Read from left to right
Read from right to left
26 letters, some consonants,
some vowels
Uppercase and lowercase letters
22 letters, all consonants
Letters do not change form at end
5 letters change form at the end
Inconsistent Pronunciation (cat
vs. circle)
Pronunciation sometimes varies
around the world
Almost always consistent
No capital letters
Pronunciation sometimes varies
around the world
‫א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח‬
Khet
Zayin
Vav
He
Dalet
Gimel
Bet
Aleph
‫ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע‬
Ayin
Samek
Nun
Mem
Lamed
Kaf
Yod
Tet
‫פ צ ק ר ׁש ש ֹ ת‬
Tav
Shin
Sin
Resh
Qof
Tsade
Pe
The Aleph-Bet is made up entirely of Consonants.
Within the Aleph-Bet are special groups of
Consonants
4 (plus ‫)ר‬
6
See if you can find the members of these
categories…
5
‫א‬
Sound: Silent
Aleph is unpronounced and
takes on the sound of the
vowel it is given.
Aleph is a guttural consonant.
Example:
‫( ָאב‬father)
‫ּב‬
Sound: “B” as in “Boy”
“V” as in “Vet”
Bet has two pronunciations and is
a member of the Begadkephat.
The “B” sound has a dagesh lene
and the “V” sound does not.
Bet can be confused with Kaf (‫)כ‬.
‫ב‬
‫בכ‬
ֵּ (son)
Examples: ‫ּבן‬
‫( הֶ בֶל‬Abel)
Sound: “G” as in “Good”
‫ג‬
Gimel is a member of the
Begadkephat but now has only
one pronunciation. Anciently it
also had a “Gh” sound as in
“ghost”.
Example:
‫( גָּד‬Gad)
Sound: “D” as in “Dog”
‫ד‬
Dalet is a member of the
Begadkephat but now has only
one pronunciation. Anciently it
also had a “th” sound as in
“then”.
Dalet can be confused with
Resh (‫)ר‬.
‫דר‬
Example: ‫( דָּ וִד‬David)
‫ה‬
Sound: “H” as in “Help”
He is easily confused with
Khet (‫ )ח‬and Tav (‫)ת‬.
‫החת‬
He is a guttural consonant.
Example:
‫( הֶ בֶל‬Abel)
Sound: “V” as in “Velvet”
‫ו‬
Vav is easily confused with
Zayin (‫ )ז‬and final Nun (‫)ן‬.
‫ו ז ן‬
Example: ‫( ו‬and, or, also, even)
Sound: “Z” as in “Zoo”
‫ז‬
Zayin is easily confused with
Vav (‫ )ו‬and final Nun (‫)ן‬.
‫ז ו ן‬
The sound of Zayin “z” is easily
confused with the sound of
Tsade “ts”.
Example:
‫( ז ֵָּּקן‬old man, elder)
Sound: “Ch” as in “Bach”
‫ח‬
Khet is easily confused with
He (‫ )ה‬and Tav (‫)ת‬.
‫חהת‬
Khet is a guttural consonant.
Example:
‫( חֶ ברוׁן‬Hebron)
‫ט‬
Sound: “T” as in “Talk”
Tet shares the “T” sound with
Tav (‫)ּת‬.
Example:
‫( טוׁב‬good)
‫י‬
Sound: “Y” as in “Yes”
Yod is often confused with
Vav.
‫י ו‬
Example:
(Joseph)
‫יוׁ ֵּסף‬
‫כ ּכ‬
Sound: “K” as in “KitKat”
“Ch” as in “Bach”
Khet has two pronunciations and
is a member of the Begadkephat.
The “K” sound has a dagesh lene
and the “Ch” sound does not.
Kaf is often confused with Bet.
‫ך‬
‫כ ב‬
Final Form:
Example:
‫ך‬
‫( ּכ ֵֹּּהן‬priest)
‫ל‬
Sound: “L” as in
“Like”
Example:
‫( ֵּלוִי‬Levi)
‫מ‬
Sound: “M” as in “Mom”
Mem can be confused with
Samech (‫)ס‬.
