Activity 4: Tanween

Tanween in Arabic is the addition of a sound similar to the letter ن to the end of a word with no definite article. Tanween can either be tanween dammah ( ٌ), fat-Ha ( ً) , or kasra ( ٍ). Each of these corresponds to a double dammah, a double fat-Ha, or a double kasra, respectively. Tanween is denoted by either of these three forms above the letter.

Keep the following important notes in mind:

1. Tanween and the definite article ال can never be in the same word.
2. Tanween can only be added to nouns.

We have encountered tanween previously throughout this Lesson in words like, مرحبًا, أهلًا و سهلًا, and many others. In spoken Arabic, tanween disappears from words like مرحبًا to become مرحبا. However, some words like أهلًا may still be pronounced with tanween.

Listen to the following words to further distinguish between words with tanween and words without tanween.