Rules for the Sheva To Pronounce or Not to Pronounce: That is the Question! compiled by Tim Hegg • TorahResource.com ------

[connects its letter to the letter that follows it] (שְׁוָא נָע) Vocal Sheva

1. Any sheva at the beginning of a word is pronounced:

(beniy) בְּ נִי ,(ketov) כְּ תֹב ,(lecha) לְ

2. Any sheva following a letter that has a long is pronounced, unless that letter is accented (indicated in the MT with a cantillation mark).

(התְּ נוּעוֹת הַ גְ דוֹלוֹת) Long (הַתְּ נוּעוֹת הַקְטַ נוֹת) Short Vowels בָּ ,(chametz (not chametz chatuf בַּ , בֵּ י and בֵּ ,tzere & tzere gadol בֶּ ,seghol בִּ י ,chiriq gadol בִּ ,chiriq katan בּוֹ and בֹּ ,cholam & cholam gadol (קָדְ שׁוֹ as in) בָּ ,chametz chatuf בּוּ ,shuruq בֻּ ,qibbutz

Examples: iy-re-cha‘ - עִירְ lo-me-deiy - לוֹמְדֵ י yei-le-chu - יֵּלְ כוּ

Example of the exception, i.e., when the preceding letter has a long vowel but that letter re- ceives the accent:

(qa-ton-ti (Gen 32:11 - קָ טֹ֜ נְתִּ י (ya-chol-ti (Gen 30:8 - יָכֹ֑לְתִּ י

3. Any sheva on a letter having is pronounced

Examples: mi-tag">pe-neiy - מִפְּ נֵי da-be-riy - דַבְּרִ י bi-te-cha - בִּתְּ

1 4. Any sheva on the first letter of two identical letters is pronounced hi-ne-ni - הִ נְנִי ,ha-le-lu - הַ לְ לוּ ,na-de-dah - נָדְדָ ה :Examples

is pronounced. The metheg is a short, verticle (מֶתֶ ג) Any sheva following a letter with Metheg .5 line of the Masoretic cantillations.

Examples: sha-me-rah ,שָׁ ֽמְרָ ֥ ה ,za-che-rah , זָֽכְרָ ֣ ה

6. When two shevas follow each other in a word, the first is silent and the second pronounced.

Examples: ve-yach-le-’ail , וְיַחְ לְאֵ ל ,ve-nish-me-‘ah , וְנִשְׁמְעָ ה ,shach-be-cha ,שָׁ כְבְּ

letters which does not have a ב ג ד כ פ ת A sheva on a letter immediately preceding any of the .7 dagesh is pronounced.

Examples: ya-‘a-te-fu , יַעַטְ פוּ ,ba-re-chu ,בָּרְ כוּ ,i-ve-du‘ ,עִבְ דוּ

8. When a word has two cantillations (t’amim), and one cantillation is on the letter immediately preceding a sheva, it is pronounced.

Examples: le-gei-re-shon ,לְגֵ ֣ רְשׁ֔ וֹן

[connects its letter to the letter that precedes it] ( שְׁ וָ א נָ ח) Silent Sheva

1. Whenever the sheva is on the last letter of a syllable, it is silent.

Examples: sim-chah ,שִׂמְחָ ה ,mish-teh ,מִשְׁתֶּ ה ,yil-mod , יִלְ מֹד

2 2. When the last letter of any word has no vowel, it does not take the sheva, it simply stands voweless.

Examples: leiv , ֵלב ,shem , ֵשׁם ,dod ,דוֹד

The exception to this rule are the letters תּ and which do take a sheva, but the sheva is silent.

Examples: lach , ַל ,at’ , ַאְתּ ,bach , ָבּ

3. When two shevas follow each other as the last two vowels of a word, both are silent. (This is rare).

Examples: yashq , ַיְשְׁק ,yaft , ַיְפְתּ

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