1 Arabic alphabet
The first step to learning any language is to learn the alphabet. The Arabic alphabet consists of twenty-eight letters, which you will find in the following table with the English transliteration. Listen carefully to the audio, and repeat the letters you hear. Before you move to joining letters in the next section, learning to write independent letters is highly recommended.
Download this audio clip.Audio player: Audio 1
Audio 1
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
| Transliteration | The letter’s name in English | The letter’s name in Arabic | The letter (Independent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | alif | أَلِف | ا |
| B | baʾ | بَاء | ب |
| T | taʾ | تَاء | ت |
| Th - ṯ | Tha’ - ṯaʾ | ثَاء | ث |
| J - ǧ | ǧīm | جِيم | ج |
| ḥ | ḥaʾ | حَاء | ح |
| Kh - ẖ | ẖaʾ | خَاء | خ |
| D | dāl | دَال | د |
| Th - ḏ | Thal - ḏāl | ذَال | ذ |
| R | rāʾ | رَاء | ر |
| Z | zāy | زَاي | ز |
| S | sīn | سِين | س |
| Sh - š | šīn | شِين | ش |
| ṣ | ṣād | صَاد | ص |
| ḍ | ḍād | ضَاد | ض |
| ṭ | ṭāʾ | طَاء | ط |
| ẓ | ẓāʾ | ظَاء | ظ |
| ʿ | ʿain | عَين | ع |
| Gh- ġ | ġain | غَين | غ |
| F | fāʾ | فَاء | ف |
| Q | qāf | قَاف | ق |
| K | kāf | كَاف | ك |
| L | lām | لَام | ل |
| M | mīm | مِيم | م |
| N | nūn | نُون | ن |
| H | hāʾ | هَاء | هـ |
| W | wāw | وَاو | و |
| Y | yaʾ | يَاء | ي |
Activity 1
Timing: 20 minutes
To practise, match the letters with the correct English translation.
Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.
-
ب
-
م
-
ن
-
ي
-
ق
a.N
b.M
c.Q
d.B
e.Y
The correct answers are:
- 1 = d
- 2 = b
- 3 = a
- 4 = e
- 5 = c
a.
ج
b.
ع
c.
ف
The correct answer is c.
a.
ح
b.
د
c.
ش
The correct answer is b.