Collins Arabic Phrasebook and Dictionary Gem Edition. Collins Dictionaries
Pronouncing Arabic
The Arabic alphabet is written and read from right to left and horizontally. There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet:
| Name of letter | Arabic Letter | Name of letter | Arabic Letter |
| Taa (t) | ط | alif (ă) | أ |
| Thaa (th) | ظ | Baa (b) | ب |
| ’ein (’) | ع | Taa (t) | ت |
| Qain (q) | غ | Thaa (th) | ث |
| Faa (f) | ك | Jeem (j) | ج |
| Qaaf (q) | ق | Haa (h) | ح |
| Kaaf (k) | ك | Khaa (kh) | خ |
| Laam (l) | ل | Daal (da) | د |
| Miim (m) | م | Thaal (th) | ذ |
| Nuun (n) | ن | Raa (r) | ر |
| Haa (h) | هـ | Zaa (z) | ز |
| Waaw (w) | و | Seen (s) | س |
| Yaa (y) | ي | Sheen (sh) | ش |
| Saad (s) | ص | ||
| dhaad (dh) | ض |
The table below shows the letters that are similar to those in English, and that you should therefore have no problem learning or pronouncing.
| Name of letter | Arabic letter | Sounds like |
| Alif (ă) | ا | apple |
| Baa (b) | ب | ball |
| Taa (t) | ت | ticket |
| Thaa (th) | ث | thick |
| Jeem (j) | ج | jam |
| Daal (da) | د | done |
| Thaal (th) | ذ | though |
| Raa (r) | ر | rat |
| Zaa (z) | ز | zoo |
| Seen (s) | س | sad |
| Sheen (sh) | ش | shop |
| Saad (s) | ص | sorry |
| Taa (t) | ط | tip |
| Thaa (th) | ظ | thaw |
| Faa (f) | ف | far |
| Kaaf (k) | ك | cat |
| Laam (l) | ل | lot |
| Miim (m) | م | mother |
| Nuun (n) | ن | nun |
| Haa (h) | هـ | hand |
| Waaw (w) | و | wood |
| Yaa (y) | ي | yes |
Unfamiliar sounds
The Arabic letters below are the ones that are either hard to pronounce or are pronounced a little bit differently.
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