The Hebrew letter Koof
Koof is the nineteenth of the 22 letters of the alef beis. It is written ק in print, in ksiva it takes two strokes, and its gematria value is 100. It sounds like k. My Ksiva Workbook teaches it on page 64.
Koof is value 100, the first of the hundreds. It is one of only five letters the workbook marks with two strokes, and one of the few that drops below the line in print — the long left leg is the part a child has to remember to carry down past the base rather than stopping on it.
- Position 19 of 22
- Gematria 100
- Sound k
- Ksiva strokes 2
- Taught on page 64 of 82
How is Koof written?
The workbook teaches every letter the same four ways, so a child always knows what is being asked of them.
See both forms. The workbook opens the letter with Koof in print and in ksiva side by side, and marks the ksiva form with a numbered arrow showing where the stroke begins.
Trace it. A row of dotted outlines gives the whole shape. The child writes over the top of it, so the hand learns the movement before it has to remember the shape.
Finish it. Each box after that gives a little less of the letter than the one before, until the last box is empty and the child writes it unaided.
Use it in a word. The letter then appears in whole words to copy in script, built only from letters already taught, so the child is never asked to write a letter they have not met.
What is it confused with?
Koof is a raish with a leg. The head is the same curve; what makes it a koof is the stroke coming down on the left and carrying on below the line.
How is it spelled in English?
This site uses the Ashkenazi transliteration the workbook prints, Koof. You will also see it written kuf, qof, quf. They are all the same letter.
Where it is taught
Koof is taught on page 64 of My Ksiva Workbook, an 82-page Hebrew handwriting workbook covering all 22 letters in both scripts. Every letterform on this page is taken from the book itself.