The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters and is written from right to left. Letters join to each other inside a word, so most of them have four forms: isolated, initial, medial and final. The letters stand for consonants and long vowels. Short vowels are small marks above or below the letters, and everyday Arabic usually leaves them out. Six letters never join to the letter after them, and there are no capital letters.

To hear each letter, open the Arabic letters page, which has audio for every letter.

What are the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet?

The table follows the standard dictionary order. The joining line (ـ) shows where a letter connects. An initial form joins the next letter on its left, a medial form joins on both sides, and a final form joins only the letter before it, on its right.

Letter	Name	Transliteration	Sound	Isolated	Initial	Medial	Final
ا	ألف (alif)	ā, ʾ	long "aa" as in "father"; at the start of a word it carries a short vowel or hamza	ا	ا	ـا	ـا
ب	باء (bāʾ)	b	"b" in "bed"	ب	بـ	ـبـ	ـب
ت	تاء (tāʾ)	t	"t" in "ten"	ت	تـ	ـتـ	ـت
ث	ثاء (thāʾ)	th	"th" in "think"	ث	ثـ	ـثـ	ـث
ج	جيم (jīm)	j	"j" in "jam" ("g" in "go" in Egypt)	ج	جـ	ـجـ	ـج
ح	حاء (ḥāʾ)	ḥ	a strong, breathy "h" from a tightened throat; no English equivalent	ح	حـ	ـحـ	ـح
خ	خاء (khāʾ)	kh	"ch" in Scottish "loch"	خ	خـ	ـخـ	ـخ
د	دال (dāl)	d	"d" in "dog"	د	د	ـد	ـد
ذ	ذال (dhāl)	dh	"th" in "this"	ذ	ذ	ـذ	ـذ
ر	راء (rāʾ)	r	tapped or rolled "r", as in Spanish	ر	ر	ـر	ـر
ز	زاي (zāy)	z	"z" in "zoo"	ز	ز	ـز	ـز
س	سين (sīn)	s	"s" in "sun"	س	سـ	ـسـ	ـس
ش	شين (shīn)	sh	"sh" in "shoe"	ش	شـ	ـشـ	ـش
ص	صاد (ṣād)	ṣ	emphatic "s"; no English equivalent	ص	صـ	ـصـ	ـص
ض	ضاد (ḍād)	ḍ	emphatic "d"; no English equivalent	ض	ضـ	ـضـ	ـض
ط	طاء (ṭāʾ)	ṭ	emphatic "t"; no English equivalent	ط	طـ	ـطـ	ـط
ظ	ظاء (ẓāʾ)	ẓ	emphatic "th" as in "this"; no English equivalent	ظ	ظـ	ـظـ	ـظ
ع	عين (ʿayn)	ʿ	a voiced sound squeezed from the throat; no English equivalent	ع	عـ	ـعـ	ـع
غ	غين (ghayn)	gh	close to a French "r", like a soft gargle	غ	غـ	ـغـ	ـغ
ف	فاء (fāʾ)	f	"f" in "fun"	ف	فـ	ـفـ	ـف
ق	قاف (qāf)	q	a "k" made further back, at the very back of the mouth; no English equivalent	ق	قـ	ـقـ	ـق
ك	كاف (kāf)	k	"k" in "kite"	ك	كـ	ـكـ	ـك
ل	لام (lām)	l	"l" in "lemon"	ل	لـ	ـلـ	ـل
م	ميم (mīm)	m	"m" in "moon"	م	مـ	ـمـ	ـم
ن	نون (nūn)	n	"n" in "noon"	ن	نـ	ـنـ	ـن
ه	هاء (hāʾ)	h	"h" in "hat", pronounced even at the end of a word	ه	هـ	ـهـ	ـه
و	واو (wāw)	w, ū	"w" in "wet", or long "oo" in "food"	و	و	ـو	ـو
ي	ياء (yāʾ)	y, ī	"y" in "yes", or long "ee" in "see"	ي	يـ	ـيـ	ـي

Hamza (ء), the glottal stop, is used all the time but is not usually counted among the 28 letters. It has its own section below.

Look closely and you will see that many letters share a body and differ only in their dots: ب ت ث, ج ح خ, د ذ, ر ز, س ش, ص ض, ط ظ and ع غ. At the start or in the middle of a word, ف and ق share a body too, and so do ن and ي with ب ت ث. The dots are part of the letter, so a missing or extra dot changes the sound.

Which Arabic letters don't connect to the next letter?

