Learn · Unit 1 of 9
The Arabic alphabet
Arabic is written from right to left, and it is cursive: letters join to each other the way English handwriting does. That is the whole difficulty at the start, and it is also the whole trick. Learn the 28 shapes once and every word in the mushaf is built out of them.
The 6 letters that never connect forward
alif, dal, dhal, ra, zay, waw join backwards only. They have no initial and no medial form, so whatever follows one of them starts a fresh shape even in the middle of a word. Every other letter has all four.
The 5 regions the letters come from
Each letter has a makhraj, the place in the mouth or throat where it is produced. In the classification of al-Khalil ibn Ahmad and Ibn al-Jazari, which most modern tajweed manuals follow, the letters issue from 17 points grouped in 5 regions: the empty space of the mouth and throat, the throat itself, the tongue, the two lips, and the nasal passage. Sibawayh and al-Shatibi counted 16 points, and other scholars 14, so treat the number as a classification rather than a single settled fact. The line under each letter below describes what your mouth actually does.
All 28 letters
Tap a letter to see its four forms and where it is made.
ا alif
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | · | · | ا |
alif never connects forward: no initial or medial form.
Where it is made: Carries no articulation point of its own. As a lengthener it runs through the open mouth; as a seat for hamza the sound starts in the deepest part of the throat.
ب ba
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ب | ب | ب | ب |
Where it is made: The two lips press together and release.
ت ta
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ت | ت | ت | ت |
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue meets the roots of the upper front teeth, with no vibration.
ث tha
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ث | ث | ث | ث |
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue touches the edges of the upper front teeth and the air passes over it.
ج jim
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ج | ج | ج | ج |
Where it is made: The middle of the tongue rises against the hard palate.
ح ha
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ح | ح | ح | ح |
Where it is made: From the middle of the throat, breathed and open.
خ kha
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| خ | خ | خ | خ |
Where it is made: From the upper throat, nearest the mouth, with a light scrape.
د dal
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| د | · | · | د |
dal never connects forward: no initial or medial form.
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue meets the roots of the upper front teeth, voiced.
ذ dhal
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ذ | · | · | ذ |
dhal never connects forward: no initial or medial form.
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue touches the edges of the upper front teeth, voiced.
ر ra
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ر | · | · | ر |
ra never connects forward: no initial or medial form.
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue taps the gum just behind the upper front teeth.
ز zay
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ز | · | · | ز |
zay never connects forward: no initial or medial form.
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue sits behind the lower front teeth and the air whistles out, voiced.
س sin
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| س | س | س | س |
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue sits behind the lower front teeth and the air whistles out, unvoiced.
ش shin
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ش | ش | ش | ش |
Where it is made: The middle of the tongue rises towards the hard palate and the air spreads out.
ص sad
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ص | ص | ص | ص |
Where it is made: The whistle of sin, made with the back of the tongue raised so the sound is heavy.
ض dad
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ض | ض | ض | ض |
Where it is made: One edge of the tongue presses against the upper molars. Arabic is often called the language of the dad after this letter.
ط ta (emphatic)
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ط | ط | ط | ط |
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue at the roots of the upper front teeth, with the back of the tongue raised.
ظ za (emphatic)
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ظ | ظ | ظ | ظ |
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue at the edges of the upper front teeth, with the back of the tongue raised.
ع ayn
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ع | ع | ع | ع |
Where it is made: From the middle of the throat, pressed rather than breathed.
غ ghayn
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| غ | غ | غ | غ |
Where it is made: From the upper throat, nearest the mouth, voiced.
ف fa
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ف | ف | ف | ف |
Where it is made: The inside of the lower lip meets the tips of the upper front teeth.
ق qaf
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ق | ق | ق | ق |
Where it is made: The deepest part of the tongue rises against the soft palate.
ك kaf
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ك | ك | ك | ك |
Where it is made: Slightly forward of qaf, where the tongue meets the hard palate.
ل lam
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ل | ل | ل | ل |
Where it is made: The tip and the edges of the tongue meet the gum of the upper front teeth.
م mim
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| م | م | م | م |
Where it is made: The two lips meet lightly and the sound runs through the nose.
ن nun
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ن | ن | ن | ن |
Where it is made: The tip of the tongue just below the lam point, with the sound running through the nose.
