Unit 1 · Lesson 5
Kāf to yāʾ
ك ل م ن ه و ي ء
The last seven letters, plus the hamza. Many of these sound close to English, so this group often feels easier.
Tap a letter to see its shapes, hear its name and find an example word.
Two jobs for و and ي
و and ي are consonants (w and y) at the start of a syllable, and they also lengthen vowels: و makes a long ū and ي a long ī. You will meet this again in the lesson on long vowels.
The hamza
ء (hamza) is a short stop in the throat, like the catch in “uh-oh”. It often sits on a seat: أ, إ, ؤ or ئ. The seat is not pronounced; only the hamza is.
PRACTICE
Tap an answer to check yourself.
Which letter is this?
ن
What do you pronounce here?
أَ
Which letter is this?
ه