# Bebayit sheli. . . (short message)



## mateo19

Hello and good evening,

My roommate is Jewish and this evening he didn't come home.  I wanted to surprise him and ask him where he was in Hebrew, so I looked up some words in my Hebrew book and sent a message to him that said, "EYFOH ATAH, AKHI?" (Where are you, my brother?)

He replied the following:
"Bebayit sheli, ohd meaht ani avoh el hadira shelanu. Teragah bevakasha."

I know basically no Hebrew and didn't understand his reply!  I think "bevakasha" is "you're welcome", but all the other words are foreign to me.  I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me where my roommate is. ;-)  Thank you very much!  Toda raba!


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## Aoyama

Not knowing Hebrew and being able to write that message is a feat already !
Kol hakavod ! (all the honor [is yours] !).
"Bebayit sheli, = at my house
ohd meaht = in a little while
ani avoh el hadira shelanu. = I'll come to our appartment (maybe "la dira" would be better)
Teragah bevakasha." = (see elroy's translation)
Akhi is OK for "my brother" if it's ... your _real_ brother ...


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## elroy

"At home - I'm coming to our apartment in a little bit.  Calm down please."

(In this context, "bevakasha" means "please.")


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## mateo19

Shalom Aoyama and Elroy,

Toda raba!  Thank you very much for your quick and helpful answer.  I really appreciated it.

Shalom once again!


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## cfu507

For the sake of the learners  I would add that _in my house_ is
_babayit sheli_  בַּבַּיִת שֶׁלִּי   or _beveyti_  בְּבֵיתִי  and not bebayit sheli.


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## Aoyama

... and _At home _could/would rather be "etzli" ...
And what about : "ani avoh el hadira shelanu" ?


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## cfu507

Good morning,


Aoyama said:


> ... and _At home _could/would rather be "etzli" ...


Not exactly in this context. When you say _etzli_ it means _*at* my place_. You wouldn't say let's meet at my place to the person you lives with. 
The same for etzli badira. It implies that the appartment is yours (only you without the person you write to)



> And what about : "ani avoh el hadira shelanu" ?


I don't think that's wrong, but I would say like you _ladira_, maybe just because it's shorter and if you say _ladira_ you don't need to say _shelanu_


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## Aoyama

> Not exactly in this context. When you say _etzli_ it means _in my place_. You wouldn't say let's meet at my place to the person you lives with.


Right, but then the message is not clear, to the question "where are you ?", the following answer :


> "Bebayit sheli, ohd meaht ani avoh el hadira shelanu.


this sounds like two different places or there is something I'm missing here ...


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## cfu507

sorry for writing in Hebrew.

זה אכן נשמע מוזר בקריאה ראשונה, אבל תחשוב על הסיטואציה הבאה. אתה גר בבית הוריך או בבית מסויים ובעוד כמה ימים עובר לגור עם חבר/ה בדירה אחרת. עדיין לא עברת לדירה המשותפת, אבל אתה כבר קורא לה הדירה שלנו, ולא הדירה ששנינו נעבור אליה. זה כמו שאתה קונה אוטו חדש והוא יגיע בעוד שבועיים, אתה מרשה לעצמך לומר הרכב שלי (הרכב שהזמנתי).​


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## Aoyama

Can't write Hebrew with this machine, bear with me.
Yes, thanks for the answer, I follow you but it's a lot of pilpul to me ...
I still think, stubbornly, that we are talking about two different _loci_ ...


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## Nunty

My impression is that the speaker (the texter?) is a young person who still thinks of his parents' place as "home". If so, then he would be saying "I'm at [my family] home, but I'll be at our place [our apartment] soon."


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## elroy

Nun-Translator said:


> My impression is that the speaker (the texter?) is a young person who still thinks of his parents' place as "home". If so, then he would be saying "I'm at [my family] home, but I'll be at our place [our apartment] soon."


 That's what I think too.


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## Aoyama

> My impression is that the speaker (the texter?) is a young person who still thinks of his parents' place as "home". If so, then he would be saying "I'm at [my family] home, but I'll be at our place [our apartment] soon."





> That's what I think too.


Luminous !


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## mateo19

That is correct!  Eli and I rent an apartment together.  His family lives ten minutes away.  So, he refers to his parents' house as "home".  Technically, his parents live in an apartment too, but it's a permanent dwelling.  Eli lives in our apartment during the week and on Friday afternoon goes to his parents' for Shabbat.

My question generated some very interesting answers.  Thank you very much for your participation!


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## girloncrack

Aoyama said:


> Akhi is OK for "my brother" if it's ... your _real_ brother ...


 
אוימה, אני לא מסקימה - כל החברים הישראלים שלי משתמשים את הביטוי "אחי" כשמדברים אחד עם השני... זה דומה למילה 
"bro"
באנגלית​


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## Aoyama

> כל החברים הישראלים שלי משתמשים את הביטוי *"אחי"* כשמדברים אחד עם השני


Well, that must be a recent use of * אחי  *that I didn't know, something like a translation from English ...


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## בעל-חלומות

אחי is not recent at all, and not a borrowing from English. It's used among friends and also with storekeepers, taxidrivers, and pretty much anyone else. Not everyone uses it though, so you might have just talked with people who didn't, Aoyama.


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## Aoyama

Right. I must be from the old generation who uses/used *"haveri".*
But let's stop here, we're bordering on a different topic...


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## taufik

Aoyama said:


> "Bebayit sheli, = at my house
> ohd meaht = in a little while



How do you write "ohd meaht" in Hebrew characters? By the way, I think you meant "babayit sheli".


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## shalom00

עוד מעט


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## taufik

Thanks, shalom.


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