Arabic letter Alif (ا)

ا is one of the six letters that never join the letter after them, so it really only has two looks: plain (alone or at the start) and joined from the right (middle or end).

• اAloneon its own
• اStartsame as alone
• ‍اMiddlesame as the end
• ‍اEndjoined from the right

Add a little vowel mark and ا becomes a sound you can say. Fatha on top says a, kasra underneath says i, and damma on top says u. Tap each one.

• أَaFatha
• إِiKasra
• أُuDamma

Coral = fatha (a), blue = kasra (i), green = damma (u). How harakat work →

• أَرْنَب

  arnab

  rabbit

  Hear it
• 🦁

  أَسَد

  asad

  lion

  Hear it
• 🍍

  أَنَانَاس

  ananas

  pineapple

  Hear it

Alif is a plain straight line. Laam (ل) is a line too, but with a hook at the bottom.