Lessons for English speakers
Learn to read Nepali
A short, active path into reading Nepali: learn how a Devanagari letter carries its own vowel, decode ten real words before the full alphabet, follow the verb to the end of the sentence, and read a small story before opening your first book.
13 core sections · ≈ 33 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 45 min with everything
4
The rows that look alike, and what the spelling hides
≈ 3 min
What you'll learn
- Most consonants come in pairs, plain and puffed, sitting side by side — often only a stroke apart.
- Two consonants outside the twelve turn up in almost every line: य ya and ल la.
- Three letters, श ष स, are one s sound in ordinary Nepali speech.
- व is written v in the guide and usually said as a b.
- Inside a word the built-in a can go quiet as well, so a word is often shorter than its spelling.
English has no habit of hearing a puff of air, because it never changes an English word. Puffed and plain are different letters in Nepali, not accents of one letter.
Plain, and the same letter with a puff of air
| Plain | Puffed | A word with the puffed one |
|---|---|---|
| कka | खkha | रूखrūkh“tree” |
| गga | घgha | बाघbāgh“tiger” |
| चca | छcha | छcha“is, there is” |
| टṭa | ठṭha | ठूलोṭhūlo“big” |
| डḍa | ढḍha | ढल्योḍhalyo“it fell over” |
| तta | थtha | साथीsāthī“friend” |
| दda | धdha | धेरैdherai“a lot, very” |
| पpa | फpha | फूलphūl“flower” |
| बba | भbha | भन्योbhanyo“he said” |
One further pair, ज / झja / jha, works the same way. