Lam (ل) — Arabic Letter Guide
Identical to English "l" as in "love".
Last updated: May 2026 · Letter 23 of 28
Practice this now
Move from reading to hands-on typing with Arabic Typing 101.
Lam — lām (لَام)
- Transliteration
- l
- IPA
- l
- Unicode
- U+0644
- Keyboard
- G
- Finger
- left index
- Connects?
- Yes — on both sides
What is the letter Lam?
Lam is the twenty-third letter of the Arabic alphabet. It has a tall isolated form resembling a hooked vertical stroke. When followed by alif, lam and alif combine into a distinctive single-glyph ligature (لا) — one of the few obligatory ligatures in Arabic.
The four forms of Lam
Arabic letters change shape depending on their position in a word. Lam has four distinct forms:
| Position | Shape | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Isolated | ل | Standing alone |
| Initial | لـ | At the start of a word, connecting to the right |
| Medial | ـلـ | In the middle of a word, connecting on both sides |
| Final | ـل | At the end of a word, connecting only on the right |
How to type Lam on Arabic keyboard
Arabic 101 key: press G.
Finger: left index finger.
The key for Lam is mapped via the standard Arabic 101 keyboard layout, which is the default Arabic input source on Windows, macOS (as “Arabic - PC”), and most Linux distributions.
How to pronounce Lam
No special technique. Tip of the tongue touches the gum ridge behind the upper teeth, like English "l". When followed by alif, lam-alif forms a special ligature (لا).
Example words with Lam
Letters often confused with Lam
alif
Isolated lam and alif can look similar; lam has a hook at the bottom, alif does not.
kaf
Initial kaf (كـ) and initial lam (لـ) can be confused in some fonts.
Build muscle memory for the whole alphabet
Knowing where Lam sits on the keyboard is one thing — being able to touch-type it without thinking is another. Our drills work through every letter in the alphabet with structured progression.
Frequently asked questions
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type lam (ل) on the Arabic 101 keyboard?
Press the G key — lam sits on the home row under your left index finger.
What is the lam-alif ligature?
Whenever lam is immediately followed by alif within the same word, Arabic typography fuses them into a single glyph (لا) instead of writing them separately as لا. This is an obligatory ligature in all Arabic fonts. The Arabic 101 keyboard has it as a dedicated key (the B key).
How is the "al-" prefix (the definite article) typed?
The definite article in Arabic is "al-" (الـ) — written as alif followed by lam, attached to the noun. Type alif (H), then lam (G), then the noun. The lam connects to the first letter of the noun: الكِتَاب "the book" = ا + ل + كتاب.
Related Arabic letters
Or see the full Arabic 101 keyboard layout.