The Sounds lj and nj

Level 1

Lj and nj are one sound each.

How It Works

Lj and nj come from sounds that Latin letters did not cover. The language solved this with two-letter pairs.

  • lj sounds like the middle of million: ljeto (summer), ljubav (love), ljudi (people).
  • nj sounds like ny in canyon: knjiga (book), konj (horse), njegov (his).

Each pair is a single letter in the alphabet. They can come at the start, in the middle or at the end of a word.

A few words from other languages write n and j side by side without making nj, for example injekcija. The pair is then read as two sounds.

Examples (4)

  1. Volim ljeto.

    I like summer.

    Lj begins ljeto.

  2. Njena sestra čita knjigu.

    Her sister is reading a book.

    Nj appears in njena and knjigu.

  3. Konj pije vodu.

    The horse is drinking water.

    Nj ends konj.

  4. Ljudi su na trgu.

    The people are in the square.

    Ljudi starts with lj.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

The Sounds lj and njLevel 1

Learn This First

These letters are part of the alphabet.