ידיד
“ידיד” (ядид) — a good friend in Hebrew. Noun, level A1. The chaver is already taken by the friend; the yadid is a friend a bit more distant: a good acquaintance. The adjective yedidutit — friendly — is in the neighbouring lesson. In a live sentence: “הוא ידיד טוב מהעבודה.” — He is a good friend from work. Written with the characters י, ד, י, ד. A word from the everyday Hebrew course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | ידיד |
| Read in Latin letters | ядид |
| Translation | a good friend |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The chaver is already taken by the friend; the yadid is a friend a bit more distant: a good acquaintance. The adjective yedidutit — friendly — is in the neighbouring lesson
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.
- הוא ידיד טוב מהעבודה.ху ядин тов ме-ха-авода.He is a good friend from work.
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 good friend” in Hebrew?
«ידיד», read “ядид”. In a live sentence: “הוא ידיד טוב מהעבודה.” — He is a good friend from work. Noun, level A1; written with the characters י, ד, י, ד.
How is “ידיד” written in Latin letters?
ядид. 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 chaver is already taken by the friend; the yadid is a friend a bit more distant: a good acquaintance. The adjective yedidutit — friendly — is in the neighbouring lesson. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.