פ — pe
«pe» is a consonant of the Hebrew script, read as “p / f (the dagesh decides)”. With a dagesh it is p, without it f. For example, in the word “אפשר” — it is possible; may I. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters in total. The third begad-kefat letter. אפשר — efshar (an f inside), קפה — kafe (a p at the start of the syllable). It appears, for example, in the word “מאיפה אתה?” — where are you from?
In short
| Character | פ |
| Name | pe |
| Sound | p / f (the dagesh decides) |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 17th of 22, its neighbours in the course are ע and צ, appears in 636 words of this site.
How to type פ
- 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+05E4 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 05E4.
- Unicode code point: U+05E4. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
With a dagesh it is p, without it f
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.
- אפשרэфшарit is possible; may I
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
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 «pe» it is “p / f (the dagesh decides)”, as in the word “אפשר”), 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 פ read?
As “p / f (the dagesh decides)” — it is a consonant of the Hebrew script. With a dagesh it is p, without it f. For example, in the word “אפשר” — it is possible; may I.
What is the letter פ called?
Pe. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Hebrew script: it is called “pe” and reads as “p / f (the dagesh decides)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.