Hebrew word of the day · Street Hebrew and slang

נוּnu

well... / so...

One Hebrew word, two letters, and Israelis say it all day long: נוּ

Hear it read by a native speaker

In a sentence

נוּ, מַה קּוֹרֶה?
nu, ma kore?
So, what's up?

(nu, well / so). Your voice decides the meaning, not the spelling.

נוּ, מַה קּוֹרֶה? (nu, ma kore, so, what's up). Said fast, warm, at the start of a conversation.

נוּ is not a yes or no question. Your ear heard English. They were asking you to keep talking.

נוּ? on its own means and then? what happened? Just continue your story.

A long nuuu means move already, we're late. Same two letters, very different room temperature.

נוּ בֶּאֱמֶת (nu be'emet, oh come on). You'll hear this one in every Israeli argument.

Friend walks in, phone in hand. You say nu, ma kore. At home, who says the impatient נוּ?

Israelis never open their own story with נוּ

(nu, well... / so...) A small push word, aimed at the person in front of you.

נוּ, קָנִיתִי אוֹטוֹ חָדָשׁ (nu, kaniti oto khadash) An Israeli hears: come on already, get to the point.

אָז קָנִיתִי אוֹטוֹ חָדָשׁ (az kaniti oto khadash, so I bought a new car) This is how you open your own story.

The word pushes the other person to talk. Point it at yourself and you sound like you're rushing yourself.

Your friend is three minutes into a story with no ending: נוּ, מַה קּוֹרֶה? (nu, ma kore?, so, what's up?)

Someone cancels on you for the third time: נוּ, בֶּאֱמֶת? (nu, be'emet, oh come on, really)

Tell us in the comments: who in your life this week gets a נוּ

Published 8 October 2026 by the Israeli Hebrew Institute. Every word, sentence and vowel point on this page was checked by a native Israeli teacher.