Learn the first building blocks of Arabic grammar: the definite article al-, ta marbuta, hamza, lam-alif, and sun and moon letters.
ال
The definite article "the"; always attached to the start of the word
ولد → الولد
boy → the boy (adding ال)
بنت → البنت
girl → the girl (adding ال)
يوم → اليوم
day → the day / today (adding ال)
كتاب → الكتاب
book → the book (adding ال)
مدرسة → المدرسة
school → the school (adding ال)
ة
Ta marbuta: the feminine ending, pronounced -a (or -at before a following noun)
أديب → أديبة
writer, man of letters (masc.) → (fem.): adding ta marbuta
أمير → أميرة
prince → princess: adding ta marbuta
تلميذ → تلميذة
pupil (masc.) → pupil (fem.): adding ta marbuta
معلم → معلمة
teacher (masc.) → teacher (fem.): adding ta marbuta
طبيب → طبيبة
doctor (masc.) → doctor (fem.): adding ta marbuta
كاتب → كاتبة
writer (masc.) → writer (fem.): adding ta marbuta
أ (همزة)
Alif with hamza: a glottal stop at the start of a word
أحمد
Ahmad: a first name starting with hamza
أكل
he ate: a verb starting with hamza
إسلام
Islam: hamza with kasra (the "i" vowel) under the alif
لا
Lam-alif: when ل and ا join, they form this special combined letter
لا أعرف
I don't know (لا = negation)
حروف شمسية
Sun letters: the l of ال assimilates into them, e.g. الشمس = ash-shams
حروف قمرية
Moon letters: the l of ال is pronounced, e.g. القمر = al-qamar
الشمس
the sun: sun letter, the ش absorbs the l, pronounced ash-shams
القمر
the moon: moon letter, the l is heard, pronounced al-qamar
التلميذ
the pupil: sun letter, the ت absorbs the l, pronounced at-tilmidh
الكتاب
the book: moon letter, the l is heard, pronounced al-kitab
ال في وسط الجملة
ال in mid-sentence: the alif is silent, e.g. في المدرسة = fil-madrasa
مذكر
masculine: most nouns without ta marbuta are masculine
مؤنث
feminine: most nouns ending in ta marbuta are feminine
نكرة
indefinite noun (no ال), e.g. ولد = a boy
معرفة
definite noun (with ال), e.g. الولد = the boy