Verbalta Hebrew blog

Can you learn to speak Hebrew before you can read it?

The Verbalta team — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Yes. You can start speaking Hebrew before you can read a single letter, and plenty of adults do exactly that. Children learn to talk years before they learn to read, and with a little written support, grown-ups can take the same route. Reading is worth learning, and it gets easier once the words already sound familiar.

Here's how to get talking first, and when to bring the alphabet in.

Why Hebrew feels hard to read at first

Hebrew is written right to left in its own alphabet. On top of that, most everyday Hebrew, on signs, menus and phone screens, is written without vowel marks (niqqud). Readers fill in the vowels from context. That's easy once you know the words and hard while you don't, which is why even people who learned the letters for a bar or bat mitzvah can struggle to sound out a café menu.

None of that stops you from speaking. Your ear and your mouth don't need the alphabet.

Use English letters as training wheels

Writing Hebrew in English letters (transliteration) lets you see a sentence the moment you hear it:

Ma nishma? (מה נשמע?): What's up?
Hakol beseder. (הכל בסדר): All good.
Toda raba. (תודה רבה): Thanks a lot.

One thing to know: there's no single standard spelling. The sound at the start of chag (holiday) can be written ch, kh or h, depending on who wrote it. Treat transliteration as a reminder of the sound, and trust what you hear over what you see.

Listen before you answer

Most of Hebrew's sounds already exist in English. Two that may be new:

ח, and כ in many words, the throaty sound in lechaim (to life), like the end of the Scottish "loch" or the German "Bach".
ר, which most Israelis say at the back of the throat, closer to a French r than an English one.

Hearing a phrase a few times before you try it gives your mouth a target. Slowing it down helps too.

Start with answers you'll really use

Short answers get you into real conversations quickly:

Ken (כן): yes. Lo (לא): no.
Bevakasha (בבקשה): please, or you're welcome.
Slicha (סליחה): excuse me, or sorry.
Ani lo mevin (אני לא מבין, said by a man) or Ani lo mevina (אני לא מבינה, said by a woman): I don't understand.
Efshar yoter le'at? (אפשר יותר לאט?): Could you say that more slowly?

Notice that last pair of "I don't understand" phrases. In Hebrew, many verbs change with the speaker's gender. It's one of the first things worth getting used to, and it becomes automatic with practice.

When to add reading

Bring in the letters when you start wanting them: to read a street sign, a menu, or a message from a relative. Learning the alphabet alongside speaking works well, because every letter you learn attaches to words you already know.

Vowel marks are a great help at the start. Since most everyday Hebrew leaves them out, it's worth practicing with and without them as you go.

Practicing out loud

In Verbalta, your coach speaks Modern Israeli Hebrew and the words stay on screen while you hear them. You choose what sits underneath: English letters, the translation, vowel marks, or nothing at all. Turn each one off when you're ready, and keep talking.

Hebrew phrases for your first trip to Israel, and how to say them

The Verbalta team — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Plenty of Israelis speak English, and many will switch to it the moment they hear your accent. A few Hebrew phrases still change the trip. People warm up, conversations last longer, and you get to hear the country in its own language.

Here are the phrases that come up most, with English letters, the Hebrew, and what each one means.

A quick note on "I" and "you"

Many Hebrew verbs change with gender. A man says ani rotze (I want) and a woman says ani rotza. When you talk to one person, "you" is ata for a man and at for a woman. Where a phrase changes, both forms are below. If you mix them up, people will still understand you.

Greetings

Shalom (שלום): hello, and also goodbye.
Boker tov (בוקר טוב): good morning. The usual reply is boker or (בוקר אור), "morning of light".
Erev tov (ערב טוב): good evening.
Ma nishma? (מה נשמע?): what's up? A friendly answer: hakol beseder (הכל בסדר), all good.
Shabbat shalom (שבת שלום): the greeting from Friday afternoon through Saturday.

