Reading Hebrew
The Hebrew alphabet (alef-bet)
From alef to tav: 22 letters, read from right to left. Five of them change shape at the end of a word. Each one is here with its name, its sound and the number it stands for.
The 22 letters, in order
| Letter | Name | Sound | Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | Alefאָלֶף | silent carrier IPA: /ʔ/ Alef makes no sound of its own. It carries whatever vowel is marked on it. | 1 |
| ב | Betבֵּית | b as in boy, or v as in vine when it has no dot IPA: /b/ or /v/ A dot inside makes it b; without one it is v. Everyday Hebrew leaves the dots out, so you learn each word’s sound along with the word. | 2 |
| ג | Gimelגִּימֶל | hard g as in give IPA: /ɡ/ Always the hard g of give, never the g of gentle. It can carry a dot, but that no longer changes the sound in modern Hebrew. | 3 |
| ד | Daletדָּלֶת | d as in door IPA: /d/ A plain d. Its roof juts out past the leg on the right, which is the one thing that separates it from resh. | 4 |
| ה | Heהֵא | h as in hall, usually silent at the end of a word IPA: /h/ A light h. At the end of a word it is usually silent, and it often marks a feminine ending, as in Sarah and Torah. | 5 |
| ו | Vavוָו | v as in vine IPA: /v/ A consonant v, and also a vowel letter: with a dot above it is o, with a dot inside it is u. | 6 |
| ז | Zayinזַיִן | z as in zebra IPA: /z/ A plain z. The crossbar sits centred on the stem, where vav has no crossbar at all. | 7 |
| ח | Hetחֵיתalso Chet | ch as in Bach, from the back of the throat IPA: /χ/ Most Israeli speakers pronounce it exactly like khaf. Mizrahi and Yemenite speakers keep a deeper throat sound that stays distinct. | 8 |
| ט | Tetטֵית | t as in table IPA: /t/ A t, the same sound as tav in modern Hebrew. Yemenite and some other reading traditions still keep the two apart. | 9 |
| י | Yodיוֹד | y as in yes IPA: /j/ The smallest letter, and one of the most frequent. As a consonant it is y. After a chirik it adds no sound of its own; it only marks the vowel. | 10 |
| כ | Kafכָּף | k as in king, or ch as in Bach when it has no dot IPA: /k/ or /χ/ With a dot it is k; without one it is the throaty kh. At the end of a word it stretches into its final form. | 20 |
| ל | Lamedלָמֶד | l as in lamp IPA: /l/ The only letter that rises above the line. Attached to the front of a word, it also means ‘to’ or ‘for’. | 30 |
| מ | Memמֵם | m as in moon IPA: /m/ A plain m. At the end of a word it closes up into a square box. | 40 |
| נ | Nunנוּן | n as in noon IPA: /n/ A plain n. At the end of a word it loses its foot and drops straight below the line. | 50 |
| ס | Samekhסָמֶךְalso Samech | s as in sun IPA: /s/ An s, identical in sound to sin. Which of the two a word uses is a matter of spelling, learned word by word. | 60 |
| ע | Ayinעַיִן | silent for most Israeli speakers IPA: /ʕ/ Most Israeli speakers give it no sound, like alef. Mizrahi, Yemenite and many Sephardi speakers keep a deep throat sound. | 70 |
| פ | Peפֵּא | p as in park, or f as in fine when it has no dot IPA: /p/ or /f/ With a dot it is p; without one it is f. Hebrew has no separate letter for f. | 80 |
| צ | Tsadiצָדִי | ts as in cats IPA: /ts/ Tsadi is the standard name, though plenty of speakers say tsadik. | 90 |
| ק | Qofקוֹףalso Kof | k as in king IPA: /k/ A k, identical to kaf with a dot in modern Hebrew. Of the twenty-two base letters, it is the only one whose leg drops below the line. | 100 |
| ר | Reshרֵישׁ | r made at the back of the throat, closer to French than English IPA: /ʁ/ Modern Israeli speech makes it far back in the throat. Its roof has no overhang on the right; dalet’s does. | 200 |
| ש | Shinשִׁין | sh as in shoe, or s when the dot sits on the left arm IPA: /ʃ/ or /s/ The dot decides: on the right arm it is sh, on the left arm it is sin, which sounds exactly like samekh. | 300 |
| ת | Tavתָּו | t as in table IPA: /t/ A plain t. In Ashkenazi pronunciation the undotted form is s, which is why you hear both Shabbat and Shabbos. | 400 |
The five final forms
Kaf, mem, nun, pe and tsadi change shape when they end a word.
