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Definition 2024


כש־

כש־

Hebrew

Conjunction

כְּשֶׁ־ (k'she-)

  1. When, as, at the time that.
    • a. 10 BCE, Hillel the Elder, quoted in Pirkei Avot 1:14:
      הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי. מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי. מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו. אֵימָתָי:
      hu haya omer im ein ani li, mi li, ukh'she'ani l'atzmi, ma ani, v'im lo akhshav, eimatai.
      He [Hillel] used to say, “If I am not for me, who is for me? And when I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
  2. With, with it being the case that.
    • 2011 September 22, Yaniv Kubovich (יניב קובוביץ),הקשישה נמצאה מתה בחדרה, המטפל קפץ מהבניין” (hak'shishá nimts'á méta b'khad'ráh, ham'tapél kafáts mehabinyán, “Elderly Woman Found Dead in Room, Caretaker Jumps from Building”):
      גופה של קשישה בת 80 נמצאה היום (חמישי) בחדרה בבית האבות "מגדלי הים התיכון" כשעליה סימני אלימות רבים.
      gufáh shél k'shishá bát 80 nimts'á hayóm (khamishí) b'khad'ráh bevéit ha'avót "migd'léi hayám hatikhón" k'she'aléiha simanéi alimút rabím.
      The body of an 80-year-old woman was found today (Thursday) in her room in the "Mediterranean Towers" nursing home with many marks of violence on it [literally, when on it [are] many marks of violence].

Synonyms

Usage notes

  • (when): Unlike English when, כְּשֶׁ־ is not used in framing questions, nor in introducing interrogative content clauses; the interrogative adverb and conjunction מָתַי (matái, when) is used for these purposes. For example, “When did it happen?” is מתי זה קרה? (matái kará?), and “I don’t know when it happened” is אני לא יודע מתי זה קרה. (aní lo yodéa matái ze kará).
  • (when): Whereas in English, when and that are somewhat interchangeable in introducing complement clauses for temporal nouns — “the time when” and “the time that” being synonymous — in Hebrew כְּשֶׁ־ cannot be used this way; rather, שֶׁ־ (she-, that, which) is required. For example, “on the day when it happened” is ביום שזה קרה (bayóm shezé kará).