How to Translate Hebrew Into English

Hebrew is a language of prayer, religious study, and conversation alike. The language is used often
by non-Hebrew speakers for a variety of reasons, and much of the terminology of Judaism and other
religions is derived from Hebrew. At the same time, written Hebrew can be a difficult language for
those who are not fluent.

Steps

1 Know the pronunciation of each letter, as follows:

‫( א‬alef) - silent
‫( בּ‬bet) - B
‫( ב‬vet) - V
‫( ג‬gimmel) - G
‫( ד‬dalet) - D
‫( ה‬hey) - H (or silent, see explanation below on silent letters)
‫( ו‬vav) - V ( see explanation below on Vav)
‫( ז‬zayin) - Z
‫( ח‬chet) - Ch (or H, see explanation below on Kh sound)
‫( ט‬tet) - T
‫( י‬yud) - Y
‫( כּ‬kaf) - K
‫כ‬/‫( ך‬chaf) - ch with a guttural sound
‫( ל‬lamed) - L
‫מ‬/‫( ם‬mem) - M
‫נ‬/‫( ן‬nun) - N
‫( ס‬samech) - S
‫( ע‬ayin) - silent
‫( פּ‬pei) - P
‫פ‬/‫( ף‬fei) - F
‫צ‬/‫( ץ‬tzadi) - Tz
‫צ׳‬/‫( ץ׳‬chee) - Ch (as in "cheetah")
‫( ק‬kuf) - K
‫( ר‬reish) - R
‫( ש‬shin) - Sh
‫( תּ‬taf) - T (see explanation of Tav below)
‫( ת‬taf) - T
2 Know the pronunciations of the Hebrew vowels known as nikudot (‫)נְ ֻקדּוֹת‬. The nikudot are
as follows:

Patach ‫ ַב‬- pronounced a as in father.

Kamatz ‫ ָב‬- in Ashkenazi dialect, pronounced a as in what. In Sephardi dialect, pronounced
like Patach.
Segol ‫ ֶב‬- pronounced e as in bed.
Tzeirei ‫ ֵב‬- pronounced a as in cake.
Chirik ‫ ִב‬- pronounced e as in she.
Shva ‫ ְב‬- pronounced i as in bid or with no sound (see Shva below for explanation).
3 Understand how to read Hebrew consonants together with vowels. In the Hebrew language,
most vowel symbols are placed directly below the consonant. When such a combination
occurs, first the consonant sound is pronounced, then the vowel. For example, when you see a ‫ק‬,ֻ
first pronounce the K sound of the ‫ק‬, then pronounce the u sound of the koobootz. The full sound
is "ku."
4 Understand the concept of the dagesh. A dagesh is a dot that appears in the center of a
letter to disambiguate its sound when a letter has multiple sounds. Many Hebrew letters can
be found with a dagesh, though only 4 letters have a distinct sound with or without one: ‫ פ‬,‫ כ‬,‫ב‬,
and ‫ת‬, and ‫ ת‬only has a distinct sound in Ashkenazi dialect. When Hebrew is written without
vowels, the dagesh is not written, and the reader is expected to know the specific sound.
5 Understand the concept of the geresh. A geresh is a symbol similar in appearance to an
apostrophe that like a dagesh, disambiguates the sound of a letter, and is specifically used
to identify sounds not traditionally found in Hebrew, but introduced into Hebrew through
loanwords. Even when Hebrew is written without vowels, the geresh is frequently included.
Steps Community Q&A Tips Related wikiHows

6 Understand the concept of 'silent letters' in Hebrew. The Hebrew language has two letters
that are always silent: ‫ א‬and ‫ע‬. The letters ‫ ה‬and ‫ י‬are also sometimes used as silents. If a
silent letter appears with a vowel, it is pronounced plainly as that vowel with no consonant
sound. If a silent letter appears with no vowel, it is not pronounced.
7 Understand the letter vav (‫)ו‬. The vav can make the sounds of 4 English letters: O, U, V, and
W.

A vav with a vowel is typical pronounced as a V followed by the respective vowel sound.
A vav with a dot above (displayed as ‫ )וֹ‬is pronounced O as in "rope." It is typically pronounced
in conjunction with the previous consonant and treated just like a vowel together with that
letter. This is known as a cholam.
A vav with a dot to the left (displayed as ‫ )וּ‬is pronounced as U as in "glue."' It is typically
pronounced in conjunction with the previous consonant and treated just like a vowel together
with that letter. This is known as a shuruk.
The letter vav is used to represent the English letter W. Though common dialects of Hebrew
do not have a W sound, vav is used for loanwords in modern Israeli Hebrew.
8 Get to know the pronunciation of the letters ‫ ח‬and ‫כ‬. These letters make sounds not found
in the English language. The sound is very much like a K and an H sound put together, rolling
the back of the tongue. Sounds like this are also found in many Eastern European languages.
While these letters are viewed as many as having identical sounds, the ‫ ח‬has more of an H-sound
and the ‫ כ‬has more of a K-sound. Look at YouTube videos in Hebrew or Eastern European
languages to get a sense of how to pronounce these sounds if you do not already know.
9 Get to know the pronunciation of the letter Tav (‫)ת‬. Above, you see 3 versions of the Tav.
But the actual pronunciations vary by dialect.

