100 Common Hebrew Words Every Beginner Should Know

Hebrew can look intimidating on the first page. The letters run from right to left, and most vowels aren't written at all. The words themselves are much friendlier than the script suggests. Many are short, and a good number are useful from your very first day of study.

Learning Note: This vocabulary list was organized specifically for adult beginners, with an emphasis on words that can be immediately reused in simple everyday conversations rather than memorized in isolation.

This list brings together 100 common Hebrew words grouped by topic, so you can learn them in related clusters instead of as a random pile. Each entry has the Hebrew script, a simple pronunciation guide, and the English meaning. These are basic Hebrew words chosen for how useful they are to a beginner. They are not drawn from a formal frequency count, so please don't read the list as a ranking.

The words are in Modern Hebrew, the everyday language of Israel and the form standardized by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, the country's official language authority. Modern Hebrew grew out of a much longer history that scholars usually divide into Biblical, Mishnaic, Medieval, and Modern periods, and the modern form is the one used in everyday conversation today.

How to Use This List of Common Hebrew Words

A few quick notes will make the tables below much easier to use.

Reading the Hebrew letters and vowels

Modern Hebrew is written from right to left using an alphabet of 22 letters. Linguists classify it as an abjad, a script that represents consonants and leaves most vowels to be inferred by the reader — a structure Hebrew shares with Arabic. There are no capital letters. Five letters (כ, מ, נ, פ, צ) change shape when they appear at the end of a word: ך, ם, ן, ף, ץ.

The small dots and dashes that mark vowels are called nikkud. They appear in children's books and learning materials, but everyday adult writing usually leaves them out. That's why the Hebrew in this article is written without them, the way you'd see it on a sign or in a message. The transliteration beside each word shows you the vowels.

Pronunciation notes

Transliteration is a bridge, not a replacement for hearing the language. Even so, a few conventions are worth knowing:

• ch is a throaty sound, like the "ch" in Scottish "loch" (as in lechem, bread).
• r in Modern Hebrew is often produced at the back of the throat, though you'll hear variation between speakers.
• An apostrophe (as in lehitra'ot) marks a brief break between two vowels.
• Stress often falls on the last syllable, but not always. Words like boker (BO-ker) and lechem (LE-chem) stress the first syllable.

Masculine and feminine forms

Hebrew grammar assigns gender to nouns, adjectives, and verbs, a feature the Academy of the Hebrew Language documents as part of its standard grammar guidance for the language. Where it matters, this list gives the masculine form and mentions the feminine one. Don't let this slow you down early on. Learn the forms as they come, and the pattern will start to feel natural.

Greetings and Polite Phrases (1–15)

These are the words you'll use in the first ten seconds of almost any conversation, which makes them the best place to start.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
1	שלום	shalom	hello, goodbye, peace
2	היי	hai	hi (casual)
3	בוקר טוב	boker tov	good morning
4	ערב טוב	erev tov	good evening
5	לילה טוב	laila tov	good night
6	להתראות	lehitra'ot	see you, goodbye
7	תודה	toda	thank you
8	תודה רבה	toda raba	thank you very much
9	בבקשה	bevakasha	please, you're welcome
10	סליחה	slicha	sorry, excuse me
11	מה שלומך?	ma shlomkha? (to a man) / ma shlomekh? (to a woman)	how are you?
12	מה נשמע?	ma nishma?	what's up?
13	הכול טוב	hakol tov	everything's good
14	בסדר	beseder	okay, fine
15	נעים מאוד	na'im me'od	nice to meet you

Two small traps to watch for. Shalom works for both hello and goodbye, so context tells you which is meant. And the casual "hi" (היי, hai) is easy to confuse with the word for "she" (היא, hi), which appears in the next section.

Pronouns and Little Words (16–25)

Short words like these hold sentences together. Learn them early, because you'll meet them constantly.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
16	אני	ani	I
17	אתה	ata	you (to a man)
18	את	at	you (to a woman)
19	הוא	hu	he
20	היא	hi	she
21	אנחנו	anachnu	we
22	כן	ken	yes
23	לא	lo	no, not
24	אולי	ulai	maybe
25	גם	gam	also, too

Lo does double duty as "no" and "not," so "I don't understand" is simply ani lo mevin. You'll see that sentence again shortly.

