Begadkefat - בגדכפ״ת

In ancient Hebrew, six letters each had two pronunciations - a "hard" sound with a dagesh (dot inside) and a "soft" sound without it. The group is named after the letters themselves: Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Kaf, Pe, Tav - spoken together as "be-gad-ke-fat."

In modern Israeli Hebrew, only three of these pairs still change sound. The other three (Gimel, Dalet, Tav) have merged into a single sound each. But knowing the full group matters if you study biblical Hebrew, liturgy, or grammar - and it helps you understand why the dagesh appears in these letters.

Letter	With Dagesh	Without Dagesh	Status
Bet	בּ - B (boy)	ב - V (vine)	Active - sound changes
Gimel	גּ - G (go)	ג - Gh (historical)	Merged - always G
Dalet	דּ - D (door)	ד - Dh (historical)	Merged - always D
Kaf	כּ - K (kite)	כ - Kh (loch)	Active - sound changes
Pe	פּ - P (park)	פ - F (fun)	Active - sound changes
Tav	תּ - T (table)	ת - Th (historical)	Merged - always T

Key takeaway: For everyday modern Hebrew, focus on the three active pairs - בּ/ב (B/V), כּ/כ (K/Kh), פּ/פ (P/F). The other three you can simply pronounce as G, D, and T regardless of the dagesh.