‫מםס‬
‫ם‬
Final Form:
Example:
‫ם‬
‫( מא ֹּד‬very)
‫נ‬
Sound: “N” as in “Next”
Nun may be confused
with Bet or Kaf.
‫ן‬
‫נ ב כ‬
Final Form:
Example:
‫ן‬
‫( נָּ ִביא‬prophet)
‫ס‬
Sound: “S” as in “Son”
Samech can be confused
with Mem (‫)מ‬.
‫סמם‬
Example:
‫( ִסינַי‬Sinai)
Sound: Silent
‫ע‬
Ayin is unpronounced and
takes on the sound of the
vowel it is given.
Ayin is easily confused with
Tsade (‫)צ‬.
‫צע‬
Ayin is a guttural consonant.
Example:
‫( עֶ בֶד‬servant)
‫פ ּפ‬
‫ף‬
Sound: “P” as in “Pay”
“F” as in “Fast”
Pe has two pronunciations and is
a member of the Begadkephat.
The “P” sound has a dagesh lene
and the “F” sound does not.
Final Form:
Example:
‫ף‬
‫( ּפָּ לָּל‬pray)
‫( נֶפֶ ׁש‬spirit)
‫צ‬
‫ץ‬
Sound: “Ts” as in “Lets”
Tsade is easily confused
with Ayin (‫)ע‬.
‫צע‬
Final Form:
Example:
‫ץ‬
‫( ִצּיֹון‬Zion)
‫ק‬
Sound: “K” as in “KitKat”
Qof shares the “K” sound
with Kaf (‫)כ‬.
Example:
‫( ַקיִן‬Cain)
Sound: “R” as in “Right”
‫ר‬
Resh can be confused with
Dalet (‫)ד‬.
‫דר‬
Resh acts like a guttural
consonant and should be
included when you list
gutturals.
Example:
‫( ַרב‬much)
‫ׁש‬
Sound: “Sh” as in “Shell”
Shin can be confused with
Sin (‫)ׂש‬.
‫ׁש ׂש‬
Example:
ַ (Sabbath)
‫ׁשּבָּת‬
‫ׂש‬
Sound: “S” as in “Sin”
Sin can be confused with
Shin (‫)ׂש‬.
‫ׁש ׂש‬
Example:
‫( ׂשָּ ָּרה‬Sarah)
Sound: “T” as in “Test”
‫ת‬
Tav is a member of the
Begadkephat but now has only
one pronunciation. Anciently it
also had a “th” sound as in
“thin”.
Tav is easily confused with He
(‫ )ה‬and Khet (‫)ח‬.
‫החת‬
Example:
ָּ (Torah, law)
‫ּתֹורה‬
‫אהחע‬
‫)ר(‬
‫כמנפצ‬
‫ךםןףץ‬
‫ב ג ד כ פ ת ּב‬
‫ג ד ּכ ּפ ּת‬
(‫א ה ח ע )ר‬
Gutturals are pronounced in the back of the throat.
Resh (‫ )ר‬acts like a guttural sometimes, even though it is not
pronounced at the back of the throat.
Gutturals have special rules and are notorious for changing
vowels from the expected.
(Honestly, Gutturals are sort of a pain in the neck.)
When a Begadkephat has a dagesh,
the basic sound changes to a softer pronunciation.
‫ב ג ד כ פ ת‬
“T”
“F” “CH”
“D”
“G”
‫ּב ג ד ּכ ּפ ּת‬
“T”
“P”
“K”
“D”
“G”
“V”
“B”
Only 3 (‫ )ב כ פ‬have a different sound for Biblical and
Modern Hebrew.
These consonants have special forms when placed at the end of a word.
‫צ‬
Tsade
‫ץ‬
Tsade
Sofit
‫פ‬
‫נ‬
Pe
‫ף‬
Pe
Sofit
‫מ‬
Nun
‫ן‬
Mem
‫ם‬
Nun
Sofit
‫כ‬
Kaf
‫ך‬
Mem
Sofit
Kaf
Sofit