2.11 The Easy Dagesh Forte Rule

So how do you tell whether a Dagesh in a בגד כפת letter is Lene or Forte?

A Dagesh is a Forte if, and only if, it’s preceded by a vowel that is not a Sheva39

That’s it. That’s the rule40.

Quiz yourself with these examples (click “Show” for answer):

  • אַתָּה
    • Preceded by a Pathach = Dagesh Forte
  • בְּרֵאשִׁית
    • Not preceded by vowel = Dagesh Lene
  • עַל־פְּנֵי
    • Not preceded by vowel = Dagesh Lene. The “hyphen” looking mark is called a Maqquef. It has a similar function as the English Hyphen
  • מַבְדִּיל
    • Preceded by a Sheva = Dagesh Lene.
  • מִתַּחַת
    • Preceded by a Hiriq = Dagesh Forte

  1. Remember we said in the introduction that content in “light” information boxes should usually be memorized. You will definitely want to memorize the Dagesh Forte rule.↩︎

  2. Strictly speaking, there are exceptions. We only have one in this course and we won’t see it until Unit 4.↩︎