لنتعلم الحروف العربية.
Arabic Alphabet: Quick Reference
Trying to tell ب from ت, recognise ـعـ inside a word, or remember why و breaks a join? This page puts the main letter shapes, names and reading clues in one place.
The standard beginner chart has 28 letters. Hamza ء, special alif forms and ة are explained below. The joined shape لا is laam followed by alif, not an extra basic letter.
This reference supports Modern Standard Arabic reading. It is not a dialect phrasebook or a Quranic-recitation guide. For a lesson with gradual word-building practice, use the reading guide when it is published.
How to use the chart
Read Arabic words from right to left. Read the English explanations normally from left to right. The Roman spellings are approximate: aa, ee, oo are long vowels, while a, i, u are short. ay and aw represent glides. Examples are normally shown in their stopping forms, without final grammatical endings.
English spelling cannot capture every Arabic contrast. The chart deliberately uses plain letters; the sound notes explain where ح differs from ه, ق from ك, and the emphatic letters from their lighter neighbours.
1. All 28 Letters with Examples
| Letter | Name | Reading clue | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ا | alif | long aa, or a seat for hamza | أَسَد (asad) | lion |
| ب | baa | b | بَاب (baab) | door |
| ت | taa | t | تَمْر (tamr) | dates |
| ث | thaa | th as in thin | ثَلْج (thalj) | snow |
| ج | jeem | j as in jam | جَمَل (jamal) | camel |
| ح | haa | a deeper, breathy throat h | حُوت (hoot) | whale |
| خ | khaa | kh, a rough sound at the back of the mouth | خُبْز (khubz) | bread |
| د | daal | d | دَار (daar) | house |
| ذ | dhaal | th as in this; written dh here | ذَهَب (dhahab) | gold |
| ر | raa | a light tapped or trilled r | رُمَّان (rummaan) | pomegranate |
| ز | zaay | z | زَهْرَة (zahra) | flower |
| س | seen | s | سَمَك (samak) | fish |
| ش | sheen | sh | شَمْس (shams) | sun |
| ص | saad | a heavier s | صَابُون (saaboon) | soap |
| ض | daad | a heavier d | ضِرْس (dirs) | molar tooth |
| ط | taa | a heavier t | طِين (teen) | clay |
| ظ | dhaa | a heavier dh sound in careful MSA | ظِلّ (dhill) | shade |
| ع | ayn | a voiced throat sound with no close English match | عَيْن (ayn) | eye |
| غ | ghayn | a voiced rough sound, written gh | غُرَاب (ghuraab) | crow |
| ف | faa | f | فِيل (feel) | elephant |
| ق | qaaf | q, made farther back than k | قَلَم (qalam) | pen |
| ك | kaaf | k | كِتَاب (kitaab) | book |
| ل | laam | l | لَيْل (layl) | night |
| م | meem | m | مَوْز (mawz) | bananas |
| ن | noon | n | نَجْم (najm) | star |
| ه | haa | ordinary breathy h | هِلَال (hilaal) | crescent |
| و | waaw | w, or long oo after u | وَرْد (ward) | roses |
| ي | yaa | y, or long ee after i | يَد (yad) | hand |
The alif row uses أَسَد, which begins with hamza carried by alif. That first sound is not long aa. For long-vowel alif, compare بَاب (baab, door).
Dot families worth learning together
| Family | What to notice |
|---|---|
| ب ت ث | One dot below, two above, three above |
| ج ح خ | Dot below, no dot, dot above |
| د ذ | The dot distinguishes dhaal from daal |
| ر ز | The dot distinguishes zaay from raa |
| س ش | Three dots distinguish sheen from seen |
| ص ض | The dot distinguishes daad from saad |
| ط ظ | The dot distinguishes dhaa from taa |
| ع غ | The dot distinguishes ghayn from ayn |
Dots identify the letter. Vowel marks tell you something different about how to read it. Do not treat either as decoration.
2. Recognising Joined Shapes
A letter’s form depends on the connections around it. A word-middle letter does not always join on both sides.
| Separate | Joined onward | Joined on both sides | Joined from before |
|---|---|---|---|
| ب | بـ | ـبـ | ـب |
| ت | تـ | ـتـ | ـت |
| ج | جـ | ـجـ | ـج |
| س | سـ | ـسـ | ـس |
| ع | عـ | ـعـ | ـع |
| ه | هـ | ـهـ | ـه |
| ي | يـ | ـيـ | ـي |
The joining strokes here show possible connections, not extra sounds. Different fonts can change the outlines slightly, especially for ه, ع, ك and ي.
