The Hebrew alphabet — the aleph-bet — has 22 letters and is written and read from right to left. It is an abjad, meaning the letters are primarily consonants; vowels are shown with small marks called nikud. Learning these 22 letters is the single most important first step when you learn Hebrew online.
The 22 Hebrew letters
| Letter | Name | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| א | Aleph | silent / glottal stop |
| ב | Bet | b / v |
| ג | Gimel | g |
| ד | Dalet | d |
| ה | He | h |
| ו | Vav | v / o / u |
| ז | Zayin | z |
| ח | Het | ch (guttural) |
| ט | Tet | t |
| י | Yod | y / i |
| כ | Kaf | k / kh |
| ל | Lamed | l |
| מ | Mem | m |
| נ | Nun | n |
| ס | Samekh | s |
| ע | Ayin | silent / guttural |
| פ | Pe | p / f |
| צ | Tsadi | ts |
| ק | Qof | k |
| ר | Resh | r |
| ש | Shin | sh / s |
| ת | Tav | t |
Final (sofit) letters
Five letters change shape when they appear at the end of a word: Kaf ך, Mem ם, Nun ן, Pe ף and Tsadi ץ. The sound stays the same — only the written form changes.
Hebrew vowels (nikud)
Because the aleph-bet is mostly consonants, vowel points called nikud are written above, below or inside letters to show pronunciation. For example, the dot and lines under a letter tell you whether to say a, e, i, o or u. Modern Hebrew is usually written without nikud once you are fluent, but beginners rely on them heavily.
Tips for memorising the aleph-bet
- Learn the letters in small groups of 4–5, not all at once.
- Practise writing each letter by hand — muscle memory helps.
- Watch for look-alike pairs such as ב/כ, ד/ר and ה/ח.
- Always read right to left, even single letters.
Next steps
Once you know the letters, learn how to read Hebrew words, then move on to common Hebrew words and phrases. AlephTalk teaches the entire aleph-bet with audio in the first week — download it free.