A1 · Devanagari and the sounds of Hindi
Nasal vowels: the dot and the moon
anusvara and chandrabindu
A dot above the line is a nasal before a consonant or a nasal vowel; the moon with a dot is a nasal vowel.
At a glance
- Remember
- A dot or a moon over the line makes the vowel nasal — and the dot alone turns hai into hain.
- Form
- हिंदी, ठंडा, कंबलnasal consonant before a consonant
- Signal words
- ं
- ँ
- हैं
- में
- नहीं
- Trap
- Wrong:बच्चे बाहर है।Right:बच्चे बाहर हैं।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| nasal consonant before a consonant | हिंदी, ठंडा, कंबल |
| nasal vowel, nothing above the line | हाँ, माँ, गाँव |
| nasal vowel, a sign above the line | में, नहीं, मैं |
| is / are | है / हैं |
| am | हूँ |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Before a consonant the dot is the nasal of that consonant’s row.
पानी ठंडा है।The water is cold.
A nasal vowel is written with the moon and dot.
मेरी माँ घर पर हैं।My mother is at home.
When a vowel sign rises above the line, only the dot is written.
चाबी बैग में है।The key is in the bag.
One dot separates singular and plural: है and हैं.
बच्चे बाहर हैं।The children are outside.
Example sentences
हाँ, मैं तैयार हूँ।Yes, I am ready.
मेरा गाँव पहाड़ों में है।My village is in the mountains.
मैं घर पर हूँ।I am at home.
आज बारिश नहीं है।There is no rain today.
मेरी आँखें थकी हैं।My eyes are tired.
ठंडा पानी दीजिए।Cold water, please.
6 more example sentences
यहाँ बहुत शोर है।It is very noisy here.
आप कहाँ हैं?Where are you?
कंबल अलमारी में है।The blanket is in the cupboard.
मैं भारत से हूँ।I am from India.
मेरे दाँत में दर्द है।I have toothache.
पंखा चालू है।The fan is on.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The dot on हैं is easy to leave out because it is so small, and English hears no difference between hai and haiⁿ. In Hindi it is the whole plural: है is “is”, हैं is “are”, and the respect form for one person too.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Hindi has two signs above the line for nasal sounds. The dot, the anusvara ं, stands for a nasal consonant before another consonant, and it takes the colour of that consonant’s row: हिंदीis hindī with nकंबल(blanket) kambal with mगंगाwith the ng of “finger”
The moon with a dot, the chandrabindu ँ, marks a nasal vowel: the air goes through the nose while the vowel is said, and no n follows. हाँ(yes) is hāⁿमाँ(mother) māⁿगाँव(village) gāⁿv The nearest English has is the vowel a French speaker uses in “non”.
When a vowel sign already rises above the headline — ि ी े ै ो ौ — there is no room for the moon, and the dot is written instead, still meaning a nasal vowel: में(in)नहीं(not)मैं(I)हैं(are) The context tells you which of the two the dot means; before a consonant it is a consonant, at the end of a syllable with a sign above it is a nasal vowel.
A nasal vowel is not a decoration. It is the only difference between है (is) and हैं (are), and between पूछ (ask) and पूँछ (tail). Plural endings carry it too: किताबें, लड़कियाँ.
A closer look
Dot or moon: a question of space
The rule for choosing between the two signs is about room above the line, not about sound. The moon needs space; where a vowel sign already reaches above the headline, the dot alone is written. So हाँ and हैं both have nasal vowels, written two ways.
Saying a nasal vowel
Say “ah” and let air escape through your nose at the same time, without closing your mouth for an n at the end. That is हाँ. मैं (I) is the vowel of “bat”, nasal; में (in) is a long e, nasal. If you hear yourself say “main” with a clear n, you have added a consonant that is not there.
Worth knowing (2)
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Not everybody writes the moon
Many newspapers and websites write the dot everywhere: हां, मां. This site writes the moon where there is room for it, and the answer check accepts either.
हाँ, वह मेरी माँ हैं।Yes, she is my mother.
-
Two dots in two places
The anusvara sits above the line; the nukta, which marks sounds such as z and f, sits below the letter: ज़. They have nothing to do with each other.
मैं ज़रूर आऊँगा।I will certainly come.
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