דבר
davár/daˈvaʁ/
In Hebrew, דבר (davár) (dabar) means a thing or a word.
Which one should you use?
The noun דבר (davár), meaning a thing or a word, is pronounced differently from the verb daber, which means to speak.
How does it change in a sentence?
דבר is a masculine noun.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is davár. The IPA is /daˈvaʁ/.
Did you know?
- While דבר is a noun, the root ד-ב-ר appears in the word מִדְבָּר (midbar), meaning 'desert', though linguists debate if the connection is a 'place of speaking' or 'a barren place'.
- In the Hebrew Bible, the word דבר is used to describe the very essence of God's creation, where the 'word' is the force that brings physical reality into existence.
- Because דבר means both 'word' and 'thing', the Hebrew language conceptually treats a spoken word as a tangible object.
Examples in context
- הדבר שאמרת הוא שקר.The word you said is a lie.
- זה דבר מאוד חשוב.ze dabar meod chashuv.It is a very important thing.
Example conversation
Ido and Maya are talking about a surprise.
- עידו Idoמאיה, יש לי דבר להראות לך.Maya, yesh li dabar lehar'ot lach.Maya, I have something to show you.
- מאיה Mayaמה זה, עידו?ma ze, Ido?What is it, Ido?
- עידו Idoזה דבר שקניתי למסיבה.ze dabar shekaniti lamisiba.It is something I bought for the party.
- מאיה Mayaאיזה יופי!eize yofi!How wonderful!
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry דבר, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
