יתום
“יתום” (йетом) — an orphan in Hebrew. Noun, level A1. An orphan is the one who lost the parents; about a girl they say ytoma. The word is masculine but fits both. In a live sentence: “הילד הזה יתום ואין לו הורים.” — This child is an orphan — he has no parents. Written with the characters י, ת, ו. A word from the everyday Hebrew course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | יתום |
| Read in Latin letters | йетом |
| Translation | an orphan |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
An orphan is the one who lost the parents; about a girl they say ytoma. The word is masculine but fits both
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.
- הילד הזה יתום ואין לו הורים.ха-йелед хазе йетом ве-эйн ло хорим.This child is an orphan — he has no parents.
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 “an orphan” in Hebrew?
«יתום», read “йетом”. In a live sentence: “הילד הזה יתום ואין לו הורים.” — This child is an orphan — he has no parents. Noun, level A1; written with the characters י, ת, ו.
How is “יתום” written in Latin letters?
йетом. 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?
An orphan is the one who lost the parents; about a girl they say ytoma. The word is masculine but fits both. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.