Six letters join to the letter before them but never to the letter after them: ا (alif), د (dāl), ذ (dhāl), ر (rāʾ), ز (zāy) and و (wāw). The letter that follows one of them starts fresh in its initial or isolated form, which leaves small gaps inside words.

بَاب (bāb, door): ب joins ا, but ا cannot join the last ب, so that ب stands alone.
دَرْس (dars, lesson): neither د nor ر joins forward, so all three letters stand apart.
وَرْد (ward, roses): every letter is a non-connector, so nothing joins.

Because of this, these six letters have only two shapes: their initial form matches the isolated form, and their medial form matches the final form. One more rule: when ل (lām) comes before ا (alif), the pair is always written as one combined shape, لا, which is also the word for "no".

Which Arabic sounds don't exist in English?

Nine letters stand for sounds that standard English does not have. Four of them, ص ض ط ظ, are "emphatic" consonants: you say them with the back of the tongue pulled toward the throat, which also gives nearby vowels a deeper sound. The other five are made in the throat or at the very back of the mouth.

Letter	How to say it	Example
ع (ʿayn)	Tighten the muscles of your throat and push a voiced vowel through them.	عَرَبِيّ (ʿarabī, Arabic)
ح (ḥāʾ)	A loud, breathy "h" with the throat tightened, as if whispering "ha" hard.	حُبّ (ḥubb, love)
خ (khāʾ)	Like "ch" in Scottish "loch" or German "Bach".	خُبْز (khubz, bread)
غ (ghayn)	The voiced version of خ, close to a French "r".	غُرْفَة (ghurfa, room)
ق (qāf)	A "k" made further back, where you would gargle.	قَلْب (qalb, heart)
ص (ṣād)	Emphatic "s".	صَبَاح (ṣabāḥ, morning)
ض (ḍād)	Emphatic "d".	ضَيْف (ḍayf, guest)
ط (ṭāʾ)	Emphatic "t".	طَالِب (ṭālib, student)
ظ (ẓāʾ)	Emphatic "th" as in "this".	ظُهْر (ẓuhr, noon)

Practise each one against its plain partner, because the difference changes meaning: سَيْف (sayf, sword) and صَيْف (ṣayf, summer), or كَلْب (kalb, dog) and قَلْب (qalb, heart). Other pairs worth drilling are د and ض, ت and ط, ذ and ظ, and ه and ح.

Early Arabic grammarians called Arabic "the language of the ḍād" (لغة الضاد), because they thought the sound of ض was found in no other language.

How do Arabic short vowels (harakat) work?

Short vowels are written as small marks called harakat (حركات) above or below a letter. Most printed Arabic leaves them out. You will see them in the Quran, children's books and books for learners, and now and then on a single word that could otherwise be misread.

Mark	On the letter ب	What it does
fatḥa (فَتْحَة)	بَ	short "a": ba
ḍamma (ضَمَّة)	بُ	short "u", as in "put": bu
kasra (كَسْرَة)	بِ	short "i", as in "pick": bi
sukūn (سُكُون)	بْ	no vowel after the letter
shadda (شَدَّة)	بّ	doubles the consonant: bb
tanwīn (تَنْوِين)	بًا بٌ بٍ	adds -an, -un or -in at the end of a word, as in شُكْرًا (shukran, thank you)

Long vowels are full letters. A fatḥa followed by ا gives a long ā (بَا, bā), a ḍamma followed by و gives ū (بُو, bū), and a kasra followed by ي gives ī (بِي, bī).

Without the marks, readers fill in short vowels from context. The letters كتب can be read كَتَبَ (kataba, he wrote), كُتُب (kutub, books) or كُتِبَ (kutiba, it was written). This is why reading unmarked text gets easier as your vocabulary grows.

What are sun and moon letters?

They decide how you pronounce ال (al-), the word for "the". Before a moon letter, you say the l: الْقَمَر (al-qamar, the moon). Before a sun letter, the l goes silent and the next consonant doubles: الشَّمْس is said ash-shams (the sun), not al-shams. The l stays in the spelling either way.

The 14 sun letters are ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن, all made with the tip or front of the tongue. The other 14 letters are moon letters.

What are hamza and taa marbuta?

