# Criticize



## Doug R

How do you say "to criticize" as in "He criticized the leaders"?


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## slus

לבקר or in higher register להעביר ביקורת
הוא ביקר את המנהיגים
הוא העביר ביקורת על המנהיגים


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## utopia

Actually לבקר is the higher registre.

להעביר ביקורת or להביע ביקורת are lower registre.

למתוח ביקורת is used the most, as far as I know, and it means to give negative criticism.


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## JoMe

I don't think it's a high-low register issue. Many a time להעביר ביקורת is preferred for the reason that לבקר is ambiguous, can mean "to visit" as well as "to criticise".


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## Ali Smith

How do you know whether levaqer means “to visit” or “to criticize”? How would you differentiate them in, say, “I want to visit you/Israel.”?


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## slus

You can't. It's the same word with two different meanings. You can only tell from the context.


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## Techref

I may be wrong, but probably the passive way of saying it would be clearer?

אני מבוקר עכשיו
אתמול המנהיגים בוקרתי
 אתה תבוקר בגלל זה


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## slus

The passive form is not very common in Hebrew. The first and the last sentences may be passable, but the second is totally wrong.


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## Techref

slus said:


> The passive form is not very common in Hebrew. The first and the last sentences may be passable, but the second is totally wrong.



Thanks for correcting.
I realized the mistake ....


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## rosemarino

Isn't there a difference in preposition use for criticize vs. visit, i.e., לבקר את  vs לבקר ב?


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## Abaye

לבקר ב is always to visit: לבקר במוזיאון.
לבקר את depends on the context: לבקר את סבתא לפני החג, לבקר את התנהגות הילדים.


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## rosemarino

Abaye said:


> לבקר ב is always to visit: לבקר במוזיאון.
> לבקר את depends on the context: לבקר את סבתא לפני החג, לבקר את התנהגות הילדים.



So, is it
 לבקר את  to criticize
לבקר את to visit a person
לבקר ב    to visit a place
?


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## Abaye

Correct.
Maybe there are exceptions, but I cannot think of any.

Also, you can say something like אני נוסע לבקר את ארץ מולדתי, here the ארץ is anthropomorphized (is this the term? an object referred to as if it was human).


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## Drink

Abaye said:


> Correct.
> Maybe there are exceptions, but I cannot think of any.
> 
> Also, you can say something like אני נוסע לבקר את ארץ מולדתי, here the ארץ is anthropomorphized (is this the term? an object referred to as if it was human).



It's a word. But I think personified fits better.


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