Rules of the Definite Article
Of the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet,
14 of the letters are known as solar (sun) letters. These are:
ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن
14 of the letters are known as lunar (moon) letters. These are:
ء ب ج ح خ ع غ ف ق ك م ه و ي
the Arabic letters
ال means ‘The‘ in English
| E.g | ﺑﺎب | door | ||
ال |
the | |||
ال |
+ | ﺑﺎب | = | اﻟﺒﺎب |
| The | + | Door | = | The Door |
The 1st letter of the word that follows ال would determine the pronunciation depending on
whether it is a sun or moon letter
SOLAR (SUN) LETTERS (shamsiyyah) ﺷﻤﺴﻴﻪ
EXAMPLE 1
Requirements :
- Presence of ال
- followed by a sun letter
Effect:
- the letter alif of the ال is assimilated with the sun letter
- the letter laam of the ال is ignored
- the sun letter carries a shaddah
| ﺷَﻤﺲ | Sun | ||||
| ال | The | ||||
| ال | + | ﺷَﻤﺲ | = | اَﻟﺸَّﻤﺲ | |
| The | + | Sun | = | The Sun | |
This is pronounced as ‘ash-shams’ and not ‘al-shams’
If you want to join the preceding word onto the ال word,
then you ignore the ال completely
EXAMPLE 2
Requirements :
- Presence ofال
- followed by a sun letter
- and preceded by another word
Effect :
- the last letter of this word joins straight onto the sun letter
- so the ال is ignored completely
(1:4) |
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The letter joins straightonto the sun letter  and the is ignored completely |
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| This is pronounced ‘yaw-mid-deen‘ |
Examples of Solar Letters
| Sun Letter | Definite article attached to word | Definite article preceded by letter / word |
Surah : Verse | |
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(95:1) | |
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(3:195) | |
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(1:3) | |
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(51:1) | |
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(2:143) | |
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(2:277) | |
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(2:22) | |
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(25:29) | |
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(112:2) | |
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(9:91) | |
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(2:260) | |
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(4:75) | |
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(2:274) | |
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(75:2) |
Lunar (MOON) Letters (Qamariyyah)ﻗﻤﺮﻳﻪ
EXAMPLE 1
Requirements :
- Presence of ال
- followed by a moon letter
Effect :
- the ال is pronounced
| ﻗَﻤﺮ | Moon | ||||
| ال | The | ||||
| ال | + | ﻗَﻤﺮ | = | اﻟْﻘَﻤﺮ | |
| The | + | Moon | = | The Moon | |
This is pronounced as ‘al-qamr’ and not ‘aq-qamr’
If you want to join the preceding word onto the
ال word, you only ignore the letter alif of the ال
EXAMPLE 2
Requirements :
- Presence of ال
- followed by a moon letter
- and preceded by another word
Effect :
- the last letter of this word joins straight onto the letter laam of the alif
- therefore ignoring the letter alif only
(1:7) |
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| The letterjoins straight onto the andonly the alif is ignored |
|
| This is pronounced as ‘ghair-ril-magh-dhoo-be‘ |
Examples of Lunar Letters
| Lunar Letter | Definite article attached to word | Definite article preceded by letter / word |
Surah : Verse | |
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(12:6) | |
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(2:127) | |
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(7:40) | |
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(69:2) | |
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(52:35) | |
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(10:88) | |
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(10:90) | |
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(2:191) | |
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(16:107) | |
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(18:9) | |
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(1:7) | |
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(56:1) | |
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(56:55) | |
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(15:99) |
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Click here to view a printable chart depicting the solar and lunar
letters.
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Click ‘here‘ to view practice exercises for the rules of The Definite Article |