Mikhail Poda

Root: ב־ק־ר

Meaning: Morning

Hebrew	Transcription	Meaning	Example
בּוֹקֶר	boker	morning	אני שותה קפה כל בוקר. (Ani shote kafe kol boker.) – I drink coffee every morning.

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Meaning: Visiting

Hebrew	Transcription	Meaning	Example
לְבַקֵּר	levaker	to visit	ביקרנו את סבתא בסוף השבוע. (Bikarnu et savta be-sof ha-shavua.) – We visited Grandma at the weekend.
בִּקּוּר	bikur	visit	הביקור היה קצר מאוד. (Ha-bikur haya katzar me’od.) – The visit was very short.
מְבַקֵּר	mevaker	visitor	יש היום הרבה מבקרים במוזיאון. (Yesh ha-yom harbe mevakrim ba-muze’on.) – There are many visitors at the museum today.

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Meaning: Criticism, Inspection, Control

Hebrew	Transcription	Meaning	Example
לְבַקֵּר	levaker	to criticize; inspect	העיתון ביקר את החלטת הממשלה. (Ha-iton biker et hachlatat ha-memshala.) – The newspaper criticized the government’s decision.
בִּקֹּרֶת	bikoret	criticism, review, inspection	הסרט קיבל ביקורות טובות. (Ha-seret kibel bikorot tovot.) – The film received good reviews.
מְבַקֵּר	mevaker	critic, inspector, auditor	המבקר מצא כמה בעיות בדוח. (Ha-mevaker matza kama be’ayot ba-do’ach.) – The auditor found several problems in the report.
בַּקָּרָה	bakara	control, supervision, monitoring	המערכת משמשת לבקרה על התהליך. (Ha-ma’arechet meshameshet le-bakara al ha-tahalich.) – The system is used to monitor the process.

Note 1

לְבַקֵּר (levaker) has two very common meanings:

• to visit
• to criticize

Compare:

ביקרתי את החבר שלי. (Bikarti et ha-chaver sheli.) – I visited my friend.
ביקרתי את ההתנהגות שלו. (Bikarti et ha-hitnahagut shelo.) – I criticized his behavior.

The intended meaning normally becomes obvious from context.

Note 2

מְבַקֵּר (mevaker) has an unusually wide range of meanings:

• visitor
• critic
• inspector
• auditor

For example:

מבקר במסעדה can be a visitor/customer, while מבקר מסעדות is a restaurant critic.

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בִּיקּוֹרֶת vs. בַּקָּרָה

• בִּיקּוֹרֶת (bikoret) – criticism, review, inspection; someone examines or evaluates something.
• בַּקָּרָה (bakara) – control, supervision, monitoring; a process or system is kept under observation or control.

Examples:

ביקורת איכות (bikoret eichut) – quality inspection
בקרת איכות (bakarat eichut) – quality control
ביקורת ספרות (bikoret sifrut) – literary criticism
מערכת בקרה (ma’arechet bakara) – control system

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Other

Hebrew	Transcription	Meaning	Example
בָּקָר	bakar	cattle	החקלאי מגדל בקר. (Ha-chaklai megadel bakar.) – The farmer raises cattle.

Note 3

The three unpointed letters בקר can therefore hide several very different words:

• בּוֹקֶר (boker) – morning
• בָּקָר (bakar) – cattle
• בִּיקֵּר (biker) – he visited / criticized
• בַּקָּר (bakar) – controller, inspector