Sun and Moon Letters — The الـ Pronunciation Rule

When you add الـ to a word, its l changes depending on the first letter of the word. The 28 Arabic letters split into two groups: sun letters (حروف شمسية) and moon letters (حروف قمرية).

The sun letters

There are 14 sun letters. When a word starts with one, the l of الـ is absorbed and the letter is doubled:

ت، ث، د، ذ، ر، ز، س، ش، ص، ض، ط، ظ، ن، ل

Tip: the sun letters are the letters pronounced with the tip of the tongue near the front of the mouth — and the l of “al-” gets pulled into that same position.

Examples

The moon letters

The remaining 14 letters are moon letters. The l of الـ is pronounced clearly:

أ، ب، ج، ح، خ، ع، غ، ف، ق، ك، م، هـ، و، ي

Examples

How to remember them

The classic memory trick is in the names themselves:

• شمس (sun) is a sun word — its first letter ش is a sun letter.
• قمر (moon) is a moon word — its first letter ق is a moon letter.

Another trick: the moon letters spell the word ابغ حجك وخف عقيمه (abgha hajjaka wa-khaffi aqiimah) — a famous mnemonic every Arabic student learns. The sun letters are simply everything else.

In writing

Only the pronunciation changes — you still write الـ the same way every time. So ال + شمس is always written الشمس, even though you say “ash-shams”.

Quick practice

Say each of these out loud (or tap them). Is the l pronounced or swallowed?

1. الكتاب
2. السوق
3. القهوة
4. الرجل
5. الأم

Answers: 1. al- (moon), 2. as- (sun), 3. al- (moon), 4. ar- (sun), 5. al- (moon). How many did you get right?