Fathah, Kasrah, and Dammah Practices

Fatha is a slanted line written above the letter (as in the examples). Fa-ta-ha means to open something. Thus we open our mouths when we recite it. For non-emphatic letters we pronounce a frontal ‘e’ (as in bed), and for emphatic letters we pronounce a deep ‘a’ (best English example is ‘u’ as in but). For example, the letter “jiim” is recited “je” when there is a fatha above it. The letter “Ra” (ر) is always emphatic with a fatha.

While completing the exercises, please also keep these points in your mind:

• When reciting syllable by syllable it is important not to elongate the sound.
• As you can see from the examples below, when letters are written together to form words they lose their lower “tails.” To get used to this, one should work a large number of examples.
• Letters undergo changes when connecting them in writing. Some can connect with letter coming before and after while some only connect with those before them.
• د ذ ر ز ا و These letters do not connect to the one after them
• If you pay attention to the letters in red, you can better see the changes that occur when connecting letters.

 Let’s start 😊: