צבע
“צבע” (цэва) — paint in Hebrew. Noun, level A2, topic — home and things. One word for the colour and the paint: tzeva lavan — white paint or white colour, only the context tells. A bucket of paint is dli tzeva. In a live sentence: “אני לוקח צבע לבן לקיר.” — I am taking white paint for the wall. Written with the characters צ, ב, ע. One of 197 words in the set “home and things” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | צבע |
| Read in Latin letters | цэва |
| Translation | paint |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
One word for the colour and the paint: tzeva lavan — white paint or white colour, only the context tells. A bucket of paint is dli tzeva
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.
- אני לוקח צבע לבן לקיר.ани лохэах цэва лаван ла-кир.I am taking white paint for the wall.
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- ביתбаитhouseBoth a home and a building. From it beit kafe and Beit Lechem: the house of a thing is its establishment
- דירהдираapartmentFeminine. In rental ads look for dira lehaskara — an apartment to let
- מגוריםмегуримhousingThe word is always plural, like the English lodgings: in a form they write makom megurim — the place of residence
- חדרхедерroomA room in the house and in the school — one word. The bedroom is cheder shina, literally "the room of sleep"
- מטבחмитбахkitchenFrom the root b-sh-l, to cook — the same as bashel, ripe. On the kitchen door look for the letters m-t-b-ch
- אמבטיהамбатьяbathroomIsraelis say simply ambatya — both the bathtub and the bathroom. The hot water is found under the red letter ch
- מרפסתмирпесэтbalconyFeminine: mirpeset gdola. Laundry dries there and the morning coffee is drunk — a balcony in Israel is not a luxury but an extension of the apartment
- קומהкомаfloor (storey)The count is not the English one: your second floor is koma rishona, the first. The elevator names the floors its own way — watch the panel
- מעליתмаалитelevatorFrom the root a-l-h, to ascend — the same as aliyah, the ascent to Israel. In the old houses of Tel Aviv there is often no elevator: ein maalit
- מדרגותмадреготstairsPlural only — there are many steps. One step is madrega
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “paint” in Hebrew?
One word for the colour and the paint: tzeva lavan — white paint or white colour, only the context tells. A bucket of paint is dli tzeva
- How do you say “balcony” in Hebrew?
Feminine: mirpeset gdola. Laundry dries there and the morning coffee is drunk — a balcony in Israel is not a luxury but an extension of the apartment
- How do you say “housing” in Hebrew?
The word is always plural, like the English lodgings: in a form they write makom megurim — the place of residence
- How do you say “stairs” in Hebrew?
Plural only — there are many steps. One step is madrega
- How do you say “bathroom” in Hebrew?
Israelis say simply ambatya — both the bathtub and the bathroom. The hot water is found under the red letter ch
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 “paint” in Hebrew?
«צבע», read “цэва”. In a live sentence: “אני לוקח צבע לבן לקיר.” — I am taking white paint for the wall. Noun, level A2, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters צ, ב, ע.
How is “צבע” written in Latin letters?
цэва. 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?
One word for the colour and the paint: tzeva lavan — white paint or white colour, only the context tells. A bucket of paint is dli tzeva. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.