The Arabic Alphabet for Beginners: Letters, Sounds and Shapes

📅 2026-10-20 · ⏱️ 3 min read · 📂 Arabic & Tafseer

The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters (plus the hamzah). It's written from right to left, and most letters connect to each other. Here's a beginner-friendly overview.

The Letters

ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و ي

Letters With Shared Shapes

Many letters share a base shape and differ only by dots:

• ب ت ث: one dot below, two above, three above
• ج ح خ: dot inside, none, dot above
• د ذ, ر ز, س ش, ص ض, ط ظ, ع غ

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Sounds Without English Equivalents

Pay special attention to ح، خ، ع، غ، ق، ص، ض، ط، ظ. They need practice with a teacher. See Makharij al-Huroof.

Letter Shapes in Words

Most letters have up to four forms: isolated, initial, medial and final. For example, ه looks quite different at the start (هـ), middle (ـهـ) and end (ـه) of a word.

Six Non-Connecting Letters

ا د ذ ر ز و never connect to the letter after them, which creates small gaps within words.

Vowel Marks

Short vowels are written as small marks above or below letters: fatha (a), kasra (i), damma (u).

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My Online Quran Tutor Teaching Team
Written by our team of Quran teachers in Lahore, following our editorial policy. Last updated 2026-10-20.