The six break-after letters
ا د ذ ر ز و
These can join from a preceding letter on their right, but do not connect onward to the next letter on their left. In بَاب, the alif receives the first join and then leaves a gap before the final baa. It remains one word.
3. Short Vowels, Long Vowels and Signs
| Sign or pattern | Name or job | Example | Simple reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| َ | fatha: short a | بَ | ba |
| ِ | kasra: short i | بِ | bi |
| ُ | damma: short u | بُ | bu |
| َا | long aa pattern | بَا | baa |
| ِي | long ee pattern | بِي | bee |
| ُو | long oo pattern | بُو | boo |
| َيْ | ay combination | بَيْت | bayt, house |
| َوْ | aw combination | مَوْز | mawz, bananas |
| ْ | sukoon: no vowel after a consonant | مِنْ | min, from |
| ّ | shadda: doubled consonant | أُمّ | umm, mother |
| ٌ | tanween with un | كِتَابٌ | kitaabun when the ending is pronounced |
| ٍ | tanween with in | كِتَابٍ | kitaabin when the ending is pronounced |
| ً | tanween with an | كِتَابًا | kitaaban when the ending is pronounced |
A bare consonant has no built-in a. Also, و can be consonant w, and ي consonant y; they are not always long vowels.
In ordinary print, many short-vowel marks are omitted. You need vocabulary and sentence context as well as the alphabet to read unmarked words confidently.
4. Shapes Outside the Basic Chart
| Shape | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ء | hamza, a consonant made with a brief vocal-cord closure | مَاء maa’, water |
| أ / إ | hamza carried by alif; not automatically long aa | أَنَا anaa, I; إِلَى ilaa, to |
| ؤ / ئ | hamza on a waaw or yaa seat; the seat is not an extra w or y sound | سُؤَال su’aal, question |
| آ | hamza followed by long aa | آدَم Aadam, Adam |
| ة | taa marboota; often a at a pause, t in grammatical connections | مَدْرَسَة madrasa, school |
| ى | word-final alif maqsura, long aa | إِلَى ilaa, to |
| لا | laam plus alif | لَا laa, no |
The small apostrophe in maa’ and su’aal reminds you that hamza is present. It is a reading aid, not an Arabic punctuation mark. A written ه is not interchangeable with ة.
The initial alif in the definite article الـ behaves differently from the hamza in أَنَا. Its starting vowel is used when beginning at the word, and normally drops in connected speech. For example, فِي الْبَيْت is read fil-bayt, “in the house”.
5. Sun and Moon Letters
The definite article الـ commonly means “the”. Before a sun letter, its written laam assimilates to the next consonant. Before a moon letter, the laam is pronounced.
| Group | Letters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن | الشَّمْس ash-shams, the sun |
| Moon | ا ب ج ح خ ع غ ف ق ك م ه و ي | الْقَمَر al-qamar, the moon |
النُّور is an-noor; الْكِتَاب is al-kitaab. The spelling keeps الـ in both cases.
6. Read a Word Without Guessing
| Word | Helpful pieces | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| بَاب | b + aa + b | baab | door |
| فِيل | f + ee + l | feel | elephant |
| نُور | n + oo + r | noor | light |
| بَيْت | b + ay + t | bayt | house |
| قَلَم | qa + la + m | qalam | pen |
| كِتَاب | ki + taa + b | kitaab | book |
| رُمَّان | ru + mmaa + n | rummaan | pomegranate |
Try مَوْز before reading the answer: mawz, bananas. The small sukoon over waaw belongs to the aw combination.
A note about word endings
Our example readings usually stop at the word. In fully pronounced connected MSA, you may hear grammatical endings: كِتَابٌ can be kitaabun, but normally becomes kitaab at a pause. An an ending has different pause behaviour: كِتَابًا normally pauses as kitaabaa. Taa marboota is another special case: مَدْرَسَةً normally pauses as madrasa. Learn these as patterns rather than deleting every final sound.
7. Common Beginner Mix-ups
- Letter name versus sound: baa is the name; its consonant sound is b.
- Missing dot versus missing vowel: a dot can change which letter you are reading. A vowel mark gives additional pronunciation information.
- Gap versus word space: a break after alif or waaw can occur inside one word.
- ه versus ح: both use h in our simple spelling, but are different Arabic sounds.
- ي versus ى: the dotted yaa can represent y or ee; final undotted alif maqsura writes aa.
- ة versus ت: taa marboota has special ending behaviour; ordinary taa retains its consonant identity.
Continue learning with these Arabic lessons:
Further Reading and Listening
Hear letters and examples in Madinah Arabic’s reading course. For a longer course, use Michigan State University’s Elementary Arabic I. The MSU lesson on the definite article gives further sun- and moon-letter practice.
