A1 · Devanagari and the sounds of Hindi
Vowels and vowel signs
the vowel letters and the vowel signs
Every vowel has two shapes: a full letter at the start of a word and a small sign after a consonant.
At a glance
- Remember
- Every vowel has two shapes: a full letter at the start of a word, a small sign after a consonant — and plain a has no sign at all.
- Form
- अ आ — क काa, ā — letter and sign after क
- Signal words
- अ
- आ
- इ
- ई
- उ
- ऊ
- ए
- ऐ
- ओ
- औ
- Trap
- Wrong:मेरा नम रवि है।Right:मेरा नाम रवि है।
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| a, ā — letter and sign after क | अ आ — क का |
| i, ī | इ ई — कि की |
| u, ū | उ ऊ — कु कू |
| e, ai | ए ऐ — के कै |
| o, au | ओ औ — को कौ |
| ṛ, in words from Sanskrit | ऋ — कृ |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
A vowel at the start of a word is written with its full letter.
आम बहुत मीठा है।The mango is very sweet.
After a consonant the vowel becomes a sign attached to it; a needs no sign.
मेरा नाम रवि है।My name is Ravi.
The sign ि is written before its consonant but said after it.
आज का दिन लंबा था।Today was a long day.
Short and long vowels make different words, so keep the length.
मैंने यह गाना सुना है।I have heard this song.
Example sentences
आज मौसम अच्छा है।The weather is nice today.
यह किताब नई है।This book is new.
ऊपर मत जाओ।Don’t go upstairs.
दरवाज़े पर एक औरत खड़ी है।A woman is standing at the door.
इधर आइए।Come over here, please.
मुझे गोभी पसंद है।I like cauliflower.
6 more example sentences
ऊँट रेगिस्तान में रहता है।The camel lives in the desert.
इतवार को दुकान बंद रहती है।The shop is closed on Sunday.
एक कप चाय दीजिए।A cup of tea, please.
यह ऊन का स्वेटर है।This is a woollen sweater.
ऐनक मेज़ पर है।The glasses are on the table.
मेरी बेटी सात साल की है।My daughter is seven years old.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Forgetting the sign ा does not just look untidy: it leaves the short a that every consonant carries, and नम is a different word, “damp”. Every long ā after a consonant needs its stroke: नाम, name.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Hindi has ten vowels in everyday use, and each comes in pairs of short and long: अ a and आ ā, इ i and ई ī, उ u and ऊ ū. Then come ए e (as in café), ऐ ai (close to the vowel of English “bat”, a little longer), ओ o (as in French “eau”) and औ au (close to the vowel of “off”). The full letters stand at the beginning of a word or after another vowel: आम(mango)ऊपर(up)औरत(woman)कई(several)
After a consonant the vowel is not written with its full letter but as a sign, a matra, attached to the consonant: का, कि, की, कु, कू, के, कै, को, कौ. The short a needs no sign at all, because every consonant letter already carries it: क on its own is ka. That is why कमल (lotus) is three letters and no vowel signs.
One sign is written where it is not said. ि (short i) stands to the left of its consonant but is pronounced after it: दिन is din, not idn. The other signs sit where they are heard — to the right (ा ी ो ौ), below (ु ू) or above (े ै).
Length matters. A short and a long vowel can make two different words: सुना (heard) and सूना (empty), मिल (meet) and मील (mile). English speakers tend to say every unstressed vowel short; in Hindi the long ones keep their length wherever they stand.
A closer look
Why the i-sign comes first
The sign for short i is a hook that rises from the headline and comes down on the left of its consonant. Its long partner, ी, comes down on the right. The writing tradition settled on this shape centuries ago, and it is simply learnt: read the consonant first, then the hook. किताबis ki-tābमिठाई(sweets) is mi-ṭhā-ī
ए and ऐ, ओ and औ
The transliteration writes these four as e, ai, o and au, but in standard Hindi none of them is a glide like English “eye” or “cow”. ए and ओ are pure long vowels, as in Italian. ऐ is an open vowel close to the a of “bat” and औ one close to the o of “off”. है (is) therefore sounds nothing like English “high”.
Worth knowing (2)
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ऋ is a vowel, said ri
Words taken from Sanskrit have one more vowel, ऋ, with the sign ृ under the consonant. In Hindi it is said ri: कृपया (please) is kripayā, ऋषि (sage) is rishi.
कृपया बैठिए।Please sit down.
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र with u and ū
After र the u-signs do not hang below the letter but sit beside it, in a shape of their own: रु (ru) and रू (rū). रुपया is rupee, रूप form.
यह किताब सौ रुपए की है।This book costs a hundred rupees.
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