Arabic Short Vowels for Beginners: Fatha, Kasra, Damma and Sukun

Once you know the Arabic letters, the next thing you'll notice in the Quran is the small marks above and below them. Those marks are the short vowels, and they tell you how to say each letter. Without them, ب is just a "b" sound. With a mark, it becomes "ba", "bi" or "bu".

There are three short vowels and one mark for "no vowel". Learn these four and you can read your first real words today. Each one has an Arabic name, which I'll give once, but you only need to know what it looks like and how it sounds.

The "a" mark (fatha)

A small slanted line above the letter. It adds a short "a" sound, like the a in "cat". After the heavy letters, like ص and ط, it sounds deeper.

بَ   تَ   مَ   نَ

ba, ta, ma, na. Read them out loud, right to left.

The "i" mark (kasra)

The same small line, but below the letter. It adds a short "i" sound, like the i in "sit".

بِ   تِ   مِ   نِ

bi, ti, mi, ni. An easy way to remember it: the "i" mark sits down low, under the letter.

The "u" mark (damma)

A small curl above the letter, shaped like a tiny version of the letter و. It adds a short "u" sound, like the u in "put".

بُ   تُ   مُ   نُ

bu, tu, mu, nu. Your lips round a little as you say it.

The "no vowel" mark (sukun)

A small circle above the letter. It means the letter has no vowel after it: you say the consonant and stop. It usually appears at the end of a syllable.

مِنْ

The م has the "i" mark, and the ن has the circle. So you read "mi" and then a plain "n" with no vowel: min. It means "from", and it's one of the most common words in the Quran.

Read the three together

The best way to fix these in your memory is to read one letter with all three vowels, in a row, out loud:

بَ بِ بُ    تَ تِ تُ    سَ سِ سُ    لَ لِ لُ

ba bi bu, ta ti tu, sa si su, la li lu. Then try it with the throat letters, which need more care: عَ عِ عُ and حَ حِ حُ. Listen to Ayn and Haa first if they're new to you.

Your first words

With these four marks you can already read real Arabic words. Take them slowly, one letter at a time, right to left:

قُلْ

qu + l = qul, "say". This is the first word of Surah Al-Ikhlas.

لَمْ

la + m = lam, "did not".

كَتَبَ

ka + ta + ba = kataba, "he wrote". Three letters, three "a" marks.

هُوَ

hu + wa = huwa, "he". Together with the first word, that's قُلْ هُوَ, the opening of Al-Ikhlas.

The letters in these words join together, which is why they look a little different from the letters on their own. That's the next skill: see how to join Arabic letters.

Mistakes beginners make with vowels

Reading every vowel as "a". Under pressure, many beginners default to "a" for everything. Slow down and look above and below each letter before you say it.

Missing the "i" mark because it's below the line. Your eye naturally looks above the letters. Make a habit of checking underneath too.

Stretching short vowels. These are short sounds. If you hold them, they start to sound like the long vowels, which can change the word.

Adding a vowel after a sukun. When you see the little circle, stop the sound. "min", not "mina".

What comes after the short vowels

Once these four feel easy, you'll meet a few more marks: the long vowels, where a short vowel is followed by ا, و or ي and held for longer (بَا baa, بُو buu, بِي bii); the doubled vowel marks at the ends of some words, which add an "n" sound; and the shadda, which doubles a letter. All of them build on what you've just learned.

The beginner guide shows where vowels sit in the full order of learning to read. If you'd like to practise each mark with audio and short checks, the 30-day course gives the short vowels their own lessons before you move on to joining.

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