Site Feedback  Resolved questions When do I have to use letter
Alif (ا) and Alif Maqsura (ى)?  What's the difference between
them?  For learning: Arabic Base language: English Category:
Language        Please enter between 2 and 2000 characters.
Sort by:      Best Answer - Chosen by Voting     There're a lot
of rules related to this point and if you were an advanced
learner you'd understand them. For now, just pay attention to "
al7oroof " prepositions and other tools since they all have alif
maqsorah as in إلى متى حتى على .     Verbs that have more than 3
letters usually have alif maqsorah as in انحنى استعلى ابتلى
Verbs that have 3 letters are divided into 2 groups where the
origin of the alif is either و or ي and to know that you have to
form the masculine present tense of the verb , if it ends with و
you have to write the alif mamdodah , and if it ends with ي you
have to write the alif maqsorah as in     دعا = يدعو     صلى =
يصلي     these are not all the rules but I hope that'll help
you.