Hebrew final letters
Five Hebrew letters take a different shape at the end of a word. Here is each one, when to use it, and the key that types it.
- 5
- final letters
- 27
- letters with finals counted
- 5
- own keys
The five final letters
Five Hebrew letters change shape when they end a word: כ becomes ך, מ becomes ם, נ becomes ן, פ becomes ף, צ becomes ץ. Hebrew calls them sofit forms (סופית, final). Everywhere else in the word, the regular form is used.
| Regular | Final | Unicode name | Code point | Key | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| כ | ך | final kaf | U+05DA | L | מלך melekh, king |
| מ | ם | final mem | U+05DD | O | שלום shalom, peace |
| נ | ן | final nun | U+05DF | I | אמן amen, amen |
| פ | ף | final pe | U+05E3 | ; | כסף kesef, money |
| צ | ץ | final tsadi | U+05E5 | . | ארץ eretz, land, country |
The rule
Use the final form when the letter is the last letter of a word, and the regular form in every other position. שלום ends in ם; the same letter at the start of מלך is מ. Four of the five final forms reach below the line (ך ן ף ץ); ם is a closed square.
Why typing them right matters
In Unicode, each final letter is a separate character with its own code point, not a styling of the regular one. The regular mem is U+05DE and the final mem is U+05DD. Keyboards and most software do not swap them for you, so a word typed with the wrong form is a different string: search, spell checkers and sorting treat it as a different word. This keyboard does not change letters behind your back either; type the final form yourself.
Where they are on the keyboard
On the Windows Hebrew layouts each final has its own key: ך on L, ם on O, ן on I, ף on ;, ץ on .. The regular forms are כ on F, מ on N, נ on B, פ on P, צ on M. See the full Hebrew keyboard layout for every key.
Do they sound different?
No: a final letter is pronounced like its regular letter. What changes the sound in these letters is the dagesh dot, and final forms normally appear without it, so ך is usually read kh and ף is read f.
Questions
What are the Hebrew final letters?
ך ם ן ף ץ, the final forms of כ מ נ פ צ. They are used when the letter ends a word.
Where is final mem on the keyboard?
On the Hebrew layout, ם is on the O key.
Does the keyboard change letters to final forms automatically?
No. Each final letter is its own Unicode character, so you type it yourself, on its own key.
Try it on the keyboard
More guides
Sources
- Unicode CLDR release 43, he-t-k0-windows.xml
- Unicode Character Database (letter names and code points)
Every key and count in this guide is computed from the layout data when the site is built, so it always matches the keyboards here.