# Lacks sensitivity



## talmid

041209                        0060

G'Day

Could someone please let me know ,using the translation:
חסר תחושה
the feminine form of    חסר
in the phrase: "she  lacks sensitivity"

Thank you


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## talmid

041209              0138

Hi!

Could I please add an additional enquiry for the Hebrew for
 "he lacks sensitivity", in addition to "she lacks sensitivity"

Sorry!  I omitted this from my earlier enquiry

Thank you


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## origumi

Sensitivity is רגישות.
תחושה is sensation or feeling.

He: חסר תחושה (pronounce: khasar)
She: חסרת תחושה (pronounce: khasrat)


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## Flaminius

What part of speech is חסרת / חסר?  Looks like it's not a verb conjugation.

I have seen חסר (_ḥaser_) used with the preposition ל- as in:
חסר לו / לה רגישות.
Is this construction too formal?


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## origumi

I am not sure about the formal name for this form. You take an adjective, put it in construct state (סמיכות) before a noun, and it gives a notion of "respect". The combination becomes a compound adjective. For example אִשָּׁה יְפַת מַרְאֶה means a woman who is nice in respect to her appearence, or simply looks good. אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם is long in respect to his patience, or simpy has a lot of patience.

We use this form since biblical times. Today it sounds somehow poetic yet very natural.


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## Flaminius

Oh, then it is an adjective in construct state.    I think I have read about them somewhere but haven't thought about them until now.  Thank you.

But again, this construction makes compound nouns, right?  Do you resort to חסר ל- to make a full sentence?


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## origumi

Flaminius said:


> But again, this construction makes compound nouns, right?


The adjective-noun (or adjective-headed) construct is an adjectival phrase (acts like an adjective).

ילד חסר תחושה, ילד גדול
ילדה חסרת תחושה, ילדה גדולה
ילדים חסרי תחושה, ילדים גדולים
ילדות חסרות תחושה, ילדות גדולות

And you can put הוא, היא, הם, הן instead of ילד, ילדה, ילדים, ילדות to get the phrases talmid asked about.


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## hadronic

origumi said:


> אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם is long in respect to his patience, or simpy has a lot of patience.


 
Wow, thanks for this one. This smikhut form of ארוך was really unexpected... glad to learn.


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## talmid

161209                                        0413

Hi !

I'm most interested in the replies to my query

There's a lot to learn and think about in 
these responses

Thanks very much for all the help!


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## MSZ

Flaminius said:


> Oh, then it is an adjective in construct state.    I think I have read about them somewhere but haven't thought about them until now.  Thank you.
> 
> But again, this construction makes compound nouns, right?  Do you resort to חסר ל- to make a full sentence?



Not sure that it makes compound nouns. An equivalent English expression would be _clean of visage_ (which is pretty rare). Not really a noun in English any more than it is in Hebrew - oops missed origumi's post above - yes, it is an adjectival phrase.

As for  חסר לי, etc.: when  the adjective is used as a predicate in a sentence (as opposed to in construct state) it works the same way as the French verb _manquer_ in that it takes a dative complement. Instead of saying _*I* lack money_, Hebrew says _חסר *לי* כסף_ just as in French _il _*me*_ manque de l'argent_. 

In form, it's the same as כואב לי הלב.

Which brings me to a question (slightly OT): could you use כואבי הלב האלה to mean "bleeding hearts",  or "these bleeding-heart .. whatever" (as in "these bleeding-heart liberals would free a convicetd murderer"... )?


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