מקום פנוי
“מקום פנוי” (маком пануи) — a free seat in Hebrew. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. You know cheder panui, a vacant room — the same pattern: panui — free, makom — a place. In a live sentence: “זה מקום פנוי?” — Is this a free seat? Written with the characters מ, ק, ו, פ, נ, ו, י. One of 14 words in the set “transport” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | מקום פנוי |
| Read in Latin letters | маком пануи |
| Translation | a free seat |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
You know cheder panui, a vacant room — the same pattern: panui — free, makom — a place
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.
- זה מקום פנוי?зэ маком пануи?Is this a free seat?
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- אוטובוסотобусbusAn international word; on board you pay with a card, cash is not taken
- רכבתракеветtrainFrom the root r-k-b, to ride. One root covers the train, the driver and transport — everything that rides
- תחנת רכבתтаханат ракеветrailway stationTachana is a station and a stop at once: tachana merkazit, the central one, is the main bus terminal
- מוניתмонитtaxiThe official word; in the street taxi works too. Cabs are caught with an app, not by waving
- תחנהтаханаstopYou have heard tachana a hundred times: tachanat otobus, tachanat rakevet, tachanat delek; a bare tachana is both a station and a stop
- נוסעносэаpassengerFrom linsoa — to ride — a verb you know: a passenger is the one who rides. The feminine is nosaat
- מושבмошавseatFrom lashevet — to sit: a seat in the bus and in the car is a moshav. Careful: so they also call a rural village
- מעקהмаакаhandrailThe railing on the stairs and the handrail in the bus are one word, the maaka. The first a is not read
- פקחпакеахticket inspectorAn inspector: he checks the tickets in the bus and keeps the order. Without a ticket you will not hide from him
- דמי נסיעהдмей несиаfareDmei is the payment for something, as in dmei mishloach, the delivery cost; the fare for the ride is dmei nesia
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “a free seat” in Hebrew?
You know cheder panui, a vacant room — the same pattern: panui — free, makom — a place
- How do you say “seat” in Hebrew?
From lashevet — to sit: a seat in the bus and in the car is a moshav. Careful: so they also call a rural village
- How do you say “railway station” in Hebrew?
Tachana is a station and a stop at once: tachana merkazit, the central one, is the main bus terminal
- How do you say “fare” in Hebrew?
Dmei is the payment for something, as in dmei mishloach, the delivery cost; the fare for the ride is dmei nesia
- How do you say “passenger” in Hebrew?
From linsoa — to ride — a verb you know: a passenger is the one who rides. The feminine is nosaat
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 “a free seat” in Hebrew?
«מקום פנוי», read “маком пануи”. In a live sentence: “זה מקום פנוי?” — Is this a free seat? Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”; written with the characters מ, ק, ו, פ, נ, ו, י.
How is “מקום פנוי” written in Latin letters?
маком пануи. 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 cheder panui, a vacant room — the same pattern: panui — free, makom — a place. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.