The Hebrew letter Vov
Vov is the sixth of the 22 letters of the alef beis. It is written ו in print, in ksiva it is written as a single unbroken stroke, and its gematria value is 6. It sounds like v, and also carries the vowels oh and oo. My Ksiva Workbook teaches it on page 15.
Vov is a single vertical stroke with a small head — the plainest shape in the alef beis, and one of the hardest-working letters in it. It is the consonant v, it carries the vowels oh and oo, and at the front of a word, as vov hachibur, it means “and”.
- Position 6 of 22
- Gematria 6
- Sound v, oh, oo
- Ksiva strokes One
- Taught on page 15 of 82
How is Vov 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 Vov 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?
Vov, zayen and final noon are three verticals that differ only at their ends. Vov’s head sits over the top of the stroke; zayen’s is wider, with the stroke hanging from its middle; final noon is the one that drops well below the line.
How is it spelled in English?
This site uses the Ashkenazi transliteration the workbook prints, Vov. You will also see it written vav, waw. They are all the same letter.
Where it is taught
Vov is taught on page 15 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.