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Arabic Alphabet: 28 Letters, Transliteration & Pronunciation
The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters, written right to left in a connected, cursive script. Learn each Arabic letter, its name, pronunciation, and Latin transliteration below.
The 28 Arabic Letters
There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet. This complete Arabic letters list shows each letter, its name, Latin transliteration, pronunciation, and an example word.
| Arabic Letter | Name | Latin Transliteration | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ا | alif | a | primarily a long "a", though it can also be silent or act as a seat for hamza | اسم (ism, "name") |
| ب | ba | b | b as in "book" | باب (bab, "door") |
| ت | ta | t | t as in "top" | تمر (tamr, "dates") |
| ث | tha | th | th as in "think" | ثعلب (thalab, "fox") |
| ج | jim | j | j as in "jam" (varies by dialect) | جميل (jameel, "beautiful") |
| ح | ha | h (throat) | no exact English equivalent | حار (haar, "hot") |
| خ | kha | kh | Scottish "loch" / German "Bach" | خبز (khubz, "bread") |
| د | dal | d | d as in "dog" | دار (dar, "house") |
| ذ | dhal | dh | th as in "this" | ذهب (dhahab, "gold") |
| ر | ra | r | rolled/tapped, like Spanish "r" | رجل (rajul, "man") |
| ز | zay | z | z as in "zoo" | زيت (zayt, "oil") |
| س | sin | s | s as in "sun" | سمك (samak, "fish") |
| ش | shin | sh | sh as in "shoe" | شمس (shams, "sun") |
| ص | sad | s (emphatic) | heavier, more constricted "s" | صديق (sadeeq, "friend") |
| ض | dad | d (emphatic) | heavier, more constricted "d" | ضوء (daw', "light") |
| ط | ta (emphatic) | t (emphatic) | heavier, more constricted "t" | طريق (tareeq, "road") |
| ظ | za (emphatic) | z (emphatic) | heavier, more constricted "th"/"z" | ظل (dhill, "shadow") |
| ع | ayn | 3 / ' | no exact English equivalent | عين (ayn, "eye") |
| غ | ghayn | gh | close to a French guttural "r" | غريب (ghareeb, "strange") |
| ف | fa | f | f as in "fun" | فيل (feel, "elephant") |
| ق | qaf | q | guttural "k", further back in the throat | قمر (qamar, "moon") |
| ك | kaf | k | k as in "kite" | كتاب (kitab, "book") |
| ل | lam | l | l as in "lamp" | لون (lawn, "color") |
| م | mim | m | m as in "moon" | ماء (maa, "water") |
| ن | nun | n | n as in "noon" | نور (noor, "light") |
| ه | ha | h | h as in "house" | هدية (hadiya, "gift") |
| و | waw | w / u | w as in "wow", or long "oo" | ورد (ward, "roses") |
| ي | ya | y / i | y as in "yes", or long "ee" | يد (yad, "hand") |
Arabic Alphabet Letter Names
Each of the 28 Arabic letters has its own name. For example, ا is alif, ب is ba, ت is ta, and ث is tha. See the complete list in the table above.
Arabic Alphabet Converter
Arabic Alphabet with English Transliteration
Arabic alphabet transliteration uses Latin letters and symbols to represent Arabic letters and sounds, as shown in the table above. Letters without a direct English equivalent are usually written as digraphs or symbols — for example, ش is transliterated as "sh", خ as "kh", and ع is often written as "ʿ" or "3" in informal Arabizi.
Because Arabic and English use different sounds and letters, the Arabic alphabet cannot be converted directly into the English A-Z alphabet — transliteration provides the closest readable equivalent instead.
Key Facts About the Arabic Alphabet
A quick overview of the Arabic alphabet's main characteristics.
28 Letters
Three of them (ا, و, ي) also serve as long vowels.Right to Left
Though embedded numerals still read left to right.Cursive by Nature
Most letters connect to their neighbors, changing shape by position.No Capital Letters
Arabic has a single case, unlike Latin scripts.Short Vowels Often Omitted
Shown only via optional diacritics (tashkeel) when present.Why Do Arabic Letters Look Different?
