Hebrew/English Dictionary [Mass Market Paperback]

Ben Yehuda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1989

Ben-Yehuda's POCKET ENGLISH-HEBREW, HEBREW-ENGLISH DICTIONARY derives from the eight-volume DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew, and from the new studies by his son, Ehud Ben-Yehuda, and David Weinstein.

This new work is designed expressly for the widest possible variety of interests and professions -- for students, teachers, travelers, home and office libraries. In it you will find over 30,000 vocabulary entries, alphabetically arranged. There is a comprehensive but compact explanation of grammar, including tables of irregular verbs. There are keys to proper pronunciation, abbreviations, up-to-date technical terms, examples of idiomatic usage, tables of numerals, weights, measures and currency.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (May 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671688626
• ISBN-13: 978-0671688622
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Hebrew
  • #6 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Education > General
  • #9 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Hebrew

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Major printing problems, April 6, 2003

By 

Shelley Gammon "Geek" (Kaufman, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hebrew/English Dictionary (Mass Market Paperback)

This English-Hebrew/Hebrew-English dictionary has over 30,000 entries, but does not cover commonly used idioms.

This version of Ben-Yehuda's dictionary seems to have been printed using technology from the 1940s.

The paper is an acidic newsprint type paper. Just sitting on my shelf, the acid from the paper has burned into the cardstock cover, leaving yellowish brown stains.

The printed ink is not even a true black... but rather a faded dark grey that looks like a photocopy of a photocopy.

Because there are no crisp edges of the printed characters, it is difficult to tell a Hebrew "pe" from a "phe" and distinguishing a "gimel" from a "nun" is almost impossible. The differences in these characters are subtle in the printed form and having obscure/fuzzy printing makes it that much more troublesome to read.

Reading the English text is not problematic, mostly due to the thin, serif font used for the English. The thick calligraphic style of the Hebrew, however, leaves no room for error.

My buying advice is to instead get the "Shimon Zilberman Compact Up-To-Date English-Hebrew/Hebrew-English Dictionary" (ISBN: 9652227781) which is also available here at Amazon.com. There is simply no comparison.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not sure why everyone uses it...., July 23, 2002

By 

Aimee Yermish (Stow, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hebrew/English Dictionary (Mass Market Paperback)

I've had this dictionary around for many years (the binding has held up fine), and it's useful enough when you need to look up a word quickly, or if you know the word but aren't sure how it's spelled. However, if you are not already pretty good at Hebrew grammar (you don't need a rabbi, as another poster mentioned, but a good teacher or a good book/tape combo will be crucial), you won't be able to find words in the dictionary, because of the way Hebrew grammar changes the way things look. Also, the dictionary does not give any clue as to which of several possible meanings a word might have, if there is ambiguity in either language (a frequent occurrence). I am studying right now with several Israeli teachers, and they often tell me that the word I have found in the dictionary is "Shabbat language" -- in a word, archaic. The grammar and verb tables in the back are almost completely useless even *after* having studied those topics.
Instead of this book, get Edna Lauden's Rav-Milon (Multi-Dictionary), which has much more useful information, including usage, explanations of meanings, example sentences, and the like. It's more expensive, and you still need to know at least a little grammar to make use of it (as you would with *any* Hebrew dictionary), but it's far more useful than this one -- I have a lot more confidence that I'm not saying silly things by accident. ... check with your local Jewish book store.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a hebrew student's opinion, June 8, 2000

By 

L. White (Andover, KS United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hebrew/English Dictionary (Mass Market Paperback)

This dictionary has many useful features for an advanced beginner to advanced student of modern Hebrew. Learn the alefbet first. The section of commonly used initials as well as the verb and number tables may take a little study, but once understood, they can be very helpful. I've used this dictionary for more than 15 years and found that most words I needed were there somewhere. As with many other foreign language dictionaries, I need to cross reference often. The book holds together well enough, but covering it with plastic will help it last longer. My copy is nearly 20 years old and still has all its pages.