומר עכשיו (hmmm...does אני שומר even work intransitively?  Or does it always mean "I'm a watchman/(security) guard"?).



Same as בנהיגה :
אני בשמירה means אני שומר/ת עכשיו
It never means I'm a watchman

אני בנהיגה means אני נוהג/ת עכשיו
It never means I'm a driver

אני בעסקי נהיגה means I'm a driver, literally I'm at the driving business

The same way, אני בעסקי שמירה means I'm a watchman/watchwoman/guard 

Having said that, this use of the verbs is not very common, but also not very high register.


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## elroy

slus said:


> It never means I'm a watchman


 Really??? 

In Arabic שומר is used by Arab Israelis as a Hebrew borrowing meaning "watchman/(security) guard," so I assumed it had the same meaning in Hebrew!

Morfix seems to support this: התרגום של 'שומר' במילון מורפיקס


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## slus

elroy said:


> Really???
> 
> In Arabic שומר is used by Arab Israelis as a Hebrew borrowing meaning "watchman/(security) guard," so I assumed it had the same meaning in Hebrew!
> 
> Morfix seems to support this: התרגום של 'שומר' במילון מורפיקס



Yes. שומר is watchman/(security) guard. It is also the verb meaning "guarding".


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## elroy

Oh, we had a misunderstanding!  I meant can אני שומר be used intransitively? In English you can't just say "I'm watching"; it needs an object.


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## slus

elroy said:


> Oh, we had a misunderstanding!  I meant can אני שומר be used intransitively? In English you can't just say "I'm watching"; it needs an object.



It really depends on the context, but usually just אני שומר would mean "I'm a guard" and אני שומר על משהו is "I'm guarding someting".
But in modern slang, people may also say אני שומר meaning "I'm on a diet" (אני שומר על המשקל שלי) or אני שומר meaning I'm saying (this file), etc., so it really depends.


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## elroy

Thanks!  In that case, I don't think אני בשמירה counts. But it's definitely a useful expression to know! 

Can you say אני בשחייה?


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## amikama

What about אני בהתלבטות (=‎אני מתלבט)? It seems to have a progressive meaning using the gerund.


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## amikama

elroy said:


> Can you say אני בשחייה?


Possibly... It's similar to אני בריצה/בהליכה mentioned above.


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## elroy

Hmmm....I would say התלבטות has a pretty strong nominal flavor there: you can say "I'm in doubt" in English.  It's also more about a state than a progressive action.  What do you think?


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## amikama

elroy said:


> It's also more about a state than a progressive action.


Yes, maybe you're right...


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## oopqoo

elroy said:


> Oh, we had a misunderstanding!  I meant can אני שומר be used intransitively? In English you can't just say "I'm watching"; it needs an object.


I just wanted to say that it may be a hasty generalization on my behalf but I'm pretty sure in colloquial Hebrew any verb you'd like can be intransitive. The "confusion" that may arise is whether or not the word you're saying, e.g. שומר, is a verb or a noun - though most of the time it wouldn't be a confusion, hence the quotation marks, because both noun and verb would carry the same meaning.


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## berndf

elroy said:


> I don't think אני בשמירה counts


Why wouldn't that count? I'd say on the contrary, it demonstrates the inner logic of this progressive. You express that you are _in a state of <abstract verbal noun>_.


elroy said:


> Hmmm....I would say התלבטות has a pretty strong nominal flavor there: you can say "I'm in doubt" in English. It's also more about a state than a progressive action. What do you think?


Same here. There are examples of similar construct in other languages that could possibly have influenced Hebrew like _I am driving = אני בנהיגה = Ich bin am Fahren_.


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