The Hebrew Alphabet

The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters and is written right to left. Five of them (כ מ נ פ צ) take a different form at the end of a word. Tap any letter to hear its name and its sound in modern Hebrew.

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All 22 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name and its sound in modern Hebrew.

Alef say “A-lef” no sound of its own: it carries a vowel (at most a tiny catch in the throat)
Bet b with the dot (בּ), v without it (ב)
Gimel say “GI-mel” g as in “go”
Dalet say “DA-let” d as in “dog”
He say “heh” h as in “hat”; silent at the end of a word
Vav v as in “van”; also the vowels o (וֹ) and u (וּ)
Zayin say “ZA-yin” z as in “zoo”
Het say “khet” ch as in Scottish “loch”
Tet t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
Yod say “yood” y as in “yes”; also the vowel i
Kaf k with the dot (כּ), ch as in “loch” without it (כ)
Lamed say “LA-med” l as in “let”
Mem m as in “man”
Nun say “noon” n as in “no”
Samekh say “SA-mekh” s as in “sun”
Ayin say “A-yin” silent in most modern Israeli speech; carries a vowel (some speakers use a throaty sound)
Pe say “peh” p with the dot (פּ), f without it (פ)
Tsadi say “TSA-dee” ts as in “cats”
Qof say “koof” k as in “skip” (no puff of air)
Resh a throaty r, like the French r
Shin say “sheen” sh with the dot on the right (שׁ), s with the dot on the left (שׂ)
Tav t as in “stop” (no puff of air)

5 letters with an end-of-word form

Kaf at the end of a word; sounds kh ברך berech · knee
Mem at the end of a word יום yom · day
Nun at the end of a word זמן zman · time
Pe at the end of a word; sounds f חורף choref · winter
Tsadi at the end of a word עץ etz · tree

Vowel marks (niqqud)

Mark	Name	Sound
	patach · kamatz	a as in “father”
	segol · tsere	e as in “bed”
	chirik	ee as in “see”
	cholam	a short, pure o (no “oh-oo” glide)
	kubutz · shuruk	oo as in “food”
בְּ	shva	a very short e, or nothing