In Ashkenazi dialect of Biblical Hebrew, when vowels are included, ‫ תּ‬is used for a T-sound
and ‫ ת‬is used for an S-sound. When no vowels are included, no dagesh is found, and the
reader is expected to know which sound to use.
In Sephardi dialect, ‫ ת‬is used for a T-sound, with or without a dagesh. This is one of the most
notable differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Hebrew used in sacred texts.
Modern Israeli Hebrew is like Sephardi Hebrew with the ‫ ת‬representing a T-sound. But ‫ ת׳‬can
also be used for a Th-sound.
10 Get to know the shva. The shva, which appears as a colon (:) below a letter, can either be
pronounced as a short i (as in kid) or no sound at all. To determine whether or not to use a
sound, try to combine the letter under which it is found with the letter that follows as a cluster. If
it is possible to pronounce the two letters as a cluster, the shva is silent, and it is a cluster. A shva
can also be silent when it is at the end of syllable of a word, and another syllable follows. If
neither of these can be accomplished, the shva is pronounced as a short i. The shva is also
pronounced when it is beneath a prefix.
 11 Once you understand these rules, you are ready to transliterate.

For consonants, use the English letter corresponding with the Hebrew letter as described.
For vowels, use the following:

For a patach or kamatz, use A

For a segol, use E
For a tzeirei, use EI or EY (or you could just use an E)
For a chirik, use I
For a shva that is pronounced, use I or '
For a shva that is not pronounced, use ' or no vowel
For a cholam, use O
For a shuruk or kubutz, use U

Advertisement

You're helping people by reading wikiHow

 wikiHow's mission is to help people learn, and we really hope this article helped you. Now you are
helping others, just by visiting wikiHow.

826 National is the largest nonprofit youth writing network in the country. 826 encourages under-
resourced students to ignite their creativity, explore identity, advocate for themselves and their
community, and achieve academic and professional success - all through the transformative
power of writing.

Click below to let us know you read this article, and wikiHow will donate to 826 National on your
behalf. Thanks for helping us achieve our mission of helping people learn how to do anything.

Yes, I read the article

Community Q&A

Ask a Question

Your question here

Submit
Tips

Some transliterations of words ending in a vowel sound, most commonly the A-sound, have an
H added to the end, and some don't. For example, Chanukah is sometimes spelled Chanuka.
Once again, this is not a solid rule.
Helpful?
 

Since the English short O (as in hot) sounds nearly identical to A as in father, the letter O is
often used to transliterate a patach or kamatz.
Helpful?
 

There is no exact rule for transliteration, and transliterations from different sources may vary in
how they are spelled. Some common examples of variances are:
The word ‫( שבת‬Hebrew for Sabbath) is often spelled either as "Shabbat" or "Shabbos."
This is due to the different pronunciations of the letter tav (‫ )ת‬and the differences in
vowel transliteration. The th in the English word Sabbath comes from the fact that ‫ ש‬can
also be pronounced as an S and the the ‫ ת‬having the th in some dialects.
The word ‫ חנקה‬can spelled as Chanukah or Hanukkah due to the variances in
transliterating the chet (‫)ח‬. The differences in the number of Ks is insignificant.
The letter tzadi (‫ )צ‬has a TS or TZ sound, but is often transliterated simply as an S or Z.

Helpful?
 

The English letter J is pronounced like a Y in many languages, and it shares the 10th position
with the letter yud. This leads a lot of transliterations to use J for a Y-sound.
Helpful?
 

See also the page How to How To Transliterate English into Hebrew, providing reverse
instructions from this one.
Helpful?
 

Know a good tip? Add it. Add

Related wikiHows
How to
Say Thank You in Hebrew

How to
Say Good Morning, Good Night, and Good Day in Hebrew
How to
Say Happy Birthday in Hebrew

How to
Say Commonly Used Words in Hebrew

How to
Read Hebrew
How to
Say Love in Hebrew

How to
Speak Hebrew
How to
Say Happy Passover in Hebrew

How to
Say to Life in Hebrew

How to
Learn Fluent Hebrew
How to
Say Happy Holidays in Hebrew

How to
Write Love in Hebrew
 How to
Transliterate English Into Hebrew

How to
Pluralize a Word in Hebrew

Advertisement

About This Article

Co-authors: 5
Updated: 15 weeks ago
11 votes - 73%
Views: 6,744

Categories: Hebrew

Sources and Attribution

Did this article help you?

Yes No
 prise Me!
ur

S
wikiHow to...