Letter 27 of 28

How Do You Pronounce Waw (و)?

و
Wawوَاو

W as in water, and the long "oo".

The sound

As a consonant, the English w of water and way. As a long vowel it stretches "oo", as in نُور (nur, light).

It never connects to the letter after it, and as a one-letter word وَ means "and", which is why you will see it everywhere in the Quran.

The four written forms

Arabic letters change shape by position, alone, at the start, in the middle, and at the end of a word.

و
Isolated
و‍
Initial
‍و‍
Medial
‍و
Final

Waw is one of the six letters (ا د ذ ر ز و) that never connect to the letter after them. It joins from the right only, so its initial form looks like its isolated form, and the letter following it starts fresh.

Waw with harakat

The three short vowels: fatha says "a", kasra says "i", damma says "u".

وَ
wa
Fatha · "a"
وِ
wi
Kasra · "i"
وُ
wu
Damma · "u"
Spot it in the Quran
نُورٌ
nur
light
يَوْمٌ
yawm
day
وَالْعَصْرِ
wal-asr
by the time
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