סכום
“סכום” (схум) — the amount in Hebrew. Noun, level A2. Schum is the amount payable and nothing more: mathematical addition is chibur. Schum stands in every bill and in every job ad. In a live sentence: “הסכום בחשבון גבוה מדי.” — The amount on the bill is too high. Written with the characters ס, כ, ו. A word from the everyday Hebrew course, level A2.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | סכום |
| Read in Latin letters | схум |
| Translation | the amount |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Schum is the amount payable and nothing more: mathematical addition is chibur. Schum stands in every bill and in every job ad
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.
- הסכום בחשבון גבוה מדי.ха-схум бе-хешбон гавоа мидаи.The amount on the bill is too high.
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 “the amount” in Hebrew?
«סכום», read “схум”. In a live sentence: “הסכום בחשבון גבוה מדי.” — The amount on the bill is too high. Noun, level A2; written with the characters ס, כ, ו.
How is “סכום” written in Latin letters?
схум. 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?
Schum is the amount payable and nothing more: mathematical addition is chibur. Schum stands in every bill and in every job ad. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.