How to pronounce the letter hāʾ (ه / هـ)?

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 ه {hāʾ} 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 ه {hāʾ}.

• أقصى الحلق (ạảq̊ṣa ạl̊ḥal̊q): The last part of our throat which is attached to our chest.
• وسط الحلق (wasaṭ ạl̊ḥal̊q): The middle part of our throat.
• أدنى الحلق (ạảd̊na ạl̊ḥal̊q): The first part of our throat towards our mouth.

The letter ه  is pronounced with أقصى الحلق (ạảq̊ṣa ạl̊ḥal̊q), that is the last part of our throat towards the chest.

Now, let’s pronounce  ه {hāʾ}: Take out the sound of the English letter ‘H’ but from the last part of your throat towards the chest. Now say “HA”. Practice this sound again and again.

Practice ه {hāʾ} with vowel movements.

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

        هَ =  HA, Read as;  H fatah HA

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

هِ = HE, Read as; H kasrah HE

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

 هُ   = HU, Read as; H dammah HU

• 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: 

هْ  =  H  sakin,      أَهْ= Alif fatha +  h sakin = ạå̉h̊

• 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.

Note: Although it is possible to pronounce the letter ه {hāʾ} with Shadda, but it is rarely to find it mushaddad (with shadda) in Arabic words.

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

Practice the letter ه {hāʾ} by saying sample words: 

هَدِيَة ( hadīã – Gift)
هَاْتِفْ (hā̊tif̊ – Phone)
هَرَمْ (haram̊ – Pyramid)
ذَهَبِّي ( dẖahabī – Golden)
هٌدْهُد (huⁿd̊hud – Hoopoe)
شَهِدَ (sẖahida – Witnessed)
مُهَنْدِسْ (muhan̊dis̊ – Engineer)

Listen to Arabic Words starting with the letter ه {hāʾ}:

Learn how to write the letter ه {hāʾ}:

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

How Arabic letters are written in their different positions?

For more practice about the letter ه {hāʾ}, you can watch this video tutorial:

Difference between the Arabic letter ح {ḥāʾ} and the letter ه {hāʾ}:

•  ح  is pronounced with the middle part of our throat ( وسط حلق ) while ه is pronounced with the last part of our throat (أقصى الحلق).

• The sound of   ح  is thicker than the sound of  ه.
• Try to say فَهْد   (leopard) and حِمَارْ  (Donkey).

For more tips about the difference between letter ح {ḥāʾ} and the letter ه {hāʾ}:

How to differentiate between the letter حـ/ح {ḥāʾ/ḥah} and the letter ه/هـ {hāʾ/hah} in Arabic?

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