Hebrew Letters: Gimel

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The third letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is called Gimel, pronounced gee-mel.

Hebrew audio: Listen to the sound of Gimel.

Here is what the Hebrew letter Gimel looks like:

Here is how to write Gimel with an ordinary pen:

Picture showing how to draw the Hebrew letter Gimel

Gimel originally had different pronunciations for the versions with and without the dot. But today, Gimel is always pronounced with a g sound, like the words Gilgal, girl or garden. The word Gimel comes from the Hebrew word gamal, meaning camel, and this word has come down to the English with only a slight change in the pronunciation.

Here is what Gimel looks like with and without the dot:

with the dot, pronounced g

without the dot, pronounced g

Gimel is the third letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, and therefore has the Gematria (numerical value) of 3.

Gimel is one of the four Hebrew letters on the Dreidel, which is a spinning top used for playing games during the festival of Hannukah.

Practise writing Gimel in the grid lines below:

Grid showing how to write the Hebrew letter Gimel

Home | Learning Hebrew | Hebrew Alphabet | Hebrew Letters: Gimel