Ḥaa حَاء

Ḥaa shares its basic shape with jeem and khaa, but has no dot. It joins on both sides. Its breathy sound comes from the middle of the throat, rather than the English h.

Horse

In the Arabic word حِصَان (“horse”), the first letter is ḥaa. Notice the curve without a dot.

One letter. Four shapes.

The standalone form is above. Read the three connected forms from right to left.

Beginning

Joins to the left

Horse

Ḥaa joins to ṣaad on its left.

Middle

Joins on both sides

Cloud

Ḥaa joins to seen on the right and alif on the left.

End

Joins to the right

Salt

Ḥaa joins to laam on its right.

The name stays ḥaa in every shape. A connected form does not add a new sound. Gold highlights this letter in each example.

1Three short vowelsA little mark changes the sound.

The letter’s name is ḥaa. Follow the Arabic tiles from right to left.

2Stretch the vowelḤaa with alif, yaa and waaw.

Keep the same consonant and stretch the vowel. These are sound practice units.

3Ḥaa without a vowelSukūn · no following vowel.

The circle above حْ means there is no vowel on this consonant. Here is a complete noun, read when stopping.

Salt

Salt · stopping formmilḥ

حْ

Listen to the whole word.

Finish on the breathy ḥaa, without adding a vowel. Air can continue; sukūn does not mean cutting off the breath.

4Two letters, one written shapeShaddah · three vowel sounds.

A shaddah joins two of the same consonant. The first has sukūn; the second has the vowel. Read each Arabic sequence from right to left.

Fatḥah · a

حْNo vowel

حَWith a vowel

حَّShaddah

Kasrah · i

حْNo vowel

حِWith a vowel

حِّShaddah

Ḍammah · u

حْNo vowel

حُWith a vowel

حُّShaddah

Hold the doubled consonant, then continue into its vowel. Do not insert a vowel between the two consonants.

5One word, three tanwīn endingsSee the ending in a real word.

Compare three full endings on the same noun. The doubled vowel mark adds an n sound when the ending is pronounced in full.

When stopping, the -un and -in endings are not pronounced; the -an ending is read as a long ā. Choosing an ending in a sentence comes later. Choosing the ending in a sentence comes later.

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