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What each mark means
- Fatha (َ) — a short "a" sound.
- Kasra (ِ) — a short "i" sound.
- Damma (ُ) — a short "u" sound.
- Sukun (ْ) — marks the absence of a vowel.
- Shadda (ّ) — doubles the consonant it sits on.
- Fathatan / Kasratan / Dammatan (ً ٍ ٌ) — the "Tanwin" endings, adding an -an/-in/-un sound, most often on indefinite nouns.
- Dagger Alif (ٰ) — a small superscript alif marking a long "a" sound that isn't written as a full letter.
- Maddah (ٓ) — an elongation mark, most commonly seen over alif.
A fully vocalized example: مُحَمَّد uses Damma, Fatha, and a Shadda+Fatha combination together on one word. Try building it yourself above using the letter keys and the diacritic buttons.
Want the full writing environment with undo/redo and download? Use Arabic Writing Online. Just need the letters without diacritics? See Arabic Keyboard.
Frequently asked questions
What are Harakat (Arabic diacritics)?
Harakat are the small marks placed above or below Arabic letters to show short vowel sounds and other pronunciation details — Fatha (a), Kasra (i), Damma (u), Sukun (no vowel), Shadda (doubled consonant), and Tanwin (the -an/-in/-un endings), among others. Everyday written Arabic usually omits them, the way English doesn't mark stress.
How do I add a diacritic to a specific letter?
Place your cursor right after the letter, then click the diacritic you want. It's inserted at that exact position, attached to that letter, not appended to the end of your text.
How do I add Shadda with a vowel mark together?
Use one of the Shadda + Harakat combination buttons — Shadda+Fatha, Shadda+Kasra, Shadda+Damma, and their Tanwin forms — to insert both marks on a letter in one click.
What is Tanwin?
Tanwin is the doubled version of a vowel mark (Fathatan, Kasratan, Dammatan) that adds an "n" sound to the end of a word, most often marking an indefinite noun in Arabic grammar.