Being polite

Toda (תודה): thanks. Toda raba (תודה רבה): thanks a lot.
Bevakasha (בבקשה): please, and also you're welcome.
Slicha (סליחה): excuse me, or sorry.
Ani lo mevin (man) or ani lo mevina (woman) (אני לא מבין / מבינה): I don't understand.
Efshar yoter le'at? (אפשר יותר לאט?): could you say that more slowly?

Getting around

Eifo...? (איפה...?): where is...? For example, eifo ha-sherutim? (איפה השירותים?): where are the restrooms?
Kama ze ole? (כמה זה עולה?): how much is it?
In a taxi, im mone, bevakasha (עם מונה, בבקשה): with the meter, please.
Ha-autobus ha-ze nose'a le...? (האוטובוס הזה נוסע ל...?): does this bus go to...?

Cafés, restaurants and the market

Efshar tafrit? (אפשר תפריט?): could I have a menu?
Ani rotze (man) or ani rotza (woman) (אני רוצה): I'd like... Add what you want: ani rotza hafuch, I'd like a hafuch, the Israeli take on a latte.
Bli charif (בלי חריף): without the hot sauce.
Efshar et ha-cheshbon? (אפשר את החשבון?): could we have the check?
At the market, kama ze ha-kilo? (כמה זה הקילו?): how much per kilo?

Say them out loud before you go

Reading a phrase and saying it to a busy waiter are two different things. Practice each one out loud a few times, ideally in a short back-and-forth, so the words come out without a pause when you need them.

That's what Verbalta is for. You talk through situations like ordering, asking the way or chatting with a taxi driver with a Hebrew coach, on any phone or computer, with English letters and translations on screen until you don't need them.

Masculine and feminine “you” in Hebrew: a beginner’s guide

The Verbalta team — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT

English has one "you". Hebrew has four, and the verb next to it usually changes too. It sounds like a lot, but it follows a simple pattern, and once you hear it a few times it starts to feel natural.

The four words for "you"

Ata (אַתָּה): you, talking to one man.
At (אַתְּ): you, talking to one woman.
Atem (אַתֶּם): you, talking to a group of men or a mixed group.
Aten (אַתֶּן): you, talking to a group of women.

In everyday speech, many Israelis use atem for any group, including groups of women. You'll hear aten too, and it's never a mistake to use it for a group of women.

The verb changes with it

In the present tense, the verb agrees with the person you're talking to:

Ata medaber ivrit? (אתה מדבר עברית?): Do you speak Hebrew? (to a man)
At medaberet ivrit? (את מדברת עברית?): Do you speak Hebrew? (to a woman)
Atem medabrim ivrit? (אתם מדברים עברית?): Do you speak Hebrew? (to a group)

Adjectives follow the same idea: ata ayef? (are you tired?, to a man) and at ayefa? (to a woman).

"I" changes too

Present-tense verbs also change with the speaker. A man says ani lomed ivrit (אני לומד עברית), I'm learning Hebrew. A woman says ani lomedet ivrit (אני לומדת עברית).

The past tense is kinder here. "I learned" is lamadeti (למדתי) for everyone. The gender comes back with "you": lamadeta to a man and lamadet to a woman.

When you aren't sure

Sometimes you don't know which form fits, or someone prefers not to be addressed as male or female. Two everyday options help:

Talk to the group. The plural atem works naturally when you're addressing more than one person.
Use the impersonal plural. Waiters ask ma shotim? (מה שותים?), literally "what's being drunk?", meaning "what are we drinking?" It skips "you" altogether.

And if you mix up the forms, people will understand you. It's a very common slip for learners, and getting it right comes from hearing and saying it, not from memorizing tables.

How Verbalta handles it

Your coach asks you once which form you'd like for "you": masculine, feminine, or rather not say. It never guesses from your name or your voice. If you'd rather not say, your coach uses natural phrasings like the plural and impersonal forms above, and accepts either form when you speak.