Learning Hebrew Part 2

If you recall from my previous post on Learning Hebrew I gave you a challenge to figure out how to say the word below using my alphabet chart (which I updated the image for since the previous one was a bit blurry).

 

Sounds easy right?

The problem is that without using the niqqud modifying system, it's very difficult to know how to read words. You just have to know which reading is correct out of all the possible choices. For the word above, the possible readings are:

Sh/b/a        Sh/v/a        S/b/a        S/v/a

Add in the e that I know exists and the word can now be:

Sheba       Sheva       Seba       Seva

If you guessed sheva, then you are correct! The e is the stressed part of the word and has the same vowel sound as the e in hey. But what does it mean? This 'three letter word' spells out the number seven. Let's look at how to read and say the other numbers between 1 and 10.

Now you know your Hebrew ABCs and 123s. What else would you like to learn?