What Is Waw Madd?

Waw madd is a wāw (و) with no vowel of its own, written after a letter that has a dammah: بُ + و = بُو.

The dammah stays on the letter before. The wāw doesn’t add a “w” sound — it only stretches that dammah into a long “uu”. So the short “u” lasts one beat, and the long “uu” lasts two. The letter itself sounds the same; only the vowel gets longer.

After alif madd, this is the second of the three Arabic long vowels.

Dammah vs Waw Madd: How to Pronounce It

Tap each pair: the short dammah first, then the long one. Same letter, same round “u” — only the length changes.

Good waw madd pronunciation comes down to three things:

After the heavy letters (خ ص ض ط ظ غ ق) and رُ, the start sounds fuller, but the vowel is still “uu” — see heavy letters in Arabic. In the Quran, some are held longer when a madda sign (ـٓ) is written over them; that’s one of the tajweed rules for later.

Waw Madd or Just a Wāw?

Not every و is a long vowel. Three cases:

Look at the letter before the wāw — and at the wāw itself.

Waw Madd in the Mushaf

In the Madani Mushaf (the Uthmani script on quran.com), a waw madd has no mark of its own — just a bare و after a dammah: صُدُورِ (ṣudūri). Two more things you’ll see:

• A small wāw (ۥ) after هُ, as in لَهُۥ, is usually read as a long “uu” too: lahū.
• An alif written after a final long “uu”, with a small rounded zero (قَالُوا۟, qālū), is not read — stop on the “uu”.

Waw Madd Letters: All 28

Here are the waw madd letters: every Arabic letter with a dammah, then a bare wāw. Read a row out loud first, then tap to check yourself. The heavy letters are in gold. Notice that و never joins the letter after it — see Arabic letters beginning, middle & end.

Waw Madd Examples: Read It, Then Check

Now read some real waw madd examples. Say each one out loud first, then tap to check yourself. There are three levels:

• Level 1 — one syllable: بُو · تُو · مُو · نُو
• Level 2 — short, then long: بُ بُو · مُ مُو · سُ سُو · نُ نُو
• Level 3 — six words, short–long–short. Each word is split first, يَ | قُو | لُ, then joined: يَقُولُ (ya-qū-lu).

Some of these are verbs from the alif madd lesson, now in the present tense: قَالَ “he said” → يَقُولُ “he says”.

Count the beats as you read: يَقُولُ is ya (1 beat) – quu (2 beats) – lu (1 beat). If the middle syllable gets only one beat, you’ve read it short. Go slowly; at this stage a clean, round “uu” matters more than speed.

Waw Madd in the Quran

Listen to these two ayat and look for the long “uu”. Both words sit in the middle of the ayah, because at the end of an ayah the reciter stops and the last sound changes. Each ayah also has a wāw that is not a madd — spot the difference. Play each ayah twice: first just listen, then follow the words with your finger.

Waw Madd Game

Can you hear one beat or two? In this waw madd game, a clip plays and you decide: short or long. The syllable only appears after you answer, so trust your ear.

Waw Madd for Kids

Teaching your child? Keep it short, physical and fun:

• One clap for بُ, two claps for بُو.
• Make a small round mouth, like slowly blowing out a candle, and keep it round until the sound ends.
• Do one row of the chart a day, in big print.
• Play the short-or-long game together and let your child shout “short!” or “long!”.
• Praise a round, steady “uu” — and stop while it’s still fun.

If your child uses the Noorani Qaida, this is the same lesson.

Want a teacher to guide your child? See our Quran reading for beginners classes.

Free Waw Madd Worksheet (PDF)

Prefer paper? Download these free printables — no sign-up, just print and practise. They follow the same order as this lesson.

Common Waw Madd Mistakes Beginners Make

Each of these is easy to fix once you can hear it.

1. ❌ Not holding it: بُو read as “bu” → ✅ two beats: buu.
2. ❌ “Oh” instead of “uu”: “boh”, “nor” → ✅ lips round, a pure “uu”.
3. ❌ A “w” at the end: “buw”, “bu-wa” → ✅ the wāw has no sound of its own.
4. ❌ Treating every و as a madd → ✅ look at the letter before: a dammah, then a wāw with no vowel = waw madd.
5. ❌ Reading the alif after a final و (قَالُوا۟) → ✅ it isn’t read: qālū.

What to Learn After Waw Madd

Two long vowels down, one to go. The method stays the same: see the mark, hear the length, say it.

1. Next lesson: yaa madd — a kasra, then ي, for a long “ii”.
2. Missed the first long vowel? Start with alif madd.
3. See where this fits in the full path to how to read Arabic.