Lesson one
The skeleton and the dots
Three letters written with one identical stroke, told apart only by dots. With these and alif you can already read real words.
- Read and write ب, ت, ث and ا.
- Recognise the four shapes a letter takes depending on where it falls.
- Pronounce all three sounds without the habit your language builds in.
- Read بَاب and ثَبَات out loud.
2. One skeleton, three letters
plate i
bāʾ
one dot below · b
tāʾ
two dots above · t
thāʾ
three dots above · th
alif
no dots · ā
3. The four shapes
Arabic letters join up, like handwriting. Each one has up to four shapes depending on its place in the word. They are not four new letters: it is the same stroke with or without a connecting hook on either side.
Read the table right to left, like Arabic.
| Letter | Final | Medial | Initial | Isolated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ب | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | ب |
| ت | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | ت |
| ث | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | ث |
| ا | ـا | ـا | ا | ا |
Alif is this lesson's exception: it joins on its right but never on its left. That is why in بَاب the second b starts free.
4. The three sounds
Exactly your b — you have it
The b in “book”, unchanged. Nothing to fix. A Spanish speaker has to fight a lifelong habit here, because Spanish softens b between vowels into a breath. You do not — so bank this one and move on.
Two things wrong with your t — watch out
First, place: your t is alveolar — the tongue hits the ridge behind your teeth. Arabic ت is dental: the tongue touches the teeth themselves. Second, aspiration: hold a hand in front of your mouth and say “top”. That puff of air does not exist in Arabic. The t in “stop” is much closer than the t in “top” — start there.
The th in “think” — you have it
Not the th in “this” — that one is voiced, and it is a different Arabic letter, ذ. Say “think” and “this” back to back and feel your throat switch on for the second. ث is the first one. A French speaker does not have this sound at all; you were handed it.
5. Practice
Read aloud, right to left. The first three are syllables; the last three are words.
- بَ بِ بُ
- تَ تِ تُ
- ثَ ثِ ثُ
- بَاب
- ثَبَات
- بَتّ
Show answers
| بَ بِ بُ | ba · bi · bu |
| تَ تِ تُ | ta · ti · tu |
| ثَ ثِ ثُ | tha · thi · thu |
| بَاب | bāb |
| ثَبَات | thabāt |
| بَتّ | batt |
بَاب means “door” — and it is the name of this site. ثَبَات means “steadiness”. بَتّ means “settling something once and for all”: that small mark over the last letter is the shadda, and it doubles the consonant.