בוקר טוב
“בוקר טוב” (бокер тов) — good morning in Hebrew. Phrase, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. Literally "good morning". The boundary is the same as in English: after eleven it is already yom tov. In a live sentence: “בוקר טוב, דנה!” — Good morning, Dana! Written with the characters ב, ו, ק, ר, ט, ו, ב. One of 9 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | בוקר טוב |
| Read in Latin letters | бокер тов |
| Translation | good morning |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "good morning". The boundary is the same as in English: after eleven it is already yom tov
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.
- בוקר טוב, דנה!бокер тов, Дана!Good morning, Dana!
Nearby words: greetings and goodbyes
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
- שלוםшаломhiThe most famous Hebrew word: hello, goodbye and peace in one. It greets at any hour of the day
- יום טובйом товgood afternoonLiterally "good day": said as a daytime greeting and wished to someone when parting
- ערב טובэрев товgood eveningLiterally "good evening". The first letter ע is not read — erev, not aerev
- להתראותлеитраотgoodbyeLiterally "until we see each other" — from the root r-a-h, to see. The all-purpose farewell
- בייбайbyeFrom the English bye, but long since its own: friends part with it more often than with lehitraot
- מה שלומך?ма шломха?how are you?Literally "how is your peace?". To a woman the question is shlomekh — the final ך reads kh
- מה שלומכם?ма шломхем?how are you all?Said to a group: shlomkhem. The polite you in Hebrew is simply the plural
- לילה טובлайла товgood nightLiterally "good night" — built on the same pattern as yom tov and boker tov
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “greetings and goodbyes”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “good morning” in Hebrew?
Literally "good morning". The boundary is the same as in English: after eleven it is already yom tov
- How do you say “how are you all?” in Hebrew?
Said to a group: shlomkhem. The polite you in Hebrew is simply the plural
- How do you say “bye” in Hebrew?
From the English bye, but long since its own: friends part with it more often than with lehitraot
- How do you say “good evening” in Hebrew?
Literally "good evening". The first letter ע is not read — erev, not aerev
- How do you say “hi” in Hebrew?
The most famous Hebrew word: hello, goodbye and peace in one. It greets at any hour of the day
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 “good morning” in Hebrew?
«בוקר טוב», read “бокер тов”. In a live sentence: “בוקר טוב, דנה!” — Good morning, Dana! Phrase, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”; written with the characters ב, ו, ק, ר, ט, ו, ב.
How is “בוקר טוב” written in Latin letters?
бокер тов. 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?
Literally "good morning". The boundary is the same as in English: after eleven it is already yom tov. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.