🇮🇱 האלף־בית העברי

The Hebrew alphabet

The Hebrew alphabet (the alef-bet) has 22 letters, all of them consonants, written from right to left. The "square script" used today was adopted from Aramaic around the time of the Babylonian exile and has barely changed in over two thousand years. There are no capital letters, but five letters take a special shape at the end of a word.

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Letters 22

' · alef

silent letter that carries a vowel, sometimes a light catch in the throat [ʔ] אבא aba — dad Often just a placeholder for a vowel sound.

b / v · bet / vet

b in 'boy' (with a dot: בּ); v in 'van' without it [b, v] בית bayit — house Usually b at the start of a word, often v in the middle or at the end.

g · gimel

hard g in 'go' [ɡ] גדול gadol — big With a geresh (ג׳) it spells the j sound in loanwords, e.g. ג׳ינס 'jeans'.

d · dalet

d in 'dog' [d] דג dag — fish Has a small corner on the top right; compare ר, which is rounded.

h · he

h in 'hat'; usually silent at the end of a word [h] הר har — mountain At the end of a word it usually just marks an a or e vowel, as in תודה todá.

v / o / u · vav

v in 'van'; also used to write the vowels o (וֹ) and u (וּ) [v] ורד vered — rose As a prefix ו- means "and".

z · zayin

z in 'zoo' [z] זמן zman — time With a geresh (ז׳) it spells the zh sound of 'measure' in loanwords.

ch · chet

throaty ch as in Scottish 'loch' or German 'Bach' [χ] חלב chalav — milk Compare ה (gap at top left) and ת (foot on the left).

t · tet

t in 'top' [t] טוב tov — good Sounds the same as ת in Modern Hebrew.

y · yod

y in 'yes'; also used to write the vowels i and e [j] ילד yeled — boy The smallest letter of the alphabet.

כ ך

k / kh · kaf / khaf

k in 'kite' (with a dot: כּ); throaty kh as in 'Bach' without it [k, χ] כלב kelev — dog Final form ך drops below the line and is almost always pronounced kh.

l · lamed

l in 'look' [l] לחם lechem — bread The only letter that rises above the top line.

מ ם

m · mem

m in 'moon' [m] מים mayim — water Final form ם is a closed square; compare ס, which is round.

נ ן

n · nun

n in 'no' [n] נר ner — candle Final form ן is a long straight stroke reaching below the line.

s · samekh

s in 'sun' [s] ספר sefer — book Sounds the same as שׂ (sin).

' · ayin

usually silent in modern speech, like א; it carries a vowel [ʔ] עיר ir — city Traditionally a deep throat sound, still heard from some speakers.

פ ף

p / f · pe / fe

p in 'pen' (with a dot: פּ); f in 'fun' without it [p, f] פה pe — mouth Final form ף is always f.

צ ץ

ts · tsadi

ts in 'cats' [ts] צבע tseva — color With a geresh (צ׳) it spells the ch of 'chip' in loanwords.

k · qof

k in 'kite' [k] קפה kafe — coffee Sounds the same as כּ in Modern Hebrew.

r · resh

guttural r made at the back of the throat, like the French r [ʁ] רגל regel — leg Rounded top right corner; compare ד.

sh / s · shin / sin

sh in 'shop' (dot on the right: שׁ); s in 'sun' (dot on the left: שׂ) [ʃ, s] שלום shalom — hello; peace In unpointed text, sh is far more common than s.

t · tav

t in 'top' [t] תודה toda — thank you The last letter of the alphabet.

Learning the letters is quick — most people can sound out words within a week or two. The real challenge is that everyday Hebrew is written without vowels, so you read by recognising word patterns. Focus on telling look-alike letters apart (ב/כ, ד/ר, ה/ח/ת, ו/ז/ן) and on the five final forms, and practise with pointed (vowelled) texts before moving to normal print.

How to learn it fast

Drill the look-alike groups side by side: ב/כ, ד/ר, ה/ח/ת, ו/ז/ן, ס/ם and ג/נ. Most early reading mistakes come from these pairs.
Memorise the five final forms with the traditional mnemonic כמנפ״ץ (kamnefets): כ→ך, מ→ם, נ→ן, פ→ף, צ→ץ.
In unpointed text, use ו and י as vowel clues: ו is usually o or u, י is usually i or e. Words without them usually have a or e vowels.
A dot inside ב, כ, פ (dagesh) gives the hard sounds b, k, p; without it they are v, kh, f. At the start of a word they are almost always hard.
Start with children's books or song lyrics printed with niqqud (vowel points), then switch to normal text once common words are familiar.
Handwriting uses a separate cursive script whose letters look quite different. Learn print for reading first, then cursive if you want to write by hand.

Did you know?

Hebrew letters double as numbers: א = 1, י = 10, ק = 100. The system (gematria) is still used for dates in the Hebrew calendar and for numbering lists.
Five letters — ך ם ן ף ץ — have a separate final form used only at the end of a word.
Everyday Hebrew is written without vowels; vowel points (niqqud) appear mainly in children's books, poetry, dictionaries and prayer books.
Hebrew was revived as an everyday spoken language in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and today has millions of native speakers.
Yiddish and Ladino are also traditionally written in Hebrew letters.

Quick quiz: which sound is this?

Questions

How many letters are in the Hebrew alphabet?

22. It is written right to left.

How long does it take to learn the Hebrew alphabet?

Most learners can recognise every letter within one to two weeks of short daily practice, and read slowly but accurately within a month. Reading real text — even very simple text — is what makes the letters automatic.

What's the best way to learn it?

Drill the look-alike groups side by side: ב/כ, ד/ר, ה/ח/ת, ו/ז/ן, ס/ם and ג/נ. Most early reading mistakes come from these pairs. Memorise the five final forms with the traditional mnemonic כמנפ״ץ (kamnefets): כ→ך, מ→ם, נ→ן, פ→ף, צ→ץ. In unpointed text, use ו and י as vowel clues: ו is usually o or u, י is usually i or e. Words without them usually have a or e vowels.