How do you write «and» in Hebrew?

With the letter ו joined to the next word: וְרוּת, וְגַן. It is never written separately.

When is ו pronounced u?

Before ב, ו, מ, פ (בּוּמָ״ף) and before a word that starts with a shva: וּמִיכָאֵל, וּשְׁלוֹשָׁה. Otherwise it is ve.

Do Israelis always say u?

In everyday speech you often hear ve even before ב, מ, פ. When reading aloud, on the radio and in texts with vowel points, the rule holds.

Free grammar · Unit 5 of 10

«And» in Hebrew is a letter: וְ

Hebrew has no separate word for «and». It has a letter, ו, written onto the front of the next word: דָּן וְרוּת, «Dan and Ruth»; לֶחֶם וְחָלָב, «bread and milk». It never stands on its own, so a space after it is always a mistake.

Usually it sounds ve. Before the letters ב, ו, מ, פ it becomes u and is written וּ: רוּת וּמִיכָאֵל. The same happens before a word that starts with a silent vowel, the shva: שְׁנַיִם וּשְׁלוֹשָׁה, «two and three». Before ב it also takes away the letter’s dot: וּבַתְיָה. The four letters are easy to remember as one word, בּוּמָ״ף (bumaf).

This page has the explanation and the first two exercises: put the ו in its place in a sentence, then choose between ve and u. The other four open with a free account.

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Step 5 of 10 · Explanation

«And» is a letter: וְ

Hebrew has no separate word for «and».

It is one letter, , written onto the front of the next word: , .

Never leave it standing alone.

4 more exercises in this unit

This page has the explanation and the first two exercises. The rest are in your free account, with every unit and the reading course, and the practice remembers your mistakes.

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Questions

How do you write «and» in Hebrew?: With the letter ו joined to the next word: וְרוּת, וְגַן. It is never written separately.
When is ו pronounced u?: Before ב, ו, מ, פ (בּוּמָ״ף) and before a word that starts with a shva: וּמִיכָאֵל, וּשְׁלוֹשָׁה. Otherwise it is ve.
Do Israelis always say u?: In everyday speech you often hear ve even before ב, מ, פ. When reading aloud, on the radio and in texts with vowel points, the rule holds.

And then?

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«And» in Hebrew is a letter: וְ

4 more exercises in this unit

Questions

And then?

The units