# ברוכים הבאים



## César Lasso

Hello!

I used the Google Translate to get the meaning of Welcome. Then I added the exclamation mark (!) and the Translate changed its Hebrew version into those two words - it initially gave me another two:

ברוך הבא

Could you please:

- Tell me the literal meaning of both expressions.
- Tell me which one suits better a warm welcome.
- Transliterate both expressions for my curiosity?

I don't trust the Google Translate. In case neither expression shows a warm welcome, could you please give me the right expression in Hebrew script?

Toda raba!


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## origumi

ברוך הבא = bienvenido
ברוכים הבאים = bienvenidos

If one man is coming you can say either the singular or plural. If more than one - say the plural. If there are only ladies you should prefer the feminine form:

ברוכה הבאה = bienvenida
ברוכות הבאות = bienvenidas

The literal meaning is "bless be the one(s) who is/are coming".


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## Tararam

ברוך הבא is the "generic" welcome in Hebrew, it means 'blessed is the one who comes/"the comer"'
Since "the one who comes" is a noun in Hebrew, and Hebrew makes the distinction between singular masculine, singular feminine, plural masculine and plural feminine nouns, you get:

ברוך הבא (baruch haba) = "welcome" to a singular male ("blessed is the one [male] who comes")
ברוכה הבאה (brucha haba'a) = "welcome" to a singular female ("blessed is the one [female] who comes")
ברוכים הבאים (bruchim haba'im) = "welcome" to plural males ("blessed are the ones [males] who come")
ברוכות הבאות (bruchut haba'ot) = "welcome" to plural females ("blessed are the ones [females] who come")

You can use all of them according to the gender and number of the blessing's recipient, but it's not uncommon to hear "ברוך הבא" said with no attention to whether you're greeting a man, a woman, men and women.


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## anipo

Hello,
The transliteration according to Spanish writing and pronunciation (and in Tararam's order):
Barúj habá
Brujá habaá (por suerte la primera palabra es aguda y no grave...)
Brujím habaím
Brujót habaót 
Please note that the letter "h" is pronounced as in English.


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## César Lasso

Wow!

Thanks a lot, friends. Hebrew is not entirely "unfamiliar" to me since I studied Arabic at University (and both are Semitic languages). I regret not having studied Hebrew as well, but I changed my orientation between the 2nd and 3rd years, so I had to continue with Latin and Arabic.

I had noticed the -M of the plural ending.

Origumi mentioned that you could use both the singular or plural to welcome a single man. Is there some reason for that?

Thanks!


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## tFighterPilot

César Lasso said:


> Wow!
> 
> Thanks a lot, friends. Hebrew is not entirely "unfamiliar" to me since I studied Arabic at University (and both are Semitic languages). I regret not having studied Hebrew as well, but I changed my orientation between the 2nd and 3rd years, so I had to continue with Latin and Arabic.
> 
> I had noticed the -M of the plural ending.
> 
> Origumi mentioned that you could use both the singular or plural to welcome a single man. Is there some reason for that?
> 
> Thanks!


I think it would sound kinda weird. I certainly wouldn't use the plural form for a single man.


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## César Lasso

tFighterPilot said:


> I think it would sound kinda weird. I certainly wouldn't use the plural form for a single man.



Funny, because your mother tongue is Hebrew but Origumi is also a native speaker. Could that "disagreement" have to do with different varieties or "feelings" of Hebrew (for example, spoken by Ashkenazis and Sefardis)?

I studied at University before the mobile or cell-phone era. Since it was language college, it was very international, and people practiced other languages advertising language exchange. Since there were not popular cell-phones at the time, people had to write the probable time they might be available at home. I once read a very funny offer, written in the Sefardi variety of medieval Spanish that some have preserved. Instead of "llamar a la hora de comer / la comida", it chose the plural, just like medieval Spanish might use and Portuguese still uses ("llamar a las horas de jalufo"). Ha ha haaa... it was kind of sweet.


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## arielipi

I support origוmi on that, mainly because it is more common to hear welcome in the plural form, even if its for a single.


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## César Lasso

Hmmm... Interesting... Of course, tFighterPilot could not have said something wrong. I am beginning to suspect of different feelings or approaches to Hebrew in Israel, maybe due to old family origins from different places. Come to think of it, in colloquial Spanish we might use the plural (we) to ask to a single person "How are you?" ("Cómo estamos?" or "Cómo andamos?").


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## amikama

[Moderator note: Question about "Welcome" in Amharic has been moved to a new thread in Other Languages forum.]


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