оптом
“оптом” (optom) — wholesale in Russian. Adverb, level B1, topic — shopping and money. Etot tovar prodayut tolko optom — "this item is sold wholesale only" — a lot at once, for resale; the opposite is v roznitsu, by retail, and the wholesale price is noticeably lower. In a live sentence: “Этот товар продают только оптом” — This item is sold wholesale only. Written with the characters о, п, т, о, м.
In short
| Written in Russian | оптом |
| Read in Latin letters | optom |
| Translation | wholesale |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Etot tovar prodayut tolko optom — "this item is sold wholesale only" — a lot at once, for resale; the opposite is v roznitsu, by retail, and the wholesale price is noticeably lower.
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.
- Этот товар продают только оптомEtot tovar prodayut tolko optomThis item is sold wholesale only
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- рубльrublrubleFrom rubit, "to chop": the first coin was a chopped-off piece. After five it takes the of-many form: desyat rubley.
- сколько стоит?skolko stoit?how much is it?Stoit here means "to carry a price", not "to stand" — a pair to watch. The answer starts straight with the number.
- магазинmagazinshopThe false friend of the first order: English "magazine" is zhurnal, and magazin is a shop. The word rode in from Arabic for "warehouse".
- прилавокprilavokcounter (shop)The seller's table, the border between the two sides of a market. Prilavok — eto stol prodavtsa.
- продавецprodavetsseller, shop assistantThe one who sells; the one who buys is pokupatel. The -ets ending names the person by the deed.
- покупательpokupatelcustomer, buyerFrom pokupat, "to buy", plus the person-ending. Pokupatel khochet desyat yablok.
- весыvesyscalesAlways plural, like "scissors": the two pans are the two halves of the word. Vesy tam, a kassa zdes.
- килограммkilogrammkilogramTwo m's, one word. Odin kilogramm yablok, pozhaluysta.
- свежийsvezhiyfreshKhleb svezhiy, a ryba net — "the bread is fresh, the fish is not". The same word means "cool" about a breeze.
- спелыйspelyyripeKilogramm yablok byl spelyy — the apple ready to eat. Its opposite is nezrelyy.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “wholesale” in Russian?
Etot tovar prodayut tolko optom — "this item is sold wholesale only" — a lot at once, for resale; the opposite is v roznitsu, by retail, and the wholesale price is noticeably lower.
- How do you say “scales” in Russian?
Always plural, like "scissors": the two pans are the two halves of the word. Vesy tam, a kassa zdes.
- How do you say “shop” in Russian?
The false friend of the first order: English "magazine" is zhurnal, and magazin is a shop. The word rode in from Arabic for "warehouse".
- How do you say “ripe” in Russian?
Kilogramm yablok byl spelyy — the apple ready to eat. Its opposite is nezrelyy.
- How do you say “customer, buyer” in Russian?
From pokupat, "to buy", plus the person-ending. Pokupatel khochet desyat yablok.
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 “wholesale” in Russian?
«оптом», read “optom”. In a live sentence: “Этот товар продают только оптом” — This item is sold wholesale only. Adverb, level B1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters о, п, т, о, м.
How is “оптом” written in Latin letters?
optom. 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?
Etot tovar prodayut tolko optom — "this item is sold wholesale only" — a lot at once, for resale; the opposite is v roznitsu, by retail, and the wholesale price is noticeably lower. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.