Hebrew alphabet · Lesson 21 of 22

Shin ש

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Meet Shin

The twenty-first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Shin has two readings, told apart by a dot above the letter: with the dot on the right it is Shin (שׁ), [sh] as in “ship”; with the dot on the left it is Sin (שׂ), [s] as in “sun,” the same sound as Samekh. Shin has no final form: it looks the same at the start, in the middle and at the end of a word.

Shin Hebrew Letter (ש): Shin, Sin, Words & Practice

What you’ll learn

Recognize Shin and Sin: שׁ and שׂ.
Tell the two readings apart by the dot: [sh] on the right, [s] on the left.
Read Shin in real words like שֵׁם (name) and שֶׁלֶג (snow).

One letter, two readings

The letter ש is the twenty-first of the 22 Hebrew letters. It has two readings: Shin (שׁ), with a dot above the right branch, is sh; Sin (שׂ), with a dot above the left branch, is s. Both readings share one place in the alphabet. Tav (ת) comes next and is the last letter. ש has no separate final form. The Shin and Sin dots identify consonant sounds. They are different from vowel marks and from a dagesh, the dot inside a letter. In the medieval Tiberian reading tradition, a dagesh inside Shin could mark a doubled sh. Modern standard Hebrew normally uses a single sh. The bracketed readings here are learning aids, not IPA. Hyphens separate syllables. Use a as in 'father', e as in 'bed', and i as in 'machine'.

Shin: the dot on the right

Shin

Shin (שׁ) has a dot above its right branch. Say [sh], like the sh in English 'ship'. The upper-right dot is called the Shin dot.

שׁ · Shin: the letter with a dot above its right branch, pronounced [sh].

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Shin and Sin in real words

See Sin, the reading with the dot on the left, in a real word. Then read three words with Shin, and five reading-practice words and phrases aloud.

Sin

Sin (שׂ) has a dot above its left branch. Say [s], like the s in English 'sun'; the s in 'rose' is a different, voiced sound [z]. In modern standard Hebrew, Sin (שׂ) and Samekh (ס) sound alike. They are different letters, so use the spelling each word requires.

שׂ · Sin: the letter with a dot above its left branch, pronounced [s].

שָׂמֵחַ [sa-me-ach] means 'happy' when describing one male person. Sin (שׂ) has the upper-left dot and sounds like s; the Kamatz under it gives a. Mem (מ) with Tsere gives me. The Patah under the Chet (ח) at the end of the word is read before Chet: ach. This is called a furtive Patah. Here ch represents the throaty sound in Scottish 'loch'. Read three syllables, sa-me-ach, with stress on me.

Words to Practice:

שֵׁם

shem

name

שֵׁם [shem] means 'name'. It has two letters: Shin (שׁ) on the right and final Mem (ם) on the left. The upper-right dot gives sh; the Tsere under Shin gives e. Final Mem adds m. Read shem as one syllable. Tsere and Segol are both commonly pronounced e in modern standard Hebrew; no special vowel length is required.

שֶׁלֶג

sheleg

snow

שֶׁלֶג [she-leg] means 'snow'. It has three letters: Shin (שׁ), Lamed (ל), and Gimel (ג). The Segol under Shin gives she; the Segol under Lamed gives le, and Gimel adds g, as in English 'go'. Read two syllables, she-leg, with stress on she. The final g belongs to the second syllable.

אִישׁ

ish

man

אִישׁ [ish] means 'man'. Read from right to left: Alef (א), Yud (י), Shin (שׁ). Hiriq under Alef together with the following Yud indicates i; this spelling is called Hiriq Male. Yud adds no separate y sound here. The upper-right dot on Shin gives sh. Read ish as one syllable; Shin keeps the same shape at the end of a word.

Reading Practice

Try reading these words and phrases aloud. These examples review earlier letters. Reading guide: זֶה נִגְמַר — ze nig-mar, with stress on mar; z is like z in 'zoo', and g is like g in 'go'. אָמַר — a-mar, with stress on mar, means 'he said'. הִיא אָמְרָה — hi am-ra, with stress on ra, means 'she said'; hi is one syllable, with h as in 'hat'. The Sheva under Mem adds no vowel here. נָדַר — na-dar, with stress on dar, means 'he vowed' or 'he made a solemn promise'. אִם — im, one syllable, means 'if'; keep it distinct from עִם [im], 'with': in common modern pronunciation both are read im, but they are spelled differently and mean different things.

זֶה נִגְמַר

ze nigmar

it's over

אָמַר

amar

he said

הִיא אָמְרָה

hi amra

she said

נָדַר

nadar

he vowed

אִם

Conclusions

You have now learned the two readings of the twenty-first letter: שׁ is sh as in 'ship', and שׂ is s as in 'sun'. Remember the upper-right and upper-left dots. Both readings belong to the same place in the alphabet, and ש has no separate final form. Only Tav (ת), the twenty-second and last letter, remains. Keep practising the words aloud as you prepare for the final alphabet lesson.

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