Reading Hindi in Devanagari

Devanagari is written from left to right. Most letters hang from a line along the top, and that line joins the letters of a word.

Each consonant letter includes a short a: क is ka and म is ma. To get a different vowel, add a vowel sign. Most signs come after, above or below the consonant. The sign for short i is written before it, but you still say the consonant first: कि is ki.

The short a is usually silent at the end of a word: कमल is kamal, not kamala. It often drops inside longer words too: कमरा is kamraa. When two consonants meet with no vowel between them, they are written as one joined shape: स and त make स्त in दोस्त (dost).

A dot or a moon-and-dot above the line makes a vowel nasal, as in हैं and माँ. Before another consonant, the dot usually stands for an n or m sound: हिंदी is hindii. Hindi also keeps apart sounds said with and without a puff of air: पल (moment) and फल (fruit) are different words. Learn new words with audio.