أ ب ت Free reading trainer
Read Arabic script, the Egyptian way
All 28 letters with their shapes, how Cairenes really say them, and an everyday Masri word for each. Study, then quiz yourself: your progress is saved in this browser.
Arabic reads right to left, starting top right. Tap a letter to see its shapes and hear it. What do 2, 3 and 7 mean?
alif
Franco: a / e / 2
Its shapes (never joins the next letter)
- اAlone
- اEnd
A long “aa” as in father, or a seat for a hamza at the start of a word.
Masri word
أناana
I / me
Franco-Arabic: why Egyptians text in numbers
Franco (or “Arabizi”) writes Arabic with English letters. A few sounds have no English letter, so Egyptians borrow digits that look like the Arabic letter.
- 2ء / ق
Looks like a hamza (ء) turned around.
- 3ع
Looks like 3ein (ع) flipped.
- 7ح
Looks like ḥa (ح) without its tail.
- 5خ
Some people text kha this way. We write “kh”.
Four more shapes you'll see every day
hamza · 2
ءA short catch in the throat. It often sits on alif (أ / إ), waw (ؤ) or ya (ئ).
إزيك · ezzayak — how are you? (to a man)
ta marbuṭa · a
ةOnly at the end of a word, usually feminine. Say “a”, or “et” when the next word owns it (2ahwet Ahmed).
عربية · 3arabeyya — car
alif maqṣura · a
ىA ya with no dots at the end of a word, read as a long “a”.
تعالى · ta3ala — come here!
lam-alif · la
لاLam followed by alif always fuses into this one shape.
لا · la2 — no
Reading tips
Right to left, joined up
Arabic is written right to left in joined-up letters. Most letters change shape a little depending on whether they start, sit in the middle of, or end a word.
Six letters never join forward
These letters connect to the letter before them but never to the one after, leaving a small gap:
ا د ذ ر ز وShort vowels are usually invisible
Only long vowels (ا و ي) are written. You learn the short ones with the word, which is why every phrase in Yalla Masry also comes in Franco and audio.
Masri spells how it sounds
Egyptians often write the dialect as it's spoken: تلاتة (talata) rather than ثلاثة, and ده / دي (da / di) for “this”. Both spellings are fine to read.
Now put the letters to work
Lessons show every phrase in Arabic script, Franco and English letters. Switch to script whenever you're ready.