How to pronounce the letter ḍād (ض)?

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 ض {ḍād} 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 ض {ḍād}.

• حافه (ḥāffah): The right and left inner edge of the tongue, which is hidden inside the cheeks.
• Upper molars.

Now, let’s pronounce ض {ḍād}: Touchthe ḥāffah of your tongue at the upper five molars and say ḍād (ض). Practice this sound again and again.

Practice  ض {ḍād} with vowel movements.

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

ضَ      =  DA, Read as;  ḍ fatah DA

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

ضِ = DE, Read as; ḍ kasrah DE

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

 ضُ   = DU, Read as; ḍ dammah DU

• 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: 

 ضْ  =  ḍ  sakin, like the word: حَضْ  = Ha fatha + ḍ sakin = ḥaḍ̊

• 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.

أَضَّ = ạảḍã   –  أَضِّ = ạå̉ḍĩ   – أَضُّ = ạå̉ḍũ

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

Practice the letter ض {ḍād} by saying these words: 

رَضِىَ (raḍaiy̱a – Satisfied)
ضَحِكَ (ḍaḥik– Laughter)
ضَابِطٌ (ḍābiṭ – Officer)
ضِفدَعٌ (ḍif̊daʿ –  Frog)
فِضِّي (fiḍĩy – Silver)
 ضَوْءٌ (ḍaẘʾ – Light)
قَاضٍ (qāḍi – Judge)

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter ض {ḍād}

Learn how to write the letter ض {ḍād}

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

How Arabic letters are written in their different positions?

The difference between the sounds د {dāl} and ض {ḍād}:

 د {dāl} and ض {ḍād} , they look like both make quite a similar sound “D” but there is a difference between their sounds in Arabic. د {dāl}  is pronounced by touching the tongue at the root of upper front teeth (ạltẖãnāyā ạl̊ʿul̊yā) while ض {ḍād} is pronounced by touching the tongue at the upper five molars. The sound of  ض {ḍād}  is thicker than  د {dāl}.

Examples to understand the difference between the letters د {dāl} and ض {ḍād}:

Practice makes perfect. Hence, keep practicing and keep improving!