Last time we saw the fifth group of consonants. Can you remember them? Check back here if you can’t! We’re nearly there now, this is the penultimate group! So are you ready to get going? Here’s the letters we are going to be learning today…

There’s only four consonants in this group so it’s going to be a little easier! This group is called the semivowels. Are you ready to get straight into it? Here goes then…

ya 

This is the letter य ya. This letter is quite an easy one for an English speaker - it’s pronounced just like a normal English “y” but slightly lighter. Use the audio above to hear it pronounced. Not only that but this letter even looks like an English Y!

The Hindi word यार yaar means “friend” or “pal” and it’s a word you’re going to hear all the time! Can you spot our new letter य ya here? Awesome! You can hear the word pronounced above. Ready to move on?

ra 

This is the letter र ra. This pronunciation may be a little tricky. It’s pronounced as a slightly trilled “r” - like the “r” in Spanish but lighter. Use to audio above to listen to the letter. It even looks a little like an “r” too, easy!

The word for “night” in Hindi is रात raat. Can you spot our new letter here? Nice one!

The consonant र ra is a bit special because the two vowels उ u and ऊ oo join on to it slightly differently. Here’s how it works: र ra + उ u gives us रु ru and र ra + ऊ oo gives us रू roo. Can you see that these are a tiny bit different to what me might expect? Good! Let’s keep going then.

la 

This is the letter ल la. This letter sounds quite like a normal English “l” sound, like in the word um… “like”! The Hindi pronunciation is a little lightly than English “l"s - so use the audio above to help you.

The Hindi word for "red” is लाल laal. Our new letter appears twice here! Can you spot it? Good! You can learn more about Hindi colours in Lesson #47 here. Are you ready for the final letter of this group then?

va 

This is the letter व va. This is a tricky letter so full concentration! This letter usually sounds half way between the English letter “v”, like in “vest”, and the letter “w”, like in “west”, which you can hear in the audio above. But in some words it floats closer to a “v” or a “w” sound! It can be tricky to get right.

On example word where this letter sounds more like a “v” is हवा havaa which means “wind” in Hindi. Have a listen to the word above. Can you spot व va here? Remember that this letter usually sounds half way between “v” and “w” but in some words sounds more like a certain one of them!

Well there we go! That’s another group of consonants you’ve mastered. Well done! Be sure to practice writing them down and saying them out loud. There’s only one more group of consonants left now - you can check them out here!

Back to the Consonants Section.