What it does
Etnachta is the major mid-verse pause. It splits a pasuk into two halves and tells the reader: take a breath here. In the hierarchy of trope marks, only Sof Pasuk (the end-of-verse mark) signals a stronger stop. Almost every verse in the Torah contains exactly one Etnachta.
Where it appears
You will see Etnachta in nearly every pasuk. It usually marks the natural midpoint of the verse, often the boundary between a setup clause and its conclusion. The word with Etnachta is almost always preceded by Tipcha, which serves as the lead-in to the pause.
How to remember it
Etnachta means "a pause to rest." The root is the same as nach (to rest). Picture the reader pausing mid-verse to catch a breath. Visually, Etnachta looks like a small "V" or arrow below the letter, almost like a notch carved out of the line of text where the reader stops.
Example from the Torah
Bereishis 1:1
The Etnachta sits on the word אֱלֹהִ֑ים, splitting the verse: "In the beginning God created" pauses here, then continues "the heavens and the earth." This is the classic Etnachta placement: setup, pause, conclusion.
Hear the melody
A synthesized rendering of the melodic shape, not a vocal recording. For a baal koreh's voice on a full aliyah, PocketTorah is a great free resource.
Hand signal (simanim)
Often confused with
Both Sof Pasuk and Etnachta are major stops. The difference: Sof Pasuk ends the verse and is followed by a colon (׃). Etnachta is mid-verse and is not.