Arabic letters that don’t exist in English and how to say them

Some Arabic letters have a close match in English, and some do not. For the ones that do not, the habit is to reach for the nearest English sound, but two letters that sound alike to an English ear can be clearly different to an Arabic ear. Below, each letter comes with where it is made, the letter people most often swap it with, and one thing to try. Check everything against a reciter and a qualified teacher.

How to think about where a sound is made

Arabic sounds are traditionally described by where they are produced. The throat has a lower, middle and upper part, and English uses almost none of it apart from the “h”. The back of the tongue rises towards the soft palate for several letters, and the tip of the tongue touches the teeth or the ridge behind them. One more idea helps: voiced and voiceless. Put a finger on your throat and say “zzz”, then “sss”: you feel a buzz in the first and none in the second. Several Arabic pairs differ only in this.

The two “th” letters: ث and ذ

English speakers already have both sounds. ث (thāʾ) is the “th” of think, and ذ (dhāl) is the “th” of this. Both are made with the tongue tip touching the edges of the upper front teeth; the first is voiceless, the second voiced.

Common mistake. Speakers of French, Russian and Indonesian, whose languages have no “th”, often say س or ت for ث, and ز or د for ذ.

Practice tip. Use a mirror: you should see the tip of your tongue against the upper teeth. Say a long “thhh” with just air, then add a buzz to turn it into ذ.

The middle-of-the-throat letters: ح and ع

Neither exists in English.

ح (ḥāʾ)

It is a voiceless sound made by narrowing the middle of the throat so that air passes through a tight gap: a breathy sigh, with more friction than a plain “h”.

Common mistake. Replacing it with ه, the light English-style “h”. The swap can change a word. The other swap is with خ, which sits higher in the throat and is rougher.

Practice tip. Say “ha” normally, then again with the throat narrowed, as if fogging a window with your breath. Alternate هَ and حَ.

ع (ʿayn)

It is the voiced partner of ح, made at the same place: the middle of the throat narrows and the voice passes through it.

Common mistake. Saying a plain “a”, or saying ء (the hamza), a quick closing of the throat like the pause in the middle of “uh-oh”. The ʿayn is not a closure: it is a squeeze through which sound continues.

Practice tip. Start from حَ, then add your voice without moving anything else. The result is close to عَ. Go slowly, and stop if your throat feels strained.

The upper-throat letters: خ and غ

These two sit at the top of the throat, near the back of the tongue: another voiceless and voiced pair.

خ (khāʾ)

It is a rough, scraping sound, like the “ch” in Scottish loch or German Bach. Russian speakers will recognise it in their х.

Common mistake. Replacing it with ك (a hard “k”) or with ه (a soft “h”), so it comes out either too closed or too weak.

Practice tip. Start with a “k”, then stop the tongue from fully closing, so air keeps scraping past: خَ.

غ (ghayn)

It is خ with the voice switched on, a soft gargling sound. French speakers will find it close to their own r, a useful starting point.

Common mistake. Replacing it with a hard “g”, or losing the voice and saying خ.

Practice tip. Say خَ, then add a buzz and keep everything else still.

The deep letter: ق

ق (qāf) is made further back than any “k” you know: the very back of the tongue meets the soft palate, where the mouth turns down into the throat. The tongue closes completely and releases, giving a sound deeper and heavier than ك.

Common mistake. Saying ك. English has only one “k”, so it takes effort to hear that there are two. Some spoken dialects turn ق into a throat stop like ء; ask your teacher to correct this if you have heard it that way.

Practice tip. Say “key” and notice where your tongue touches. Then try the same closure much further back, near where the mouth turns down into the throat. Compare كَ and قَ side by side.

The heavy letters: ص ض ط ظ

These four are heavy, or “emphatic”, versions of lighter letters. What makes them heavy is what the back of the tongue does: it rises towards the roof of the mouth, hollowing the sound, a little like the dark “l” of ball. The sound becomes fuller and darker, and so do the vowels next to it. Each of the four has a light partner:

• ص (ṣād) is the heavy partner of س. The tongue tip stays close behind the front teeth and air hisses through.
• ض (ḍād) is the heavy partner of د. Classically it is made from the side of the tongue against the upper molars, which is why it is considered one of the hardest letters.
• ط (ṭāʾ) is the heavy partner of ت. The tongue tip touches the gum just behind the upper front teeth.
• ظ (ẓāʾ) is the heavy partner of ذ. The tongue tip touches the edge of the upper front teeth, with the back of the tongue raised.

Common mistake. Saying the light partner, so that ص becomes س and ط becomes ت. Among the heavy letters themselves, ض and ظ are mixed up most often.

Practice tip. Say سَ and then صَ, noticing the back of your tongue lifting and the vowel darkening. Do the same for تَ and طَ. For ض, learn it directly from a teacher, since descriptions of its position vary.

The tapped letter: ر

The Arabic ر (rāʾ) is made with a quick tap of the tongue tip against the gum behind the upper teeth, not a long trill. It is not the English “r”, where the tongue curls and touches nothing. It is closer to the single tapped “r” of Spanish (pero), and Russian and Indonesian speakers already have a tongue-tip r.

Common mistake. English speakers use their own “r”, and French speakers the throaty one. Both change the sound. Another slip is to say ل.

Practice tip. Say butter or water in American English and notice the quick tap of the tongue tip in the middle. Use that tap, then add a vowel: رَ. This letter is sometimes said heavy and sometimes light, depending on the vowels and letters around it, so learn that rule from a qualified teacher.

All twelve letters at a glance

Letter	Name	Made at	Often swapped with
ث	thāʾ	Tongue tip at the upper teeth, voiceless	س or ت
ذ	dhāl	Same place, voiced	ز or د
ح	ḥāʾ	Middle of the throat, voiceless	ه or خ
خ	khāʾ	Top of the throat, voiceless	ك or ه
ع	ʿayn	Middle of the throat, voiced	ء or a plain vowel
غ	ghayn	Top of the throat, voiced	خ or a hard “g”
ق	qāf	Very back of the tongue and the soft palate	ك
ص	ṣād	Tongue tip close behind the front teeth, back of the tongue raised	س
ض	ḍād	Side of the tongue at the upper molars, heavy	د or ظ
ط	ṭāʾ	Tongue tip at the gum behind the upper front teeth, heavy	ت
ظ	ẓāʾ	Tongue tip at the upper teeth, heavy	ذ or ض
ر	rāʾ	Tongue tip tapping the gum behind the upper teeth	English or French “r”, or ل

How to practise: listen, imitate, record, ask

1. Listen first. Your ear has to learn the difference before your mouth can produce it.
2. Work in pairs. Say a new letter next to the one you swap it with: ح with ه, ق with ك, ص with س.
3. Record yourself on your phone and play it back next to a reciter. The gap shows you what to fix.
4. Practise a little, often. Five minutes on one or two letters a day beats an hour on all twelve.
5. Find a teacher. A qualified teacher can see your mouth, hear where the sound drifts, and teach you the rules of tajwīd. No article can replace that.

Be patient with yourself: a sound that feels impossible this week often feels easier with a few weeks of daily practice.

Nūr is coming soon

Nūr is coming soon to Android. It will give you feedback on your recitation word by word and letter by letter, with the analysis running on your phone, so a difficult letter like ع or ق can be practised every day between lessons with your teacher.

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