Beginner Learning Guide

How to Read Arabic

تَعَلَّمِ الْعَرَبِيَّةَ

Spoken by 400 million people across 25 countries. Learn the script and unlock the sounds.

28Consonants
R → LDirection
4Letter Forms
3 + 3Short & Long Vowels

Step 1

Three Things to Know First

Arabic flows right-to-left, each letter changes shape by position, and vowels are written as separate marks.

→←

Read Right → Left

Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian all run right to left. Books open from what feels like the back.

مرحبا بالعالم

← Read in this direction

🔤

Letter Shapes Change by Position

The same letter looks different at the start, middle, end, or alone in a word — up to four distinct forms.

بَ ـبَـ ـبَ ب

← Four forms of the same letter Bā (ب)

◌َ

Consonants Are the Skeleton

Arabic is written primarily with consonants. Vowels are added as small diacritics (harakat) and are often omitted in everyday text.

كَتَبَ ↔ كتب

← With vowels ↔ Without vowels

🔗

Letters Join Together

Most Arabic letters connect to their neighbors. Six letters (Alif, Dal, Dhal, Ra, Zay, Waw) only join to the right and break the chain.

ذَهَبَ = ذ+ه+ب

← Three letters joined into one word

Step 2

Vowel Marks (حَرَكَات)

Small marks placed above or below consonants. Master these and you can sound out any word.

بَ
Fatha (فَتْحَة)
Short [a] — diagonal stroke above
بَاب (bāb) = door
بِ
Kasra (كَسْرَة)
Short [i] — diagonal stroke below
بِئْر (biʾr) = well
بُ
Damma (ضَمَّة)
Short [u] — small wāw above
بُكْرَة (bukra) = tomorrow
بْ
Sukūn (سُكُون)
No vowel — small circle above
بِنْت (bint) = daughter
بَا
Long [aː]
Fatha + Alif
كِتَاب (kitāb) = book
بِي
Long [iː]
Kasra + Yāʾ
بِيت (bayt) = house
بُو
Long [uː]
Damma + Wāw
نُور (nūr) = light
بّ
Shadda (شَدَّة)
Doubled consonant — ش-shaped mark above
مُحَمَّد = Muhammad

Step 3

The 28 Arabic Consonants

Click any letter to see all four positional forms and an example word.

Non-join ا Alif أَلِف [a / glottal stop] Moon ب Bāʾ بَاء [b] Sun ت Tāʾ تَاء [t] Sun ث Thāʾ ثَاء [θ] English th Moon ج Jīm جِيم [dʒ] Moon ح Ḥāʾ حَاء [h] strong breath Moon خ Khāʾ خَاء [x] German ach Non-join د Moon دَال [d] Non-join ذ Dhāl ذَال [ð] English "the" Non-join ر Rāʾ رَاء [r] rolled Non-join ز Zayn زَاي [z] Sun س Sīn سِين [s] Sun ش Shīn شِين [ʃ] sh Sun ص Ṣād صَاد [sˤ] emphatic s Sun ض Ḍād ضَاد [dˤ] emphatic d Sun ط Ṭāʾ طَاء [tˤ] emphatic t Sun ظ Ẓāʾ ظَاء [ðˤ] emphatic ð Moon ع ʿAyn عَيْن [ʕ] pharyngeal Moon غ Ghayn غَيْن [ɣ] French r Moon ف Fāʾ فَاء [f] Moon ق Qāf قَاف [q] deep k Moon ك Kāf كَاف [k] Sun ل Lām لَام [l] Moon م Mīm مِيم [m] Sun ن Nūn نُون [n] Moon ه Hāʾ هَاء [h] gentle breath Non-join و Wāw وَاو [w] / long [uː] Sun ي Yāʾ يَاء [j] / long [iː]

Step 4

Letter Joining Rules

Arabic letters flow together like cursive. Understanding joining rules lets you break any word apart.

Dual-joining Letters (22)

Connect to both the preceding and following letter, forming a continuous flow within a word.

كَتَبَ
كَـ
Initial ك
ـتَـ
Medial ت
ـبَ
Final ب

Right-joining Only (6 Letters)

Join to the right only; they break the chain on the left. ا د ذ ر ز و

دَرَسَ
دَ
Dal (break)
رَ
Ra (break)
سَ
Sīn

Hamza (هَمْزَة)

A glottal stop [ʔ]. Written above Alif, below Alif, on Wāw, or standalone depending on surrounding vowels.

أَكَلَ · إِنَّ · ؤ · ء
Same hamza, different spellings

Sun Letter Assimilation

When the definite article الـ precedes a sun letter, the ل assimilates to that letter. Moon letters keep the ل unchanged.

الشَّمْس → اَشَّمْس
ال + شمس → aš-šams

Step 5

Arabic-Indic Numerals

The digits 0–9 we use today actually originated in the Arab world. Eastern Arabic script uses a distinct numeral set.

٠0ṣifr
١1wāḥid
٢2ithnayn
٣3thalātha
٤4arbaʿa
٥5khamsa
٦6sitta
٧7sabʿa
٨8thamāniya
٩9tisʿa
١٠10ʿashara
١٠٠100miʾa

Step 6

Your First Phrases

Now that you know the script, try reading these out loud.

Greetingمَرْحَبًا
marhaban
Hello
Islamic Greetingالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُم
as-salāmu ʿalaykum
Peace be upon you
Thanksشُكْرًا جَزِيلًا
shukran jazīlan
Thank you very much
You're Welcomeعَفْوًا
ʿafwan
You're welcome / Excuse me
Introductionاِسْمِي ...
ismī ...
My name is …
Farewellمَعَ السَّلَامَة
maʿa as-salāma
Goodbye (go in peace)
Opening Wordبِسْمِ اللهِ
bismillāh
In the name of God
Praiseالْحَمْدُ لِلَّه
al-ḥamdu lillāh
Praise be to God