Now these 3 letters that we will mention can sometimes be a vowel or a consonant.

 

This letter is called Alif ا

If the Alif is a vowel it looks like this ماهر  دنيا

As a vowel it never comes at the beginning of a word. Only in the middle or end of a word

When the Alif is a vowel, the way we say the Alif depends on the letter before it.

So, if the letter before it is a heavy letter, the Alif will have a heavy sound.

For example, we say the word قال Qaala. The Qaaf is a heavy letter, the Alif also becomes heavy. It makes an Arhh sound. Qaala

If the letter before the vowel Alif is a light letter, the Alif will also be light.

For example, we say the word Mahirماهر. The  (م) meem is a light letter, so the Alif will be light. It makes an aa sound. Maahir not Marhir

 

If the Alif is a consonant it will always come with a mark called the hamza. ء

It looks like this أساسي  أطفالز رأس

It either makes an a, e or u sound depending on the vowel

 

This letter is called waw و

It is a light letter. This is what the Waw looks like at the beginning وقت, like this in the middle روح and like this at the end of a word قبو

Waw can be a vowel or consonant as well. If Waw is a consonant it will sound similar to the English letter W in the word water or the word wolf.
Here are some examples, Waw in the word واحد Wahid
Or waw in the word وردة Wardah. It made a W sound.

If the Waw is a vowel it does not have any marks on it and the letter before it has this symbol known as the dhammah ُ which we will learn later on

When you see the waw like this it makes an ‘oo’ sound in the word pool. So, this word will read ورُوْد Wurood

 

This letter is called Ya ي

 This is what Ya looks like at the beginning يمين like this in the middle   عيادة and like this at the end of a word قاضي

Yaa can either be a vowel or a consonant.

If Ya was a consonant it will sound similar to the English letter Y in the word yellow or the word yogurt.         

Here are some examples, ya in the word   يوم Yawm, or ya in the word يد Yad 

If the ya was a vowel it comes either in the middle or the end of the word.
It does not have any marks on it and the letter before it always come with a kasra  ِ

When you see the ya like this it makes an ei sound in the word Weird.

So, this word will read as عيدEid.

 

As well as the above twenty-eight letters, there are these three supplementary letters.
These aren’t usually included in the alphabet, but are used frequently nonetheless.

 

This is what the Hamza looks like ء

It represents a glottal stop which means to obstructing airflow in the vocal tract.

English speakers make this sound all the time: such as in the words ‘in’, ‘on’ and ‘at’.

The hamza can sit on its own or sit on any of these letters. ء أ ئ ؤ

It either makes an a, e or u sound depending on the vowel.

 

 

This letter is called the Ta Marbutah, the tie up Taa ة

It comes only at the end of a word.

It is pronounced as the letter  ه ha if we read the word on its own. 

For example, this word شجرة reads as shajarah and not شجرت Shajarat 
Or this word says Fatimah فاطمة and not Fatimat. We pronounced both words with a ha ه at the end.

 

But if the word with a tied up ta is linked to another word it will be pronounced as a ta ت

For example, if I add this word jamilah شجرة جميلة 
It will now read shajaratun jamilah. It makes a ta sound.

If I add this word here al-zahra فاطمة الزهراء  it will read as fatimatuzzahra  

So if I connect the word it makes a Taa sound and if I don’t connect he word it makes a Ha sound

 

 

We also have the Alif Maqṣūrah which is the shortened Alif ى

It looks like the letter ي Yaa  but with no dots ى

It also only occurs at the end of a word. It also has no vowels on it

So how do we pronounce it. We have to look at the letter before it.

If the letter before it has a kasra it will be pronounced as an ee sound like this word weird يَهدِى

This will read Yahdii

But if in this example the letter before the shortened alif has a fatha, this yaa is called alif maqsurah, the shortened alif يَنسَى

It will be pronounced as an yansaa. It makes an Aa sound