Arabic is written as connected, cursive script, so a letter isn't a single fixed shape — it changes depending on where it falls in a word: isolated, initial, medial, or final. Six letters (ا, د, ذ, ر, ز, و) only ever connect to the letter before them, never the one after. This isn't 28 × 4 different letters to memorize — it's the same 28 letters taking contextual shapes. See our Arabic Letters guide for the complete forms table.
Sun and Moon Letters in Arabic
The 28 letters also split into 14 "sun letters" and 14 "moon letters" — a classification that changes how the definite article ال ("the") is pronounced, never how it's spelled. With sun letters, the ل assimilates (الشمس → ash-shams); with moon letters, it's pronounced normally (القمر → al-qamar). See the full lists on our Arabic Letters page.
Arabic Alphabet Pronunciation
Most Arabic letters have a reasonably close English sound, but several have no direct equivalent: ع (voiced throat sound), ح (sharp, breathy "h"), خ (Scottish "loch"), ق (guttural "k"), and the emphatic ص، ض، ط، ظ. Learn how each sound is actually spoken in our Arabic Pronunciation guide.
Arabic Alphabet for Beginners
If you're starting from scratch, this order tends to work well: learn the 28 letters and names, then their sounds, then how letters connect, then short vowels/diacritics (tashkeel) — and only then start reading simple words. Ready to practice? Explore the Arabic Letters guide to see how each letter changes in isolated, initial, medial and final positions.
Arabic Script
Arabic script is the writing system used to write Arabic. It is written from right to left and uses 28 letters, joined together in a connected, cursive style rather than printed as separate blocks. Most letters change shape depending on their position in a word (isolated, initial, medial, or final), and the script has no distinction between uppercase and lowercase, unlike Latin script. Short vowels are usually left out of everyday writing, which is why context matters so much when reading unvocalized Arabic text. For the complete breakdown of every letter's forms, see our Arabic Letters guide.
Arabic Alphabet A-Z
Arabic doesn't use the Latin A-Z alphabet — it has its own 28 letters, each with its own Arabic name, sound, and Latin transliteration. There's no one-to-one "A is for..." equivalent the way there is between, say, English and French. The closest practical equivalent is the common Latin transliteration for each letter, shown below:
| Latin | Arabic Transliteration | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| A | a | ا |
| B | b | ب |
| T | t | ت |
| TH | th | ث |
| J | j | ج |
| H | h | ح |
| KH | kh | خ |
| D | d | د |
| R | r | ر |
| S | s | س |
| SH | sh | ش |
| F | f | ف |
| Q | q | ق |
| K | k | ك |
| L | l | ل |
| M | m | م |
| N | n | ن |
| W | w | و |
| Y | y | ي |
This is a practical guide to common Latin equivalents, not a literal "A = ا" mapping — several Arabic letters (ع, ح, ص, ض, ط, ظ) have no single Latin letter equivalent at all. See the full table above for those.
Arabic Alphabet to English Letters
The Arabic alphabet can't be converted directly into English letters, because the two writing systems represent different sounds with different symbols. Instead, Arabic transliteration represents each Arabic letter using the closest Latin letter or combination:
- م = m
- ش = sh
- خ = kh
- ع = ʿ in formal transliteration, or 3 in informal Arabizi
This is the same approach used throughout this page and in our Arabic Transliteration guide.
Arabic Alphabet Copy and Paste
Copy and paste the complete Arabic alphabet, in alphabetical order, for messages, documents, language learning, or social media:
ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و ي
Arabic Alphabet vs English Alphabet
Arabic and English scripts differ in more than just their letters:
| Feature | Arabic | English |
|---|---|---|
| Number of letters | 28 | 26 |
| Direction | Right to left | Left to right |
| Letter case | No uppercase/lowercase | Uppercase/lowercase |
| Writing style | Connected, cursive | Usually separated |
| Letter forms | Contextual (isolated/initial/medial/final) | Mostly fixed |
| Short vowels | Often omitted in writing | Usually written |