How to pronounce the letter ṣād (ص)?

There are some easy tips and techniques through which pronouncing Arabic letters becomes an easy task to do. In this article, will do the same. At the end of this article, you will be able to pronounce the letter ص {ṣād} easily with the different harakat (Vowel movements):

Fat̊ḥa   فَتْحَة   َ
Kasrah  كسرة  ِ
Dammah   ضمة ُ
Jazm / Sokoun    جزم  ْ
Shadda  شدة ّ

Here it is important to understand some parts of the mouth through which we will be pronouncing the letter ص {ṣād}.

• ثنايا عليا (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā): We call the front four teeth ثنايا (tẖanāyā), and the two upper teeth ثنايا عليا (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā).
• ثنايا سفلى  (tẖanāyā suf̊la): We call the front lower two teeth tẖanāyā suf̊la ثنايا سفلية
• The tip of our tongue.

Now, let’s pronounce ص {ṣād}: Touch the tip of your tongue at the edge of the upper two teeth (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā) along with the edge of lower front teeth (tẖanāyā suf̊la) and say ص (ṣ). Practice this sound again and again.

Practice ص {ṣād} with vowel movements.

• Fat̊ḥa   فتحة: It is a small diagonal line on the top of the letter and sounds as ‘AA’: 

صَ   = SA, Read as;  ṣ fatah SA

• Kasrah  كسرة: It is a small diagonal line below a letter and sounds like ‘EE’: 

صِ = SE, Read as; ṣ kasrah SE

• Dammah ضمة: It is a small comma like symbol on the top of the letter and sounds like ‘UU’:

 صُ   =  SU, Read as; ṣ dammah SU

• Jazm / Sokoun جزم: Jazm is also called sokoun, a letter with Jazm is called Sakin. It is a small round symbol above the letter. It means that this letter is joint with the letter before it. For example: 

 صْ  =  ṣ sakin,     أَصْ   = Alif fatha + ṣ  sakin = ạå̉ṣ̊

• Shadda شدة: When a letter having symbol ّ , it is called Mushadad. It is pronounced by saying the letter twice with one movement of the tongue. It is read by joining two letters and also read with harakat.

 أَصَّ= ạảṣã    –     أَصِّ = ạå̉ṣĩ    –   أَصُّ = ạå̉ṣũ

To learn more about the Arabic Harakat, here you can find the easiest way to practice Tashkeel:

Practice the letter ص {ṣād} by saying these words: 

صَبَاحٌ (ṣabāḥ – Morning)
صَبّار (ṣabbãạr – Cactus)
صَبرُ (ṣab̊ru – Patience)
أَصْفَرْ (ạảṣ̊far̊ – Yellow)
بَصَلٌ (baṣalu – Onion)
صَقْر (ṣaq̊r – Falcon)
صِدْق ( ṣid̊q – Truth)

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter ص {ṣād}

Learn how to write the letter ص {ṣād}

For more explanation about how Arabic letters are written, please check out this article:

The Difference between the sounds  س {sīn},  ث {tẖāʾ} and ص {ṣād}:

• The sound of letters  ث {tẖāʾ}, س {sīn} and  ص {ṣād} are apparently the same as ‘S’, but there’s a difference between the pronunciation of all three. And here’s how:
  We can pronounce the letter ث {tẖāʾ} by touching the edge of the tongue to ثنايا عليا (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā): (upper front teeth) while we pronounce the letter س {sīn} and ص {ṣād} by touching the edge of the tongue to ثنايا سفلى  (tẖanāyā suf̊la) (lower front teeth) along with (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā).
• The ص {ṣād} sound is thicker than the other two.

Now, it is time to discover the difference between س {sīn} and ص {ṣād} in Arabic

Practice the difference between the sounds س {sīn}, ث {tẖāʾ} and ص {ṣād}: