TL;DR: Read Hebrew from right to left: every letter with its sound, the five final forms, and how to type them online.
Advertisement
The Hebrew alphabet is written right-to-left and has 22 letters, all consonants. It is an abjad: vowels are mostly omitted in everyday writing and shown as dots and dashes (niqqud) when needed.
The 22 Hebrew letters
| Letter | Name | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| א | Alef | (silent / glottal) | אבא (aba) — dad |
| ב | Bet | b / v | בית (bayit) — house |
| ג | Gimel | g | גמל (gamal) — camel |
| ד | Dalet | d | דלת (delet) — door |
| ה | He | h | הר (har) — mountain |
| ו | Vav | v / o / u | וורד (vered) — rose |
| ז | Zayin | z | זמן (zman) — time |
| ח | Het | ch (loch) | חלב (khalav) — milk |
| ט | Tet | t | טוב (tov) — good |
| י | Yod | y / i | ים (yam) — sea |
| כ | Kaf | k / kh | כלב (kelev) — dog |
| ל | Lamed | l | לחם (lekhem) — bread |
| מ | Mem | m | מים (mayim) — water |
| נ | Nun | n | נהר (nahar) — river |
| ס | Samekh | s | סוס (sus) — horse |
| ע | Ayin | (deep guttural) | עין (ayin) — eye |
| פ | Pe | p / f | פה (pe) — mouth |
| צ | Tsadi | ts | צדק (tzedek) — justice |
| ק | Qof | k (deep) | קול (kol) — voice |
| ר | Resh | r | ראש (rosh) — head |
| ש | Shin | sh / s | שלום (shalom) — peace |
| ת | Tav | t | תפוח (tapuakh) — apple |
The five final forms
Five letters change shape at the end of a word: כ→ך (kaf), מ→ם (mem), נ→ן (nun), פ→ף (pe), צ→ץ (tsadi). All five are included in our Hebrew keyboard.
Start typing Hebrew
Open the Hebrew keyboard and type shalom — press ayuk to get שלום, the most famous Hebrew word in the world.
Advertisement