| Letter | Name | Final form of | Sound | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ך | Khaf Sofitכָף סוֹפִית | כ Kaf | ch as in Bach IPA: /χ/ This is kaf, written this way only at the end of a word. It nearly always sounds kh, and its leg drops below the line. | 20 |
| ם | Mem Sofitמֵם סוֹפִית | מ Mem | m as in moon IPA: /m/ Mem at the end of a word, closed on all four sides. Samekh is the round one; this one has corners. | 40 |
| ן | Nun Sofitנוּן סוֹפִית | נ Nun | n as in noon IPA: /n/ Nun at the end of a word: the foot is gone and the stem runs below the line. Vav stops at the line; this does not. | 50 |
| ף | Fe Sofitפֵא סוֹפִית | פ Pe | f as in fine IPA: /f/ Pe at the end of a word, almost always without the dot, so it sounds f. Sof, ‘end’, is spelled with it. | 80 |
| ץ | Tsadi Sofitצָדִי סוֹפִית | צ Tsadi | ts as in cats IPA: /ts/ Tsadi at the end of a word: the arm straightens into a tail below the line. The sound does not change. | 90 |
Letters that look or sound alike
The app marks 27 pairs of letters as easy to confuse, by shape or by sound. Where one letter’s note mentions its partner, the note is shown below.
Ayin: Most Israeli speakers give it no sound, like alef. Mizrahi, Yemenite and many Sephardi speakers keep a deep throat sound.
Dalet: A plain d. Its roof juts out past the leg on the right, which is the one thing that separates it from resh.
Resh: Modern Israeli speech makes it far back in the throat. Its roof has no overhang on the right; dalet’s does.
Zayin: A plain z. The crossbar sits centred on the stem, where vav has no crossbar at all.
Nun Sofit: Nun at the end of a word: the foot is gone and the stem runs below the line. Vav stops at the line; this does not.
Het: Most Israeli speakers pronounce it exactly like khaf. Mizrahi and Yemenite speakers keep a deeper throat sound that stays distinct.
Tet: A t, the same sound as tav in modern Hebrew. Yemenite and some other reading traditions still keep the two apart.
Qof: A k, identical to kaf with a dot in modern Hebrew. Of the twenty-two base letters, it is the only one whose leg drops below the line.
Samekh: An s, identical in sound to sin. Which of the two a word uses is a matter of spelling, learned word by word.
Shin: The dot decides: on the right arm it is sh, on the left arm it is sin, which sounds exactly like samekh.
Mem Sofit: Mem at the end of a word, closed on all four sides. Samekh is the round one; this one has corners.
The number each letter stands for (gematria)
Alef to tet stand for 1 to 9, yod to tsadi for 10 to 90 and qof to tav for 100 to 400. Each final form keeps its letter’s number.
How OrQuest teaches them
A beginner’s path opens with these three units, five lessons each.
-
Unit 1
The Alef-Bet, Part One
Your first eleven letters.
- Alef, Bet, Vet
- Gimel, Dalet, He
- Vav, Zayin, Chet
- Tet, Yod, Kaf
- Checkpoint: Alef to Kaf
-
Unit 2
The Alef-Bet, Part Two
The rest of the letters, and the five that change at the end.
- Lamed, Mem, Nun
- Samech, Ayin, Pe
- Tsadi, Kof, Resh
- Shin, Sin, Tav
- Checkpoint: All Twenty-Two
-
Unit 3
Vowels
The dots and dashes that make Hebrew speakable.
- Kamatz and Patach
- Tsere and Segol
- Chirik, Cholam, Shuruk
- Shva, Dagesh and the Hurried Vowels
- Checkpoint: Reading Out Loud
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