סַפָּר
“סַפָּר” (сапар) — hairdresser in Hebrew. Noun, level A1. The letters of sefer, the book, without vowels are read sapar — and then it is a hairdresser: the vowels are not written, only the transcription tells them apart. In a live sentence: “הסַפָּר עובד בחנות קטנה.” — The hairdresser works in a small shop. Written with the characters ס, פ, ר. A word from the everyday Hebrew course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | סַפָּר |
| Read in Latin letters | сапар |
| Translation | hairdresser |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The letters of sefer, the book, without vowels are read sapar — and then it is a hairdresser: the vowels are not written, only the transcription tells them apart
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.
- הסַפָּר עובד בחנות קטנה.ха-сапар овэд бэ-ханут ктана.The hairdresser works in a small shop.
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 “hairdresser” in Hebrew?
«סַפָּר», read “сапар”. In a live sentence: “הסַפָּר עובד בחנות קטנה.” — The hairdresser works in a small shop. Noun, level A1; written with the characters ס, פ, ר.
How is “סַפָּר” written in Latin letters?
сапар. 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?
The letters of sefer, the book, without vowels are read sapar — and then it is a hairdresser: the vowels are not written, only the transcription tells them apart. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.