Short vowels

Harakat for kids: fatha, kasra & damma

Harakat are the little vowel marks written above and below Arabic letters. Fatha (a small line on top) says a, kasra (a small line underneath) says i, and damma (a tiny curl on top) says u — so ب becomes بَ ba, بِ bi and بُ bu.

3 short vowels84 sounds to hearAges 4–8

Teacher review under way.

Fatha

فَتْحَة

says a

It's a little slanted line on top. Its name means “opening”. Open your mouth wide: a, like the a in 'ant'.

Kasra

كَسْرَة

says i

It's a little slanted line underneath. Its name means “breaking”. Drop your jaw and smile a little: i, like the i in 'sit'.

Damma

ضَمَّة

says u

It's a tiny curl (a mini و) on top. Its name means “rounding”. Round your lips like a little circle: u, like the u in 'put'.

Every letter, every vowel

The harakat chart: 84 sounds to tap

Read across a row: fatha, kasra, damma. Tap any sound to hear it. Letters with an underline open their own page.

Put it together

Read your first words

Each word is split into its sounds (right to left), coloured by its vowel. Say each sound, then say them faster until they melt into the word. Tap the word to check.

1. قَ‍qa
2. ‍مَ‍ma
3. ‍رr
1. جَ‍ja
2. ‍مَ‍ma
3. ‍لl
1. أَa
2. سَ‍sa
3. ‍دd
1. نَ‍na
2. ‍مِ‍mi
3. ‍رr
1. عِ‍'i
2. ‍نَ‍na
3. ‍بb
1. كُ‍ku
2. ‍تُ‍tu
3. ‍بb

When they're ready

What comes after the three harakat

Long vowels
Put ا after a fatha, ي after a kasra or و after a damma and the vowel stretches: a becomes aa, i becomes ee, u becomes oo.
Sukun
A tiny circle on top means no vowel: the letter just stops. In masjid, the س has a sukun — mas-jid.
Shadda
A little 'w' shape on top means say the letter twice. In battah (duck) the ط is doubled — bat-tah.
Tanween
Two marks instead of one add an n sound at the end of a word: an, in, un.

Tips

Teaching harakat at home

Use the colours. Coral for fatha, blue for kasra, green for damma — colour the marks on worksheets with crayons too.
Show the mouth. Open wide for fatha, a little smile with the jaw down for kasra, round lips for damma. Children copy faces before sounds.
One vowel at a time. Read a whole row of fathas (ba, ta, tha…) before mixing in kasra and damma.
Short and daily. Five minutes of the chart above, a few times a week, is plenty for a 5-year-old.