1.
First Lesson
‫األول‬ ‫الدرس‬

2.
Letters
‫األحرف‬
• Arabic language consists of 28 alphabets / letters:
- 14 letters are called Moon/Lunar letters
- 14 letters are called Sun/Solar letters
‫ن‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ظ‬ ‫ط‬ ‫ض‬ ‫ص‬ ‫ش‬ ‫س‬ ‫ز‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ذ‬ ‫د‬ ‫ث‬ ‫ت‬
‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫هـ‬ ‫م‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ق‬ ‫ف‬ ‫غ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫خ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ب‬ ‫أ‬

3.
Moon Letters ‫القمرية‬ ‫األحرف‬

4.
Sun letters ‫الشمسية‬ ‫األحرف‬

5.
The Article ‫التعريف‬ ‫أل‬
• In Arabic the definite article is (‫)ال‬ -al. As for the indefinite article,
there is none.
• Each definite noun in Arabic has the definite article ‫ال‬ attached to it.
A Book = ‫كتاب‬
The book = ‫ال‬
+
‫كتاب‬ = ‫الكتاب‬
An elephant = ‫فيل‬
The elephant = ‫ال‬
+
‫فيل‬ = ‫الفيل‬

6.
Article ‫ال‬ + Noun ‫اإلسم‬
• When the Arabic definite article enters a word starting with a moon
letter the lam ‫ل‬ of al ( (
‫ال‬ is pronounced, e.g.‫ر‬َ‫م‬َ‫ق‬ْ‫ال‬ al-qamaru’. While in
sun letters you do not pronounce the Lam in Al, instead it assimilates
with the letter after it, which causes this letter to double. This is also
marked by “shaddah” (ّ)diacritic. ‫مس‬‫الش‬

7.
v

8.
Summary of Key Points:
• "Al" ‫ال‬ is the only definite article in Arabic.
• There is no indefinite article in Article. It is simply the word without
"Al".
• When it's Al at the beginning of a word, it will always end with only a
single Dammah/ FatHah/ Kasrah. You cannot combine "Al" with
nunation!
• Indefinite noun ‫ة‬ َ‫ر‬ِ‫ك‬َّ‫ن‬‫ال‬ ‫م‬ْ‫س‬‫اال‬
• Definite noun ‫ة‬َ‫ف‬ ِ
‫ر‬ْ‫ع‬َ‫م‬َ‫ل‬‫ا‬ ‫م‬ْ‫س‬ِ‫اال‬