ه ha (round)
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ه | ه | ه | ه |
Where it is made: From the deepest part of the throat, open and breathed.
و waw
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| و | · | · | و |
waw never connects forward: no initial or medial form.
Where it is made: The lips round without closing. With no vowel of its own it lengthens the u sound before it.
ي ya
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| ي | ي | ي | ي |
Where it is made: The middle of the tongue rises towards the palate. With no vowel of its own it lengthens the i sound before it.
3 of these letters, in real words
وَٱلۡعَصۡرِ
Sad, the fourteenth letter, sitting inside a word you have almost certainly heard recited.
ٱلنَّاسِ
Sin closing a word. The alif in front of it is one of the six that never join forward, so the sin stands in its own separate shape even here.
أَحَدٌ
Ha, the throat letter, joined forward to the dal after it. The alif in front does not join forward, so the ha opens a fresh run inside the word.
Practise: 8 letters, pick the right form
Trying to recall a letter is what fixes it; re-reading the table feels easier and works less well. (Roediger and Karpicke, Psychological Science 17(3), 2006, 249-255: repeated testing beat restudying at two-day and one-week delays, while restudying won only at five minutes.)
Which of these is the initial form of ba?
Show the answer
ب
Which of these is the initial form of jim?
Show the answer
ج
Which of these is the initial form of sin?
Show the answer
س
Which of these is the initial form of dad?
Show the answer
ض
Which of these is the initial form of ayn?
Show the answer
ع
Which of these is the initial form of qaf?
Show the answer
ق
Which of these is the initial form of mim?
Show the answer
م
Which of these is the initial form of ya?
Show the answer
ي
Why some books say 29 or 30
The count depends on what you agree to call a letter. The Diyanet Elif-Ba prints 28 and adds a note that lam-alif is not an independent letter. Indonesian sources often print 30 by counting the hamza and lam-alif separately, and some print 29. The shapes taught are the same either way: only the bookkeeping differs.
Letter-form data derived from the Unicode Character Database. Licences.
Questions people ask
How many letters are in the Arabic alphabet?
28. Some books print 29 or 30 by counting the hamza and the lam-alif ligature as separate entries. The Diyanet Elif-Ba prints 28 and adds a note that lam-alif is not an independent letter.
Which Arabic letters never join to the letter after them?
Six: alif, dal, dhal, ra, zay and waw. They join backwards only, so they have no initial and no medial form, and the letter after one of them starts a fresh shape.
Why does the same Arabic letter look different in different words?
Arabic is written cursively, so a letter takes the shape that connects it to its neighbours. Twenty-two of the 28 letters have four forms; the six non-connectors have two.
Do I need to learn the letter names to read the Quran?
The names help you talk about the letters in class, but reading works off the shapes and the vowel marks. Most learners pick up both at once.
What is a makhraj?
The place in the mouth or throat where a letter is produced. Naming it is how teachers separate letters that sound similar to a beginner, such as sin and sad, or ta and the emphatic ta.
How many articulation points are there?
In the classification of al-Khalil ibn Ahmad and Ibn al-Jazari, which most modern tajweed manuals follow, the letters issue from 17 points grouped in 5 regions. Sibawayh and al-Shatibi counted 16, and other scholars 14, so the number is a matter of classification rather than a single settled fact.
Which direction is Arabic written in?
Right to left, and cursively: letters join to each other the way English handwriting does. That is why the same letter takes different shapes in different words, and why learning the 28 shapes once is enough to read any word in the mushaf.
What are the four forms of an Arabic letter?
Isolated, initial, medial and final: the shape a letter takes standing alone, at the start of a joined run, inside it, and at the end. 22 of the 28 letters have all four. The 6 that never join forward have only isolated and final.
How can I test whether I know the letters?
Two ways on this page. Every letter card opens to its four forms, a line describing where in the mouth it is made, and a mark-as-known control that remembers your answer. The quiz below the letters shows a shape and asks which letter's initial form it is, over 8 letters.
Where does the letter-form data on this page come from?
The Unicode Character Database. The four forms are real text shaped by the font through zero-width joiners rather than pictures or presentation-form codepoints, which is why you can select and copy any of them.
Saved on this device only. Tap again to undo; nothing is lost either way.
These lessons cover reading mechanics only. For recitation itself, learn with a teacher; text can show you the rules, not your own voice.
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