בושם
“בושם” (бушем) — perfume in Hebrew. Noun, level A2, topic — shopping and money. From besam — an aroma: perfume is what smells. The toilet water is mei toilet. In a live sentence: “בושם יקר — מתנה טובה ליום הולדת.” — An expensive perfume is a good birthday present. Written with the characters ב, ו, ש. One of 82 words in the set “shopping and money” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | בושם |
| Read in Latin letters | бушем |
| Translation | perfume |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
From besam — an aroma: perfume is what smells. The toilet water is mei toilet
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.
- בושם יקר — מתנה טובה ליום הולדת.бушем якар — матана това ле-йом хуледет.An expensive perfume is a good birthday present.
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- אירוироeuroA borrowing from the Europeans. In Israel you pay shekels — shekel chadash
- כמה זה עולה?кама зэ оле?how much is it?Literally "how much does it rise?" A shorter kama ole? works just as well
- חנותханутshopFeminine. A shop of any size, from a kiosk to a boutique
- שוקшукmarketTel Aviv's Shuk HaCarmel is the famous market where people still haggle. The Arabic souk is the same word
- דוכןдуханstall; counterThe market stall and the cafe counter where the goods stand
- מוכרмохерsellerFrom the root m-ch-r, to sell. A woman seller is mocheret, and at the shuk it is more often she
- קונהконеbuyerFrom the root k-n-h, to buy. At the market no words are needed: you point a finger and you are already the kone
- משקלмишкальscalesOne word covers the weight and the scales — singular, though the English scales are plural. From it lishkol, to weigh
- קילוкилоkilogramAt the shuk nobody says the whole kilogram — only kilo. Two kilos is shnei kilo, and the word does not change
- טריтариfreshAbout food: fresh bread, fresh fruit. The feminine is tarya, the plural tariim
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “perfume” in Hebrew?
From besam — an aroma: perfume is what smells. The toilet water is mei toilet
- How do you say “buyer” in Hebrew?
From the root k-n-h, to buy. At the market no words are needed: you point a finger and you are already the kone
- How do you say “shop” in Hebrew?
Feminine. A shop of any size, from a kiosk to a boutique
- How do you say “fresh” in Hebrew?
About food: fresh bread, fresh fruit. The feminine is tarya, the plural tariim
- How do you say “seller” in Hebrew?
From the root m-ch-r, to sell. A woman seller is mocheret, and at the shuk it is more often she
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 “perfume” in Hebrew?
«בושם», read “бушем”. In a live sentence: “בושם יקר — מתנה טובה ליום הולדת.” — An expensive perfume is a good birthday present. Noun, level A2, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters ב, ו, ש.
How is “בושם” written in Latin letters?
бушем. 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?
From besam — an aroma: perfume is what smells. The toilet water is mei toilet. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.