רופא שיניים
“רופא שיניים” (рофэ шинаим) — a dentist in Hebrew. Noun, level A2. Literally "the doctor of the teeth"; shen — a tooth — and shinaim — teeth. One goes once a year — if the bituach covers it. In a live sentence: “הרופא שיניים בקומה השנייה.” — The dentist is on the second floor. Written with the characters ר, ו, פ, א, ש, י, נ, י, י. A word from the everyday Hebrew course, level A2.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | רופא שיניים |
| Read in Latin letters | рофэ шинаим |
| Translation | a dentist |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "the doctor of the teeth"; shen — a tooth — and shinaim — teeth. One goes once a year — if the bituach covers it
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.
- הרופא שיניים בקומה השנייה.ха-рофэ шинаим ба-кома ха-шния.The dentist is on the second floor.
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 dentist” in Hebrew?
«רופא שיניים», read “рофэ шинаим”. In a live sentence: “הרופא שיניים בקומה השנייה.” — The dentist is on the second floor. Noun, level A2; written with the characters ר, ו, פ, א, ש, י, נ, י, י.
How is “רופא שיניים” written in Latin letters?
рофэ шинаим. 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 "the doctor of the teeth"; shen — a tooth — and shinaim — teeth. One goes once a year — if the bituach covers it. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.