Bet

Bet (בּ) is the second letter of the Alefbet. If you guessed that it's pronounced B, like the B in boat, you're right.

In fact, speaking of boats, how's that for a picture?

If you're a sailboat snob you might have noticed the sail looks upside down, but let's ignore that, because it's not just any boat, it's a BET BOAT. A boat you can BET on. Ha!

So, now that we know we can add our vowel to it, right? Right?

So, how would this sound?

בַּ (audio)

It would sound like "Bah," as in "Bah, bah, black sheep..." In Hebrew you combine the vowel sign and the letter together to make a sound.

Let's go a little further with that black sheep theme... Remember to read Hebrew from right to left!

Reading Backwards?

Hebrew is read right to left, which is the opposite of the way English does it. So make sure that when you read, you do it that way - start from the right!

Now we can string together letters!

בַּבַּ (audio)

That should say "bah, bah!"

How about this?

אַאַ (audio)

It's pronounced like ah-ah.

Let's look at some REAL Hebrew words we can now read:

בַּא (audio)

(Ba) means "comes," or "is coming."

(Note that since the is silent without a vowel, in this word all it really does is add a little closure. It doesn't sound at all.)

Let's try one with THREE letters:

אַבַּא (audio)

(Aba) - Means Father!

So you've learned some words! Right, let's not get too excited. Back to work, people.

Try using them. How would you say "Father's coming"?

Here it is:

(Aba ba)

Now the funny thing is that, in a sense, Bet is two letters. All you have to do is take away the dot, and then it becomes... Vet!