Hebrew Alphabet Chart Name Block Print Transliteration Sound „alef a A Silent or glottal stop Bet B B b in ball b b v in very Gimmel G G g in good g G g in good Dalet D D d in dog d d d in dog He h h h in house Vav w v or w v in very or w in win Zayin z z z in zoo Het x j ch in Bach Tet j f t in top Yod y y y in yes Kaf K K k in kick k k ch in Bach Final Kaf % k ch in bach Lamed l l l in look Mem m m m in mom Final Mem ~ m m in mom Nun n n n in noon Final Nun ! n n in noon Samek s s s in sit „ayin [ U silent or glottal stop Pe P P p in pig p p f in fun Final Pe @ p f in fun Tsade c x ts in hats Final Tsade # x ts in hats Qof q q k in kick Resh r r Spanish r in pero Sin f c s in seen Shin v v sh in sheen Tav T T t in top t t t in top or th in thing The Hebrew alphabet has 22 consonants (f and v count as 1). Six consonants at one time had alternate pronunciations with a dot (called “dagesh”). Three of these letters now have different pronunciations, the other three don‟t change pronunciation (though some scholars use alternate pronunciations). These letters are known at the “BeGaDKePaT” letters. B b b v K k k ch G g g g (gh) P p p f D d d d (dh) T t t t (th) Five consonants have alternate forms if they occur at the end of a word Final Kaf % Final Mem ~ Final Nun ! Final Pe @ Final Tsade # Some Consonants have the same or similar sounds. a [ silent or glottal stop b w v x k ch j T t K q k s f s Some letters have similar shapes and are easily confused “look-alike letters” bet b j tet kaf k m mem g gimmel ~ final mem n nun s samek z zayin w vav [ „ayin ! final nun c tsade d dalet r resh f sin % final kaf v shin h he x het t tav Hebrew Vowels Alphabet Name Transliteration Pronunciation Short vowels a; 1 Patah ^ a as in car a, Segol # e as in met ai Hiriq ! i as in sit a' Qamats Hatuf " o as in cost au Qubbuts | u as in put Long vowels a' Qamats2 * a as in car ae Tsere @ e as in obey ao Holem { o as in obey Vowel letters ha' Qamats He *h a as in car ha; Patah He ~h a as in car yae Tsere yod ? e as in obey ya, Segol yod ? e as in obey hae Tsere He #h e as in obey ha, Segol He #h e as in obey yai Hiriq yod ' i as in machine hao Holem He "h o as in obey wO Holem vav o o as in obey W Shuruq W u as in rule Half vowels and shewa a] Hataf-patah & a as in al-a-mode a/ Hataf-segol $ e as in met a\ Hataf-qamats ( o as in oat a. Shewa (vocal) + e as in mathematics a. Shewa (silent)3 none Silent letter 1 The alef is only being used to show the position of the vowel points and is not part of it. 2 Qamats-hatuf and qamats are written the same but pronounced differently. The rules indicating which is being used are complicated, but qamats is far more common, so assume that a' is qamats (a). 3 The difference between the vocal and silent shewa is fairly complicated, but the basic idea is that the silent shewa is used to mark the end of a syllable. .