Question Words (26–33)

Knowing how to ask a question is one of the fastest ways to get more out of a real conversation.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
26	מה	ma	what
27	מי	mi	who
28	איפה	eifo	where
29	מתי	matai	when
30	למה	lama	why
31	איך	eich	how
32	כמה	kama	how much, how many
33	איזה	eize (m) / eizo (f)	which

Numbers 1–10 (34–43)

Numbers turn up everywhere: prices, times, addresses, phone numbers. Here are the ten you'll use most, given in the form used for general counting.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
34	אחת	achat	one
35	שתיים	shtayim	two
36	שלוש	shalosh	three
37	ארבע	arba	four
38	חמש	chamesh	five
39	שש	shesh	six
40	שבע	sheva	seven
41	שמונה	shmone	eight
42	תשע	tesha	nine
43	עשר	eser	ten

These forms are used when counting in sequence ("one, two, three…"). When a number describes a masculine noun, it changes: for example, "one" becomes echad and "two" becomes shnayim. That gender-agreement pattern is worth exploring once you're comfortable with the basics.

Family and People (44–53)

Talking about the people in your life is one of the first things most learners want to do, and it's an easy way to practise gendered pairs.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
44	אמא	ima	mom
45	אבא	aba	dad
46	אח	ach	brother
47	אחות	achot	sister
48	ילד	yeled	boy, child
49	ילדה	yalda	girl
50	חבר	chaver	friend (m)
51	חברה	chavera	friend (f)
52	משפחה	mishpacha	family
53	סבתא	savta	grandmother

Chaver and chavera can also mean boyfriend and girlfriend, depending on context, so listen for how they're used.

Food and Drink (54–65)

Food vocabulary pays off quickly, whether you're ordering at a café, shopping at a market, or just talking about dinner. A few of these are easy Hebrew words for English speakers to remember because they sound familiar.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
54	מים	mayim	water
55	לחם	lechem	bread
56	חלב	chalav	milk
57	קפה	kafe	coffee
58	תה	te	tea
59	אוכל	ochel	food
60	פירות	perot	fruit
61	ירקות	yerakot	vegetables
62	ביצה	beitza	egg
63	גבינה	gvina	cheese
64	אורז	orez	rice
65	גלידה	glida	ice cream

Notice that ochel (food) is spelled the same as the verb "eats" (m). Mayim (water), perot (fruit), and yerakot (vegetables) are grammatically plural forms even when they refer to something in general — a pattern common enough in Hebrew that it's worth simply memorizing rather than puzzling over.

Essential Hebrew Words: Verbs (66–75)

Verbs are what turn a vocabulary list into actual sentences. All ten below are given in the masculine singular present tense, which is the form most textbooks introduce first.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
66	רוצה	rotze	wants
67	אוהב	ohev	loves, likes
68	יודע	yodea	knows
69	הולך	holech	goes, walks
70	בא	ba	comes
71	אומר	omer	says
72	עושה	oseh	does, makes
73	מדבר	medaber	speaks
74	לומד	lomed	studies, learns
75	מבין	mevin	understands

A woman would use the feminine forms: rotza, ohevet, yoda'at, holechet, ba'a, omeret, osa, medaberet, lomedet, mevina. Hebrew present-tense verbs don't change for "I," "you," or "he" — only for gender and number — which keeps the early stages simpler than you might expect.

Places and Getting Around (76–85)

These words help you read signs, ask for directions, and talk about where you're going.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
76	בית	bayit	house, home
77	עיר	ir	city
78	רחוב	rechov	street
79	מסעדה	misada	restaurant
80	חנות	chanut	shop, store
81	בית ספר	beit sefer	school
82	אוטובוס	otobus	bus
83	רכבת	rakevet	train
84	שירותים	sherutim	restroom
85	בית חולים	beit cholim	hospital

Sherutim (restroom) is another word that's grammatically plural in form but refers to a single facility — the same pattern you saw with mayim and perot earlier.

