Biplob_Mondol
Lesson #2: Vowels Part 1; अ a and आ aa

One big difference between Hindi and English is that Hindi vowels have two forms, one form for when they stand alone and another for when the vowel joins to a consonant. Confused? Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything as we go through and by the end you’ll have it mastered!


Ready to get straight into it and learn your very first Hindi vowel? Excellent! So here it is;




This is the letter अa . It looks kind of like a 3 with a capital T after it and then a little small line in the middle joining them up. Can you see? Look at it again, अa .Listen to it again.


It is pronounced as ’a’, like the sound at the start of the English words, alive, apply, alert. It makes a very short sound. Can you practice saying it; अa .Now practice writing it; अa .Practice saying it and writing it at the same time! Listen to it more and more; अa .



Don’t worry if you’re currently really confused with all the Hindi letters - everyone is to start with, even Mr Chimp above! With a little work you’ll get there, promise.

So are you ready to learn a word that starts with अa? The Hindi word अच्छा acchaameans ‘good’. Can you see the अa in this word? Where is it? Yeah that’s right, it’s right at the beginning! अच्छा acchaagood!

Now अa is a very special vowel because it doesn’t change the consonant at all. Whenever you see a consonant with no modification at all then it should have the अa sound. Can you remember this from Lesson #1 Saying Hello , we saw the letters नna and मma which make up the word नमस्तेnamaste -Hello. Well these letters, नna and मma, have no modifications so they are both pronounced with an अa.Following?



The greeting नमस्तेnamaste has two अa’s in it! Can you remember we usually make this hand gesture when greeting someone with नमस्तेnamaste.


Do you think you’re ready for the next vowel? Well here it is;



This is the letter आaa. What does it look like? Well it’s very simialar to अa but आaa has an extra vertical line on the right hand side. Can you see the difference? अच्छा acchaa -good!


We pronounce आaa as a long 'a’ sound, this is like the 'a’ in father. F-aa-ther. Listen to it several times. Say it out loud a few times;आaa .Write it out a few times; आaa Got it?आaa.Are you ready to learn a word that uses आaa?



What do you think आगaag could mean? What’s in the picture? Fire! Can you see the आaa at the start of आगaag fire? अच्छाacchaa -good!

Now when we want to add an आ to a consonant we add this symbol, ा at the end of the consonant. Remember the letter नna from नमस्तेnamaste -Hello? Well when we add आaa to नna it becomes नाnaa. Can you see the extra line here; नna and नाnaa Got it? नna should have a very short 'a’ sound and नाnaa has a long 'aa’ sound. Great!




The word नामnaam means 'name’ in Hindi. We learn how to ask someone their name in Lesson #20 and this uses the word नामnaam. Have a quick check and see if you can recognise the word नामnaam there!


And that’s it for today! We’ve learnt the first two vowels of Hindi, अa and आaa do you think you can you remember these for next time? अच्छाacchaa good! Make sure you listen to the audio files over and over again to help improve your pronunciation!