Hebrew letter samekh (ס)
ס is the letter samekh, pronounced s as in "sun". It takes 1 stroke. Hebrew is written from right to left, so strokes usually begin at the top right, and horizontal bars are drawn from right to left. The forms on this page are simplified block letters with a common stroke order; handwriting teachers vary, so follow your own teacher where they differ.
The Hebrew alphabet, the aleph-bet, has 22 letters and no capitals. Samekh is letter 15 of 22. Most letters stand for consonants; vowels are shown by small marks (niqqud) or by letters such as ו and י.
Stroke by stroke
- Start near the top at the middle. Go all the way round in a closed oval and meet your starting point, ending near the top at the middle.
Look-alikes and pitfalls
Hebrew block letters look alike at a glance, and a small corner or foot is often the only difference. Look at the top-right corner and the feet before you decide which letter you are writing.
samekh (ס) is rounded; final mem (ם) is square.
In a word
ספר (sefer), book. Hebrew reads right to left.
Practice
Trace on screen first: press Trace it above and follow the grey letter. Then print the sheet and write the same letter on paper. Writing on paper is what builds the habit.
More about ס
In the traditional number system, ס stands for 60. The first nine letters are 1 to 9, the next nine are 10 to 90 and the rest are 100 to 400, which is why Hebrew letters are still used for dates and numbered lists.
Hebrew is read right to left, but numbers and any Latin letters inside Hebrew text still run left to right.
Questions about hebrew letter samekh
How many strokes is ס?
1 stroke.
How do you say ס?
Samekh is s as in "sun".
Which direction do I write ס?
Start near the top at the middle. Go all the way round in a closed oval and meet your starting point, ending near the top at the middle. Hebrew is written from right to left.
What is a word that uses ס?
ספר (sefer) means book.
Is ס the same in handwriting and print?
No. Hebrew has a printed block form and a flowing cursive form, and the cursive shapes are quite different. These pages teach the block letters first.