Sun letters, in plain language

الـ

ال means “the”. In front of some letters you still hear the l, as in al-qamar, the moon. Those are moon letters.

In front of a sun letter the l goes quiet and the next letter is doubled. الشمس is ash-shams. The tongue is already on ش, so the l never gets a turn.

You do not need to memorise a chart on day one. Learn الشمس and القمر, then use the free poster when a new word shows up.