זר
“זר” (зар) — stranger in Hebrew. Noun, level A2, topic — people and family. Alien and stranger in one: sfat zar — a foreign language, literally the tongue of the stranger. To an unknown woman — zara. In a live sentence: “הוא לא זר, הוא חבר.” — He is not a stranger, he is a friend. Written with the characters ז, ר. One of 138 words in the set “people and family” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | זר |
| Read in Latin letters | зар |
| Translation | stranger |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Alien and stranger in one: sfat zar — a foreign language, literally the tongue of the stranger. To an unknown woman — zara
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 לא זר, הוא חבר.ху ло зар, ху хавэр.He is not a stranger, he is a friend.
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- חברхаверfriendA friend, a comrade, and also a boyfriend (of a girl). A woman friend is chavera
- משפחהмишпахаfamilyFeminine. It covers the kin wider than the English family — cousins and grandmothers included
- אמאимаmomBoth the call and the ordinary word for mother — there are no others in daily life. Reads ima
- אבאабаdadThe pair to ima. These words are native to Hebrew too — they sound close in half the languages of the world
- ילדйеледchildA girl is yalda, children are yeladim. The plural for two children is the dual: shnei yeladim
- מוכרмохерsellerFrom the root m-ch-r, to sell. A woman seller is mocheret, and at the shuk it is more often she
- קונהконеbuyerFrom the root k-n-h, to buy. At the market no words are needed: you point a finger and you are already the kone
- שכןшахенneighborShachen — a neighbor, shchena — a neighbor (f). The root sh-ch-n is the same as in michan, a dwelling: live next door and you are kin
- אדםадамpersonA human being; the plural is special — anashim. People are counted with it: kama anashim? — how many people?
- גברгеверmanIn the plural gvaryim — men. Gveret — madam: the same word with another vowel, politeness in one syllable
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “stranger” in Hebrew?
Alien and stranger in one: sfat zar — a foreign language, literally the tongue of the stranger. To an unknown woman — zara
- How do you say “buyer” in Hebrew?
From the root k-n-h, to buy. At the market no words are needed: you point a finger and you are already the kone
- How do you say “mom” in Hebrew?
Both the call and the ordinary word for mother — there are no others in daily life. Reads ima
- How do you say “man” in Hebrew?
In the plural gvaryim — men. Gveret — madam: the same word with another vowel, politeness in one syllable
- How do you say “seller” in Hebrew?
From the root m-ch-r, to sell. A woman seller is mocheret, and at the shuk it is more often she
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 “stranger” in Hebrew?
«זר», read “зар”. In a live sentence: “הוא לא זר, הוא חבר.” — He is not a stranger, he is a friend. Noun, level A2, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters ז, ר.
How is “זר” written in Latin letters?
зар. 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?
Alien and stranger in one: sfat zar — a foreign language, literally the tongue of the stranger. To an unknown woman — zara. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.