Hamza (ء)

Hamza is a glottal stop, the catch in the middle of "uh-oh". It sits alone on the line or on a "seat" letter, depending on the vowels around it:

on or under alif, أ or إ, as in أَنَا (ʾana, I)
on wāw, ؤ, as in سُؤَال (suʾāl, question)
on a dotless yāʾ, ئ, as in رَئِيس (raʾīs, head, chief)
alone, ء, as in مَاء (māʾ, water)

Taa marbuta (ة)

Taa marbuta looks like ه with the two dots of ت. It only appears at the end of a word, usually a feminine noun or adjective. At the end of a phrase it sounds like a plain "a": رِسَالَة (risāla, letter). When an ending is added, the t comes back: رِسَالَتِي (risālatī, my letter).

A related end-of-word shape is alif maqsura (ى). It looks like ي without dots and is said as a long ā, as in عَلَى (ʿalā, on).

Is the alphabet the same in Modern Standard Arabic and the dialects?

Yes. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), used in news, books and formal speeches, and spoken dialects such as Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Iraqi and Moroccan Arabic all use the same 28 letters. What changes is how some letters are pronounced.

ج is "j" in Iraq and most of the Arabian Peninsula, "zh" (as in "measure") in much of North Africa and the cities of the Levant, and "g" in Cairo and much of Egypt.
ق is "q" in MSA, a glottal stop in most of the Levant and in Cairo, and "g" in most of the Arabian Peninsula. So قَلْب (heart) is qalb in MSA, often ʾalb in Cairo or Beirut, and galb in much of the Gulf.

Learn the MSA sounds first, because MSA pronunciation follows the spelling, then adjust to a dialect once you start speaking. If you are still choosing between MSA and a dialect, why learn Arabic walks through that decision.

How can you learn the Arabic alphabet in two weeks?

Learn the letters in shape families, spend 20 to 30 minutes a day, read every word out loud and write each new letter in all its forms. Each step only uses letters you have already met.

Days 1 and 2: ا ب ت ث ن ي, the three short vowels, sukūn and shadda. Read بَيْت (bayt, house) and بِنْت (bint, girl).
Days 3 and 4: ج ح خ and the non-connectors د ذ ر ز و. Read بَاب, وَرْد, خُبْز and حُبّ.
Days 5 and 6: س ش ص ض ط ظ. Read دَرْس and صَبَاح, and drill س against ص.
Days 7 and 8: ع غ ف ق ك ل م ه and the لا shape. Read عَرَبِيّ, طَالِب, قَلْب and كَلْب, and say سَيْف and صَيْف back to back.
Days 9 and 10: hamza, taa marbuta, alif maqsura and tanwīn. Read شُكْرًا, رِسَالَة, غُرْفَة, سُؤَال and عَلَى.
Days 11 to 14: sun and moon letters, then text without vowel marks, such as street signs, menus, headlines and your own name.

For a study routine beyond the alphabet, see how to learn a language.

Where can you hear every Arabic letter?

The Arabic letters page on Indilingo has audio for every letter, which helps most with the throat sounds that are hard to learn from text. In the Indilingo app, the script is taught letter by letter with audio, and you can learn Arabic through English or another language you know, such as Hindi, Urdu or French. When you are ready to speak, the Speak tab has voice conversations with an AI tutor. They are on every plan, including the free plan, which comes with free minutes. The Arabic language guide has more on the language, and the app is on Android and iOS from the download page.

Arabic alphabet FAQ

How many letters are in the Arabic alphabet?

28. Hamza (ء) is used constantly but is not usually counted as one of them, and taa marbuta (ة) and alif maqsura (ى) are special end-of-word forms rather than separate letters.

How long does it take to learn the Arabic alphabet?

With daily practice, one to two weeks is a realistic target for recognising all 28 letters. Reading text without vowel marks takes longer, because you need vocabulary to fill in the missing vowels. The full language is a bigger project: the US Foreign Service Institute puts Arabic in Category IV, at about 88 weeks (2,200 class hours) of full-time study for an English speaker to reach professional-level speaking and listening (FSI).

Does Arabic have capital letters?

No. Arabic has no upper and lower case. Each letter changes shape according to its position in the word instead.

Is Arabic written from right to left?

Yes. Words and sentences run from right to left. Numbers are the exception: their digits sit in the same order as in English, with the largest place value on the left, even inside Arabic text.

Is the Arabic alphabet the same as Urdu or Persian?

Both are built on it and add letters. Persian has 32 letters, adding پ (p), چ (ch), ژ (zh) and گ (g). Urdu uses those and adds more, such as ٹ and ڈ, for sounds Arabic does not have. Knowing the Arabic letters gives you a head start on reading both.

The Arabic Alphabet: 28 Letters, Sounds and Forms