Say (ث)
Urdu Letter Say (ث) — Preschool Haroof (Free Worksheets)
How to use this page
Work through the steps in order — watch, identify, hear the sound, colour, trace, write, then check. Most children finish in 10–15 minutes; some steps can be split across two days.
1 Watch
Letter Say (ث ) Sound & Shape
Start by watching a short video together. Seeing and hearing ث modelled first gives your child a reference point before any activity begins.
2 Colour
Colouring ث helps your child spend relaxed, hands-on time with its shape while building fine motor control with a crayon or pencil. This page pairs the letter with a picture for ثمر (Samar — Fruit), so your child connects the shape to its sound while colouring.
3 Identify
Say completes the Bay/Pay/Tay/Say family of shared-shape letters, marked by three dots above. These activities ask your child to circle, find, or match the correct letter among similar-looking ones.
💡 Say it out loud
While your child works through the sheet, say: “Say — Sawaab, Samar, Sania.” Verbal repetition alongside the worksheet helps your child connect the letter, sound, and familiar words.
4 Connect
Say says /s/ — ث
Say represents an /s/ sound, identical in spoken Urdu to Seen and Suaad — the spelling difference is inherited from Arabic loanwords. These activities connect the shape of the letter to its beginning sound using pictures your child already recognises.
5 Trace
Learn the Correct Stroke
Say is a joining letter, and because it sounds exactly like Seen, tracing practice on both letters side by side helps reinforce which word uses which spelling. Tracing helps your child build the correct starting point and stroke direction before attempting it freehand.
6 Write Independently
No Dotted Guide
Once tracing feels comfortable, move to writing ا without the guide. If it feels tricky at first, that’s a normal early stage — steady practice, not correction, is what builds it into muscle memory.
ℹ️ Only do this once 1–5 are solid
Blending is the payoff step, not a starting point. If your child hasn’t mastered identification and sound yet, come back to this after another week of practice.
7 Check
A short assessment lets you confirm your child recognises, sounds out, and writes ث confidently before moving on. This is designed to be completed after your child has worked through at least 3 of the activities above.
🏆 Celebrate
Letter Say (ث) Certificate
Once your child passes the check, print this certificate together. It’s a small moment that makes them want to come back for Letter ج.
Click here to submit 3 completed worksheets and get a free printable certificate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do Say, Seen, and Suaad all sound like "S"?
Urdu inherited these three letters from Arabic, where they represented genuinely different sounds. In spoken Urdu, all three have merged into a single /s/ sound, so children learn them primarily by which word uses which spelling — much like English “c” and “k” both making the same /k/ sound in cat and kite.
Should I teach Say and Seen at the same time since they sound the same?
It can help once your child is comfortable with basic letter shapes, since the two are learned by spelling rather than sound. Introducing them close together — after Seen is solid — lets you contrast them directly instead of treating them as unrelated letters that happen to sound alike.
My child knows ث's shape but not its sound — is that normal?
Yes, very common. Letter naming and letter sound are separate skills. Go back to the Connect the Sound step and add verbal drilling a few times a day until it becomes automatic.
How many activities does my child need to finish before getting the certificate?
Complete at least 3 activities from this page, then complete the assessment sheet to earn your certificate.