Everyday Adjectives (86–95)

Adjectives let you describe things instead of just naming them. They're given here in the masculine form. The feminine typically adds or shifts to an -a ending, as in gadol → gdola and chadash → chadasha, though the exact change varies slightly by word.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
86	טוב	tov	good
87	רע	ra	bad
88	גדול	gadol	big
89	קטן	katan	small
90	חדש	chadash	new
91	יפה	yafe	beautiful, nice
92	חם	cham	hot, warm
93	קר	kar	cold
94	קל	kal	easy, light
95	קשה	kashe	hard, difficult

Time Words (96–100)

Five short words will cover a lot of everyday planning.

#	Hebrew	Pronunciation	Meaning
96	היום	hayom	today
97	מחר	machar	tomorrow
98	אתמול	etmol	yesterday
99	עכשיו	achshav	now
100	שבוע	shavua	week

From Single Words to Hebrew Speaking: Six Simple Sentences

Individual words are a start, but Hebrew speaking really begins when you combine them. Here are six sentences built almost entirely from the list above.

1. אני לא מבין. Ani lo mevin. "I don't understand." (A woman would say ani lo mevina.)
2. איפה השירותים? Eifo hasherutim? "Where is the restroom?"
3. אני אוהב קפה. Ani ohev kafe. "I like coffee."
4. מה שלומך? הכול טוב, תודה. Ma shlomkha? Hakol tov, toda. "How are you? All good, thanks."
5. היום אני לומד עברית. Hayom ani lomed ivrit. "Today I'm studying Hebrew."
6. כמה זה עולה? Kama ze ole? "How much does this cost?"

A few extras are hiding in there. The prefix ha- on hasherutim means "the." Ivrit is the word for Hebrew, ze means "this," and ole means "costs." They're small bonus words you can pick up along the way.

How to Learn and Remember Hebrew Vocabulary

A list this size is easier to manage when you work through it in pieces. Here are some approaches that tend to help with Hebrew vocabulary:

• Learn in themed groups. Words from the same topic support each other, so a food day and a family day beat a random shuffle.
• Say each word aloud. Pronunciation sticks better when your mouth has done the work, not just your eyes.
• Learn gendered pairs together. Study chaver and chavera, or yeled and yalda, as a set rather than separately.
• Move toward the script. Transliteration is useful at the start, but recognizing the Hebrew letters lets you read real signs, menus, and messages. Even a few letters a day adds up.
• Reuse words in short sentences. A word you've used in a sentence is easier to recall than one you've only read.

Learning Tip: Pick five words from a single table each day and write a tiny sentence with each one. Two or three weeks of that kind of steady, small practice usually does more than one long cram session.

Conclusion

These 100 common Hebrew words won't make you fluent, but they give you something concrete to build on: greetings for meeting people, question words for getting answers, verbs and adjectives for forming real sentences, and everyday nouns for the world around you. Take them a table at a time, say them out loud, and start connecting them into short phrases as soon as you can.

Language learning rewards small, regular effort. Come back to this list whenever you need a refresher, and let your Hebrew vocabulary grow from there.

FAQ

How many Hebrew words do I need to start speaking?
There's no single magic number. A few dozen well-chosen words, used in short phrases, are enough to handle simple exchanges like greeting someone, asking where something is, or ordering a drink. The 100 words here are a practical starting point.

Do I need to learn the Hebrew letters before learning vocabulary?
Not on day one. Transliteration helps you start speaking right away. But learning the 22 letters soon after opens up real-world reading and makes pronunciation more reliable, since different transliteration systems don't always agree.

Why does Hebrew have masculine and feminine forms of the same word?Hebrew assigns grammatical gender to nouns, adjectives, and many verb forms, and speakers choose forms to match. That's why you'll see pairs like chaver and chavera or ohev and ohevet. Treat them as pairs from the beginning, and the system becomes familiar quickly.

Why do some Hebrew words for everyday things, like water or fruit, look plural?A number of common Hebrew nouns are grammatically plural in form even though they refer to something singular or general, such as mayim (water) and sherutim (restroom). It's an inherited feature of the language rather than an exception worth overthinking.

Is "shalom" only used for hello?No. Shalom is used for both hello and goodbye, and it also means "peace." Context shows which one is intended.