One letter, changing shapes
Choose contextual forms and understand all six non-joiners.
The position of a letter decides its shape
The same letter can appear with different shapes, depending on where it is located in the word. There are four shapes or forms: initial (when the letter is at the beginning of a word, they join only on the left), medial (when the letter is in the middle of the word, they join on both sides), final (when the letter is at the end of a word, they join to the right) and isolated (when the letter sits alone, they do not join).
ب بـ ـبـ ـب
The forms of <em>baa</em> (from right to left): isolated / initial / medial / final
Non-connecting letters
These six letters only have isolated or final form, meaning they never have a connecting letter joining them on the left, even if they are part of the same word. All other letters can join both ways.
ا د ذ ر ز و
alif, daal, dhaal, raa, zaay, waaw
Our first example
The word door (bab) is made of three letters: baa + alif + baa. When writing it, the first baa joins alif. Alif, which is a non-connecting letter, does not join the second baa, which has to sit alone, as it is the last letter of the word. Because of that the second baa takes its isolated form.
بَاب
baab — door