Shadda (شَدَّة) in Arabic
Doubles the consonant; often combined with another short vowel.
Last updated: May 2026
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Shadda — shadda
The consonant is held twice as long. Think of "midday" vs "mid-day" — the "d" in "mid-day" is shadda-like.
- Position
- above
- Family
- harakat
- Unicode
- U+0651
- Keyboard
- Shift + W
What does Shadda mean?
Shadda (literally "intensification") marks a doubled consonant. Instead of writing the same letter twice (e.g. كك), Arabic uses a single letter with shadda above it. Shadda is almost always combined with another short vowel — the shadda doubles the consonant and the haraka on top tells you which vowel follows.
Shadda is extremely common in Arabic — many words have a doubled middle consonant (مُدَرِّس "teacher", رَبّ "Lord", حَدَّثَ "to narrate"). Combining shadda with a vowel mark requires care; see the FAQ below for typing order.
How to type Shadda on Arabic keyboard
Shortcut on Arabic 101: Shift + W
Typing order: type the base letter first, then hold Shift and press the diacritic key. Most Arabic input requires this letter-then-diacritic sequence — typing the diacritic first will produce nothing or a disconnected mark.
Example: to type بّ, press the base letter key, then Shift + W.
Example words with Shadda
Practice typing Shadda
Knowing the shortcut is one thing — building the muscle memory is another. Our diacritics drills weave fatha, kasra, damma, shadda, sukun, and the tanween marks into real words and full sentences.
Frequently asked questions
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type shadda on the Arabic keyboard?
On the Arabic 101 keyboard layout, hold Shift and press W. Type the base letter first, then Shift+W to add shadda — for example, type ر, then Shift+W to produce رّ.
How do I combine shadda with fatha, kasra, or damma?
Type the letter, then the vowel mark, then shadda — in that order. For example, to type رِّ (ra with kasra and shadda): press ر, then Shift+A (kasra), then Shift+W (shadda). Some fonts render the marks in different positions; the order of input above is what produces correct Unicode order (mark before shadda).
Why does Arabic use shadda instead of just writing the letter twice?
Historically, Arabic script was designed to be efficient and visually clean. Writing two of the same letter (e.g. ربب for "Lord") would be ambiguous (is it "rabb" or "rabab"?) and harder to read. Shadda compresses the doubled consonant into a single letter with a visible mark above it, which is both shorter to write and unambiguous about syllable structure.
Related diacritics
Or see the full Arabic diacritics guide.