A book or the book?

Attach ال and recognize sun-letter spelling.

Definite and indefinite

ال attaches to a noun to mean the. Arabic has no separate indefinite article equivalent to a/an. Learn كتاب book, باب door, بيت house, شمس sun and قمر moon. Isolated vocabulary is shown without case endings. The conjunction و means and and attaches to the next word.

كتاب ← الكتاب

kitāb → al-kitāb

Sun and moon letters

Keep the written ل in both groups. Before a sun letter its sound assimilates: الشَّمْس. Before a moon letter it is pronounced: الْقَمَر. Shadda marks the doubled sun consonant; this lesson tests that mark in one typing task.

الشَّمْس / الْقَمَر

ash-shams / al-qamar