# Love



## talmid

151107                                0350

G'Day!

Re:   Love

I could say, in English:

a. I love those flowers = I like
b. I love that beautiful scenery = I like ~ but it’s more emphatic than " I like"
c. I love my girl-friend = I love
d. I'm in love with my country = I like / love – but it’s is more emphatic than  “I Iove” & has a different “flavour” 

Here I’ve expressed four different degrees of liking / loving
And I’m just wondering how one could express these differing degrees of liking /loving in excellent Hebrew,
Other than by saying:

     (אני אוהב (מאוד
or
……… אני מחבב 

I’d appreciate any thoughts, please
Thank you.


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## mydewdrop

לִידוֹד - to like someone (indicates a befriending of sorts)
לַחפּוֹץ -  love, like, find pleasure in (followed by את)

To be honest, I don't think that these words are commonly used.


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## Erán

Sorry I didn't see this before...

The Hebrew word for "in love" is מאוהב (me'oh*a*v) - the root א-ה-ב in binyan pu'al. In your example:
I'm in love with my country - אני מאוהב במדינה שלי.

For the verb "to like" we have the expression "למצוא חן בעיני"
I like these flowers - הפרחים האלה מוצאים חן בעיניי.



mydewdrop said:


> לִידוֹד - to like someone (indicates a befriending of sorts)
> לַחפּוֹץ - love, like, find pleasure in (followed by את)


Sorry but לידוד doesn't exist in Hebrew.
לחפוץ means "to want". I am not familiar with a use of this verb in the sense of "to love".


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## amikama

Erán said:


> Sorry but לידוד doesn't exist in Hebrew.


That's exactly what I thought until now... but I've just looked it up my dictionary (Even-Shoshan) and surprise - it _does_ exist! And it means "to love, to like". But I agree with you - in modern Hebrew this verb virtually doesn't exist.



			
				Erán said:
			
		

> לחפוץ means "to want". I am not familiar with a use of this verb in the sense of "to love".


Me too, but maybe it's an old use of the verb in pre-modern Hebrew.


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## Erán

Amikam, I looked it up in my Even Shoshan too, under the root י-ד-ד (it looks like י-ד-ד in binyan kal) but this root only exists in pu'al and hitpa'el, not in kal... Maybe you found it under another root? 

About לחפוץ you are right, I looked it up in Even Shoshan, and it does indeed have that meaning too. Sorry Mydewdrop...


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## camaysar

Erán said:


> Amikam, I looked it up in my Even Shoshan too, under the root י-ד-ד (it looks like י-ד-ד in binyan kal) but this root only exists in pu'al and hitpa'el, not in kal... Maybe you found it under another root?
> 
> About לחפוץ you are right, I looked it up in Even Shoshan, and it does indeed have that meaning too. Sorry Mydewdrop...



Hi,

לחפוץ would seem to be the Hebrew equivalent of the Spanish querir: Te quiero = "I love you" 

Querir also means "to want": "Quiero ir a la playa" = "I want to go to the beach."


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## amikama

Erán said:


> Amikam, I looked it up in my Even Shoshan too, under the root י-ד-ד (it looks like י-ד-ד in binyan kal) but this root only exists in pu'al and hitpa'el, not in kal... Maybe you found it under another root?


I've checked it again, and my version (מרוכז ומעודכן לשנות האלפיים) does have the shoresh י-ד-ד in binyan kal (as well as binyanim pu'al and hitpa'el).


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## Erán

camaysar said:


> לחפוץ would seem to be the Hebrew equivalent of the Spanish querir: Te quiero = "I love you"


Apparently it was so in the time of the Bible, but not in modern Hebrew. If you tell someone "אני חפץ בך", they will surely understand it as something completely different than "I love you"! 

BTW the correct spelling of the Spanish verb is _querer_.


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## Erán

amikama said:


> I've checked it again, and my version (מרוכז ומעודכן לשנות האלפיים) does have the shoresh י-ד-ד in binyan kal (as well as binyanim pu'al and hitpa'el).


OK then, my version is "updated" to the year 1966...  So it's probably a later addition. It still surprises me because it doesn't sound like a modern use of this root but rather a very ancient one. Does the updated version give any modern or ancient examples?


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## camaysar

Erán said:


> BTW the correct spelling of the Spanish verb is _querer_.



Quite so... thanks Erán! We learn from each other.


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## cfu507

talmid said:


> 151107 0350
> 
> G'Day!
> 
> Re: Love
> 
> I could say, in English:
> 
> a. I love those flowers = I like
> b. I love that beautiful scenery = I like ~ but it’s more emphatic than " I like"
> c. I love my girl-friend = I love
> d. I'm in love with my country = I like / love – but it’s is more emphatic than “I Iove” & has a different “flavour”
> 
> Here I’ve expressed four different degrees of liking / loving
> And I’m just wondering how one could express these differing degrees of liking /loving in excellent Hebrew,
> Other than by saying:
> 
> (אני אוהב (מאוד
> or
> ……… אני מחבב
> 
> I’d appreciate any thoughts, please
> Thank you.


 
I would love to help you = אשמח מאוד לעזור לך

"I'm in love with my country" - it sounds odd to me, at least in Hebrew. I would say I love my country and use "in love" for a person.

"I like you" means אתה מוצא חן בעני

You wrote "I love those flowers = I like". In Hebrew, like is less than love. I thought it's the same in English.

"I love my girl-friend = I love" 
If you want to make it more then “I love” you can say
אני מת על החברה שלי
אני חולה על החברה שלי
They are very common slang, which are kind of "I'm crazy about her". The First slang is stronger.
One might also say אני חולה על התחת של חברה שלי, אני מת על התחת של חברה שלי. In both cases it means that he more than just loves her, and of course, not only her buttocks. [Maybe I’m old-fashioned and there is new slang for that today]

לחפוץ is mostly used for "to want something", rather than to love something. I've never seen it in the context of love, but it does exist in the dictionaries.
בנפש חפצה = ברצון רב
מרדכי היה האיש אשר המלך חפץ ביקרו
Again, if you want people to understand you don't use חפץas אוהב

Happy Hanukkah!​


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## talmid

061207                    0210

Hi!

Thanks to everyone for the interesting answers

!אני מאחל  לכל חברי הפורום חג חנוכה שמח


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