ב — bet
«bet» is a consonant of the Hebrew script, read as “b / v (the dagesh decides)”. With a dagesh (the dot inside) it is b, without it — v. For example, in the word “בוקר” — morning. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters in total. The first of the three begad-kefat letters. At the start of a word it is almost always b: בוקר reads boker; inside a word it is more often v: אבא — aba. It appears, for example, in the word “יום טוב” — good afternoon.
In short
| Character | ב |
| Name | bet |
| Sound | b / v (the dagesh decides) |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 2nd of 22, its neighbours in the course are א and ג, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How to type ב
- On a phone: add the Hebrew keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+05D1 and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 05D1.
- Unicode code point: U+05D1. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
With a dagesh (the dot inside) it is b, without it — v
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- בוקרбокерmorning
The character in the “three letters that change their sound (begad-kefat)” group
ב, כ and פ sound different depending on the dagesh — the dot inside the letter. A working rule: at the start of a word, after a pause, read the stop — "b", "k", "p". Elsewhere, trust the transcription. The name is a mnemonic: the six letters that once had doubles spell out the phrase begad kefat.
Words with this character
- יום טובйом товgood afternoon
- בוקר טובбокер товgood morning
- ערב טובэрев товgood evening
- בבקשהбевакашаplease (as a request)
- בייбайbye
- טובтовfine
- אני לא מביןани ло мэвинI don't understand
- תחזרו בבקשהтахзеру бевакашаrepeat, please
- אתם מדברים אנגלית?атем медабрим англит?do you speak English?
- לילה טובлайла товgood night
- בית קפהбейт кафеcoffee house
- ארבעהарбааfour
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «bet» it is “b / v (the dagesh decides)”, as in the word “בוקר”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 22 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Hebrew character ב read?
As “b / v (the dagesh decides)” — it is a consonant of the Hebrew script. With a dagesh (the dot inside) it is b, without it — v. For example, in the word “בוקר” — morning.
What is the letter ב called?
Bet. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Hebrew script: it is called “bet” and reads as “b / v (the dagesh decides)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.