Last lesson, Lesson #2; Vowels Part 1, we started learning about the Vowels in Hindi. We learnt our first two vowels, can you remember them?, अ a and आ aa. We also learnt a few words that use these letters. Today we’re going to continue with the vowel and learn the next two. So let’s get straight into it! 

 i  

        If you can’t see the play button or if it wont work then click here for instructions on how to fix it!

As usual click the play button above to hear the letter pronounced, be sure to keep listening to it! This is the letter इ i. What does it look like? Well it’s a bit like a capital S with a line on top and a strange little tail. 

इ i is pronounced just like the i in the English word pit or hit. Make sure you listen to it many times! Again, like अ a, इ i should make quite a short sound. Practice writing and saying the letter, इ i, इ i, इ i. Got it? अच्छा acchaa good!

Ready to learn a word that starts with इ i? 

Pretend for me that there’s 21 candles on this cake because you’re celebrating your 21st birthday! 

इक्कीस ikkees is the number Twenty One in Hindi. Can you see the letter इ i in the word? Yeah, that’s right, it’s right at the start. You can learn all the numbers in Hindi in the Numbers section! 

Click the play button above to hear the two example words with this letter pronounced; इक्कीस ikkees- Twenty One and चिड़िया ciriyaa - Bird

When you want to add the vowel इ i to a consonant we use the symbol ि. This can be quite confusing because it goes on the left hand side of the consonant, even though you make the vowel sound after. 

The Hindi word for bird is चिड़िया ciriyaa - Can you see the letter इ i here? Have a look for the ि symbol. Can you see it? Yeah, thats right, there’s two! We have an इ i on च ca giving चि ci (pronounced like the start of ‘chick’) and we also have a इ i on ड़ ra giving ड़ि ri! Don’t worry too much if this is confusing, all it takes is practice, promise. 

Ready for the fourth vowel of Hindi? Here it is; 

  ee  

This is the letter ई ee. What does it look like? It’s very similar to इ i but it has this flick on top, can you see the difference? इ i and ई ee. Got it? . ई ee is pronounced just like the 'ee’ in the words feet or see. It’s a long vowel sound. eeeeeee. Ready to learn some words using ई ee?

When we want to add ई ee to a consonant we use this symbol; ी. Let’s see an example; 

The word बिल्ली billee means cat in Hindi. Can you see the ई ee  here? Yeah that’s right, it’s at the end; we have ली lee. Can you also see the letter इ i in this word? Yep, it’s at the start, on the ब ba giving बि bi.

Click the play button above to here the two sample words of the letter pronounced; बिल्ली billee - Cat and साड़ी saaree - Sari. 

It’s really important to understand the differences in the symbols for these two vowels; the short vowel इ i comes before the letter giving, for example, नि ni and the long vowel ई ee comes after, giving नी nee. Can you see the difference? Don’t worry if it takes sometime getting used to. 

Image by wikipedia.

Do you know what the women in the picture above are wearing? It’s an Indian dress called a साड़ी saaree - mostly spelt Sari in English. Can you see the letter ई ee in this word? Yep, that’s right it’s at the end again!

So we’ve learnt two more vowels today, इ i and ई ee. Keep practicing them! 

Click here to go back to the Vowels Section.