במרחק שני צעדים
“במרחק שני צעדים” (бе-мерхак шней цаадим) — two steps away in Hebrew. Phrase, level A1, topic — asking the way. You know merchak, a distance; two steps is shnei tseadim — together it means very close. In a live sentence: “המלון במרחק שני צעדים מהים.” — The hotel is two steps from the sea. Written with the characters ב, מ, ר, ח, ק, ש, נ, י, צ, ע, ד, י. One of 18 words in the set “asking the way” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | במרחק שני צעדים |
| Read in Latin letters | бе-мерхак шней цаадим |
| Translation | two steps away |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
You know merchak, a distance; two steps is shnei tseadim — together it means very close
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- המלון במרחק שני צעדים מהים.ха-малон бе-мерхак шней цаадим ми-ха-ям.The hotel is two steps from the sea.
Nearby words: asking the way
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
- איפה?эйфо?where?The city's first question: eifo ha-... — where is the such-and-such. Hebrew says where to with a different word
- כאןканhereDo not mix it up with kach (כך), so: one vowel decides everything
- שםшамthereWritten the same way as shem, a name — only the vowel tells them apart, and without nikud the context helps
- ימינהяминаto the rightFrom yamin, the right hand; the ending -a gives direction — toward the right one
- שמאלהсмолаto the leftFrom smol, the left hand. The pair to yamina, with the same direction ending
- ישרяшарstraightBoth straight about a road and honest about a person: an upright person is adam yashar
- קרובкаровcloseBoth close and a relative — the one who is close. The pair to rachok
- רחוקрахокfarThe question is it far? is just rachok? The answer lo rachok means not far
- איך מגיעיםэйх магиимhow do I get to...?Literally "how do they arrive?" — the question is put in the plural, how do people get there. Then comes le-: eich magiim latachana?
- להגיע עדлеагиа адto reachYou know lehagia, to arrive; ad strengthens it: to reach as far as the sea itself — lehagia ad hayam
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “two steps away” in Hebrew?
You know merchak, a distance; two steps is shnei tseadim — together it means very close
- How do you say “close” in Hebrew?
Both close and a relative — the one who is close. The pair to rachok
- How do you say “there” in Hebrew?
Written the same way as shem, a name — only the vowel tells them apart, and without nikud the context helps
- How do you say “to reach” in Hebrew?
You know lehagia, to arrive; ad strengthens it: to reach as far as the sea itself — lehagia ad hayam
- How do you say “straight” in Hebrew?
Both straight about a road and honest about a person: an upright person is adam yashar
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “two steps away” in Hebrew?
«במרחק שני צעדים», read “бе-мерхак шней цаадим”. In a live sentence: “המלון במרחק שני צעדים מהים.” — The hotel is two steps from the sea. Phrase, level A1, from the set “asking the way”; written with the characters ב, מ, ר, ח, ק, ש, נ, י, צ, ע, ד, י.
How is “במרחק שני צעדים” written in Latin letters?
бе-мерхак шней цаадим. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
You know merchak, a distance; two steps is shnei tseadim — together it means very close. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.