The Arabic Definite Article ال (al-): Sun and Moon Letters

Level: beginner. Modern Standard Arabic has no indefinite article like English “a/an” — a noun without ال is usually indefinite. To say “the”, you attach ال (al-) to the front of the noun. Before sun and moon letters it is written the same way, but the sound depends on the letter that follows. (After the preposition لِ the alif drops: لِلْبَيْتِ, lil-bayti.)

The rule

• كِتَابٌ kitābun — a book → الكِتَابُ al-kitābu — the book
• بَيْتٌ baytun — a house → البَيْتُ al-baytu — the house

When a noun takes ال, it drops the indefinite ending (tanwīn, the doubled vowel mark heard as -un, -an, -in).

Sun letters and moon letters

	What happens	Letters	Example
Moon letters (14)	You pronounce the l	ء ب ج ح خ ع غ ف ق ك م ه و ي	القَمَرُ al-qamar — the moon
Sun letters (14)	The l is silent; the next letter is doubled (shadda ّ)	ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن	الشَّمْسُ ash-shams — the sun

The groups are named after these two words. A quick tip: sun letters are all made with the front of the tongue (like l itself), which is why the l blends into them.

Example sentences and phrases

1. الكِتَابُ جَدِيدٌ. — al-kitābu jadīdun. — The book is new. (moon)
2. البَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ. — al-baytu kabīrun. — The house is big. (moon)
3. الوَلَدُ هُنَا. — al-waladu hunā. — The boy is here. (moon)
4. المَدْرَسَةُ قَرِيبَةٌ. — al-madrasatu qarībatun. — The school is near. (moon)
5. الجَامِعَةُ كَبِيرَةٌ. — al-jāmiʿatu kabīratun. — The university is big. (moon)
6. السَّيَّارَةُ جَمِيلَةٌ. — as-sayyāratu jamīlatun. — The car is beautiful. (sun)
7. الرَّجُلُ طَوِيلٌ. — ar-rajulu ṭawīlun. — The man is tall. (sun)
8. الدَّرْسُ سَهْلٌ. — ad-darsu sahlun. — The lesson is easy. (sun)
9. النُّورُ قَوِيٌّ. — an-nūru qawiyyun. — The light is strong. (sun)
10. التُّفَّاحُ لَذِيذٌ. — at-tuffāḥu ladhīdhun. — Apples are delicious. (sun; التفاح is a collective noun, so the adjective is singular)

Notice that Arabic needs no word for “is” in these present-tense sentences.

Common mistakes

• ❌ al-shams → ✅ ash-shams. ش is a sun letter, so the l assimilates.
• ❌ الكِتَابٌ (al-kitābun) → ✅ الكِتَابُ (al-kitābu). A noun with ال loses tanwīn.
• ❌ Writing اشَّمْس because you hear ash-shams → ✅ الشَّمْس. The ل is always written.
• ❌ al-rajul → ✅ ar-rajul. ر is a sun letter.

Compared with…

• English “the” — one word; Arabic attaches the article to the noun.
• Joining words — at the start of speech you say al-; after another word the a is usually dropped (fī l-bayt, “in the house”). This and the idāfa construction come later in the Arabic grammar section.

Quick recap before the quiz.

Mini quiz

1. How do you say القَلَمُ (the pen)?
2. How do you say الشَّايُ (the tea)?
3. Sun or moon letter: ب?
4. Sun or moon letter: ن?
5. Correct or not: البَابٌ

Answers

1. al-qalamu — ق is a moon letter.
2. ash-shāyu — ش is a sun letter.
3. Moon — al-bayt.
4. Sun — an-nūr.
5. Not correct — a noun with ال drops tanwīn: البَابُ al-bābu.

Sources

• Rules and forms checked against Modern Standard Arabic teaching materials (Al Jazeera Learning Arabic) and standard MSA grammar.
• This topic sits at beginner level in common Modern Standard Arabic course sequencing; there is no single international level framework for Arabic.
• Example sentences were written for this lesson; no third-party sentences were copied.

Next

• Back to the Arabic grammar section
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