How Many Letters Are in the Arabic Alphabet? A Beginner Guide

The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters. It is written and read from right to left, there are no capital letters, and most letters join to the next one, so each letter can change shape depending on where it sits in a word. This guide covers everything a beginner needs to start reading.

How many letters are in the Arabic alphabet?

There are 28 basic letters. Some books count 29 because they list the hamza (ء) separately — a small sign for a glottal stop. All 28 are consonants; three of them (ا و ي) also work as long vowels.

Is Arabic written right to left?

Yes. Arabic words and sentences are written and read from right to left, and books open from what an English reader would call the back. Numbers are the exception: in Arabic, multi-digit numbers are read left to right, just like in English.

Why letters change shape

Arabic is written in a joined script. Most letters have up to four forms — on their own, at the start of a word, in the middle and at the end. For example, ب (bāʾ) looks like بـ at the start of a word and ـب at the end. The good news: the core shape stays recognisable, so you learn one shape and its small variations.

Six letters never join to the letter after them: ا د ذ ر ز و (alif, dāl, dhāl, rāʾ, zāy, wāw). That is why you sometimes see a small gap in the middle of a word.

Letters that differ only by dots

Many letters share a shape and differ only in the number and position of dots: ب ت ث, ج ح خ, د ذ, ر ز, س ش, ص ض, ط ظ, ع غ. Learning them in these groups cuts the work almost in half.

Where are the vowels?

Short vowels are usually not written as letters. They are small marks above or below a letter — fatḥa (a), kasra (i) and ḍamma (u) — plus sukūn (no vowel) and shadda (a doubled letter). Beginner books and the Quran show these marks; newspapers and signs usually leave them out, so reading fluently means recognising words from their consonants.

Sounds English speakers find new

Practise these with a teacher: ع (ʿayn), ح (a breathy ḥ), خ (kh, like Scottish "loch"), غ (gh), ق (a deep q), and the heavy letters ص ض ط ظ. Malayalam speakers often find several of these easier than English speakers do.

How long does it take to learn the alphabet?

With daily practice, most beginners can recognise all 28 letters in one to two weeks, and read simple vowelled words soon after. Reading unvowelled text and writing neatly take longer — that is where guided practice helps most.