# פעמיים בירה



## sawyeric1

Why do people order beers like this instead of "שתי בירות"? Is it slang or something? Do people even say something like "שתי בירות" when ordering drinks?

Thanks


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## utopia

It's something that people tend to say more. It's not something that we have to stick to.

To an Israeli ear it's more catchy.


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## slus

Actually שתי בירות sounds to me more natural than פעמיים בירה. 
פעמיים בירה is something you can hear sometimes in a pub, but it is more common in old books.


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## sawyeric1

So "פעמיים בירה" has an old-fashioned feel to it?


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## slus

For me it does. But it is still ok.


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## Tamar

I agree with slus, פעמיים בירה sounds a bit old to me as well.


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## Ali Smith

Another strange thing I've noticed when people order beer is that when they order one beer they stress בירה on the first syllable (which makes perfect sense, because otherwise it would sound like the word for "metropolis, capital"), but in the plural they stress the last syllable, which makes בירות sound exactly like the plural of "metropolis, capital"!


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## slus

I never heard anyone say biROT like capitals. Always BIrot.


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## Ali Smith

Thank you, slus! I guess the rule is that if a word is accented on a syllable other than the last syllable, the stress does not move in the plural. For example, dOlar > dOlarim. The stress is on the first syllable in the singular and it stays there in the plural.


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## Egmont

Ali Smith said:


> Thank you, slus! I guess the rule is that if a word is accented on a syllable other than the last syllable, the stress does not move in the plural...


I wouldn't say that's a general rule. One counter-example that comes to mind is צלחת, "plate." It is accented on the second syllable, but its plural,  צלחות, is accented on the last syllable. Another is ילד, "boy." It is accented on its first syllable, but its plural,  ילדים, is accented on the last. I can think of a lot more.

Both your examples, בירה/בירות and  דולר/דולרים, are foreign words that came into Hebrew fairly recently. (At least I think בירה did; I could be wrong about that.) That may have something to do with where the stress stays in the plural. Maybe someone who knows more than I do can say more. (Fortunately, a lot of the people who post here fit that description.)


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