ק — qof
«qof» is a consonant of the Hebrew script, read as “k, a bit deeper”. A k made a bit further back, from the throat rather than the palate. For example, in the word “קפה” — coffee. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters in total. A second k next to כ: the transcription writes both as k. The tail of qof hangs below the line. It appears, for example, in the word “בוקר טוב” — good morning.
In short
| Character | ק |
| Name | qof |
| Sound | k, a bit deeper |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 19th of 22, its neighbours in the course are צ and ר, appears in 720 words of this site.
How to type ק
- 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+05E7 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 05E7.
- Unicode code point: U+05E7. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
A k made a bit further back, from the throat rather than the palate
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.
- קפהкафеcoffee
The character in the “two ways to write "t", two to write "k"” group
Hebrew spells "t" with two letters, ט and ת, and "k" with two, ק and כ. They sound almost the same but are written differently. Which shape goes in which word, the transcription and word habit teach.
Words with this character
- בוקר טובбокер товgood morning
- בבקשהбевакашаplease (as a request)
- קוראים ליкорим лиmy name is
- איך קוראים לך?эйх корим леха?what is your name?
- תחזרו בבקשהтахзеру бевакашаrepeat, please
- קפהкафеcoffee
- בית קפהбейт кафеcoffee house
- חשבון, בבקשהхешбон, бевакашаthe bill, please
- מרקмаракsoup
- ירקותйеракотvegetables
- קרובкаровclose
- רחוקрахокfar
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 «qof» it is “k, a bit deeper”, as in the word “קפה”), 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 ק read?
As “k, a bit deeper” — it is a consonant of the Hebrew script. A k made a bit further back, from the throat rather than the palate. For example, in the word “קפה” — coffee.
What is the letter ק called?
Qof. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Hebrew script: it is called “qof” and reads as “k, a bit deeper”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.