Hebrew · Pronunciation

Hebrew Listening and Pronunciation Guide

Key Hebrew sounds, guttural letters, and stress patterns, with plain-English pronunciation notes and minimal pairs. Front: the letter or sound pattern (romanization in parentheses). Back: the meaning plus a pronunciation note.

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ח (Chet)

A guttural, throat-clearing "kh" sound, like the ch in the Scottish "loch." Example: לחם (lechem, bread).

כ without dagesh (Chaf)

Also pronounced like the guttural "kh," identical to chet in modern Hebrew. Example: לך (lecha, to you).

ע (Ayin)

Historically a deep guttural stop; in most modern Israeli speech it is pronounced silently, like the letter aleph. Example: עברית (Ivrit, Hebrew).

ר (Resh)

A guttural r, produced at the back of the throat, similar to the French r, not rolled like Spanish. Example: רחוב (rechov, street).

ק vs כ with dagesh (Kuf vs hard Kaf)

Both are pronounced as a hard k sound in modern Hebrew. Example: קפה (kafe, coffee).

Word stress

Most Hebrew words are stressed on the last syllable, unlike English's varied stress patterns. Example: "shalom" is stressed sha-LOM.

Vowel: a

Pronounced like the a in "father," a short open sound. Example: אבא (aba, dad).

Vowel: i

Pronounced like "ee" in "see." Example: אני (ani, I).

Vowel: e

Pronounced like "eh" in "bed." Example: אחד (echad, one).

Vowel: o

Pronounced like "oh" in "go." Example: שלום (shalom, hello).

Vowel: u

Pronounced like "oo" in "food." Example: שולחן (shulchan, table).

Dagesh (dot)

A dot inside a letter can harden or change its sound; in modern Hebrew this mainly affects the b/v, k/kh, and p/f letter pairs.

ב with/without dagesh (Bet/Vet)

"ב" with a dot is pronounced "b" as in "boy"; without the dot it's pronounced "v" as in "victory." Example: בית (bayit, house) uses the hard b.

פ with/without dagesh (Pe/Fe)

"פ" with a dot is pronounced "p"; without the dot it's pronounced "f." Example: ספר (sefer, book) uses the soft f.

ש dot placement (Shin/Sin)

A dot on the right of the letter makes it "sh" (shin); a dot on the left makes it "s" (sin). Example: שלום (shalom) uses the "sh" sound.

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