What it does
Sof Pasuk is literally "the end of the verse." It is the strongest stop in the entire trope hierarchy; nothing pauses harder. Every pasuk in the Torah ends with this mark, and the reader's voice lands and rests here before moving on.
Where it appears
Exactly once per verse, always on the last word. It pairs with a final colon character (׃) on the page. The word immediately before Sof Pasuk almost always carries Tipcha, which sets up the landing.
How to remember it
The name says it: Sof Pasuk = "end of verse." The mark itself is a small vertical line called silluq drawn beneath the last word, paired with a colon that visually closes the verse. Picture a period at the end of a sentence: that's the function.
Example from the Torah
Bereishis 1:1
Sof Pasuk sits on הָאָֽרֶץ, the very last word of the Torah's opening verse. The Tipcha on הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם two words earlier set up this landing.
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
Etnachta is also a major pause but is mid-verse, not the end. Sof Pasuk is followed by the colon (׃); Etnachta is not.