User blog:The Zog./Learn to speak Hebrew

Do you want to speak Hebrew? No? Fuck you, get off this blog! Here, I will teach you how to speak Hebrew! It's really easy. Here we go!

=Letters of the Hebrew alphabet= There are 22 Hebrew letters. Hebrew is read left to right, as opposed to right to left. Here's a run down:

Alef
Alef (א) is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It makes an "ah" sound, like in " a ll"

Bet/Vet
Bet and Vet are the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It can either make a "b" like in " b oat", or a "v" sound like in " v ote", you distinguish it by the dot in the center of the letter. If the letter has a dot (בּ) it is Bet, if it doesn't (ב) it is Vet.

Gimel
Gimel (ג) is the third letter of the alphabet. It makes a "g" sound, like in " g iddy".

Dalet
Dalet (ד) is the fourth letter of the alphabet. It makes a "d" sound like in " d ick"

Hē
Hē (ה) is the 5th letter of the alphabet. It make an "h" sound like in " h ey"

Vav
Vav (ו) is the 6th letter of the alphabet. It makes a "v" sound like " v iew"

Zayin
Zayin (ז) is the 7th letter of the alphabet. It makes a "z" sound like " z ion"

Ḥet
Ḥet (ח) is the 8th letter of the alphabet. Don't confuse it with Hē, it makes a "kh" or "ch" sound like "lo ch "

Tet
Tet (ט) is the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It makes a "t" sound like " t ech"

Yod
Yod (י) is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It makes a "y" like " y oung"

Kaf/Ḥaf
Kaf and Ḥaf are the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It can make either a "k" sound like " k angaroo", or a "kh" sound like "lo ch ". Like Bet/Vet, you can distinguish between Kaf and Ḥaf by the dot in the letter. If there is a dot (כּ), it's Kaf, if it has no dot (כ), it is Ḥaf.

If Kaf is the last letter in the word, its written as ך.

Lamed
Lamed (ל) is the twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It makes an "l" sound, like " l og"

Mem
Mem (מ) is the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It makes an "m" sound, like " m om"

If Mem is the last letter in the word, its written as ם

Nun
Nun (נ) is the 14th letter. It makes an "n" sound like in " n one"

If Nun is the last letter in the word, its written as ן

Samekh
Samekh (ס) is the 15th letter. It makes an "s" sound like in " s uck"

Ayin
Ayin (ע) is the 16th letter. It doesn't really make a sound, it makes whatever sound of the vowel is affixed to it.

Pe/Fe
Pe and Fe are the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It can either make a "p" sound like in " p an" or an "f" sound like in " f an". Just like Kaf/Ḥaf and Bet/Vet, it is distinguished by a dot. If it has a dot (פּ), it's Pe, if it doesn't (פ) it's Fe.

If Pe/Fe is the last letter in the word, its written as ף

Tsade
Tsade (צ) is the eighteenth letter. It makes a "ts" sound like "i ts "

If Tsade is the last letter in the word, its written as ץ

Kuf
Kuf (ק) is the nineteenth letter. It makes a "k" sound like in " coo per"

Resh
Resh (ר) is the twentieth letter. It makes an "r" sound like " r ope"

Shin/Sin
Shin/Sin is the 21st letter. It either makes a "sh" sound like " sh ower", or a "s" sound like in " s oap". If the dot is on the right side (שׁ) it's Shin, if the dot is on the right side (שׂ) it's Sin

Tav
Tav (ת) is the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It makes a "t" sound like in " t oe"

=Niqqud=

Niqqud is what we call Hebrew vowels. Vowels are written underneath the letter they are affixed to.

Kamatz/Patach
Kamatz and Patach are used whenever there is an "ah" sound. A kamatz looks like  ָ , a patach looks like  ַ

Example: If you want to write "Dah" (Dalet + Kamatz) it would be written as דָ

Shva
Shva is used whenever there's an "ih" sound, as in " i diot". Shva looks like ְ.

Example: If you want to write "Bih" (Bet + Shva) it would be written as בְּ

Hiriq
Hiriq is used to make an "e" sound, as in "w e " Hiriq looks like ִ

Example: If you want to write "Vi" (Vet + Hiriq) it would be written as בִ

Tzere
Tzere is used to make an "ay" sound. Tzere looks like  ֵ .

Example: If you want to write "Tay" (Tav + Tzere) it would be written as תֵּ

Segol
Segol is used to make an "eh" sound. Segol looks like  ֶ 

Example: If you want to write "Veh" (Veh + Segol) it would be written as בֶ

Holam
Holam is used to make an "oh" sound. Holam is unique as instead of being written under the letter, it's written on top. Holam is looks like ֹ. Note: Holam is often written with a vav. Vav is not actually pronounced, it is just there as a placeholder. If a vav is included, it looks like וֹ

Example: If you want to write "Moh" (Mem + Holam) it would be written as מֹ or מוֹ

Kubutz/Shuruk
Kubutz and Shuruk are used to make an "uuu" sound. Kubutz looks like ֻ, and like most other vowels, it is placed under the letter. However, like Holam, Shuruk is not placed under the vowel. Shuruk is placed in the middle of the vowel. On its own, Shuruk looks like ּ. Like Holam, Vav is often used as a placeholder symbol to show where the Shuruk is meant to be located, in this case it looks like וּ.

Example: If you want to write "Ku" (Kuf + Kubutz/Shuruk) it looks like קֻ or קוּ