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How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Hebrew & Common Responses

In this post, you will learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Hebrew. You’ll also learn common responses so you can respond if you’re asked this question. This can be really useful if you’re speaking with someone from Israel or if you’re travelling there. 

Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language native to the country of Israel. 

Modern Hebrew is spoken today in Israel by around 9 million people.

How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Hebrew

There are a few different ways to ask ‘how are you?’ that depend on the gender of the person you’re speaking to, the situation and also the number of people you’re speaking to. Here are the most common:

In formal situations, such as with people you don’t know, you can say:

EnglishHebrewPronunciation
How are you? (speaking to a female)מה שלומךMa shlom-ekh
How are you? (speaking to a male)מה שלומךMa shlom-kha

In more informal situations, such as with friends, you can say:

EnglishHebrewPronunciation
What’s happening?מה קורהMa kore
What’s up?מה נשמע Ma nishma

The above 2 phrases are not gender specific so you can say them to both males and females.

If you’re speaking to a group of people rather than 1 person then use these:

EnglishHebrewPronunciation
How are you? (speaking to a mixed/all male group)מה שלומכםMa shlom-chem
How are you? (speaking to an all female group)מה שלומכןMa shlom-chen

Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of these phrases:

How To Respond To ‘How Are You?’ In Hebrew

There are many different ways that you can reply to this question. Below are the most common responses to this question. I’ve also included how to say ‘thank you’ as it’s polite to thank someone if they ask how you are.

EnglishHebrewPronunciation
Thank youתודהTo-da
I’m fineאני בסדרA-ni be-se-der
FineבסדרBe-se-der
Fine/goodטובTov
Okay/so-soככה ככהKakha kakha

It’s also useful to know how to say ‘and you?’ or ‘what about you?’ to find out how someone else is if they ask you.

EnglishHebrewPronunciation
And you? (speaking to a male)ואתהVe-ata
And you? (speaking to a female)ואתVe-at

Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of some of these phrases. Please note this video only covers the masculine form and not the feminine form:

Example Conversation:

Person 1: Ma shlomkha? (How are you?)

Person 2: Tov, to-da. Ve-ata? (Good, thanks. And you?)

Person 1: A-ni be-se-der (I’m fine)


Thanks for reading this post. 

You should now know how to say ‘how are you?’ in Hebrew and you should also be able to respond if you’re asked! 

You can’t go wrong with these simple phrases. 

Increase your vocabulary further by learning how to wish someone a happy birthday in Hebrew.

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