Now is the time to start to learn the Alef-Bet! (alphabet in English)

 

 

 alef (‘, a)

glottal-stop  or silent (sometimes used as the letter a when rendering English in Hebrew)

  bet, vet (b, v)

with a dot like big; without a dot like move

  gimel (g)

like go

   dalet (d)

like dark

  he (h)

like he or silent at the end of a word with a preceding -a or -e

   vav (v, o, u)

like violin; some dialects pronounce as week; also or or moon when used as a vowel

 

 zayin (z)

like zoo

 het (h)

Normally as Scottish ch in loch and as German Bach

 tet (t)

as t in stick

 yud (y, e, i)

like yet; also say or honey when used as a vowel

 kaf, khaf (k, kh)

with a dot like skip; without a dot like the Scottish ch in loch and as German Bach ? 

 lamed (l)

like leave, pronounced more forward in the mouth.

  mem (m)

like mother

 nun (n)

like never

   samekh (s)

like some

   `ayin (`)

similar to Cockney pronunciation of water and sometimes silent.

  peh, feh (p, f)

with a dot like spoon; without a dot off

   tsadi (ts)

as boots

   qof (q)

As in skip

  resh (r)

pronounced as the French r. Some pronounce it rolled as in Spanish burro

    sin, shin (sh, s)

with a right-hand dot like shoot, or with a left-hand dot like see

   tav (t)

as t in stickAdding an apostrophe (geresh) to some letters may change their sounds.

 

as j in jam

as s in pleasure

  

(tsh) as ch in chat