כמה לשלם?
“כמה לשלם?” (кама лешалем?) — how much do I owe? in Hebrew. Phrase, level A1, topic — shopping and money. Literally "how much to pay". At the till a single kama? is enough — and you will be understood. In a live sentence: “כמה לשלם על הכל?” — How much for everything? Written with the characters כ, מ, ה, ל, ש, ל. One of 82 words in the set “shopping and money” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | כמה לשלם? |
| Read in Latin letters | кама лешалем? |
| Translation | how much do I owe? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "how much to pay". At the till a single kama? is enough — and you will be understood
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.
- כמה לשלם על הכל?кама лешалем аль ха-коль?How much for everything?
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 “how much do I owe?” in Hebrew?
Literally "how much to pay". At the till a single kama? is enough — and you will be understood
- 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 “how much do I owe?” in Hebrew?
«כמה לשלם?», read “кама лешалем?”. In a live sentence: “כמה לשלם על הכל?” — How much for everything? Phrase, level A1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters כ, מ, ה, ל, ש, ל.
How is “כמה לשלם?” written in Latin letters?
кама лешалем? 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 "how much to pay". At the till a single kama? is enough — and you will be understood. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.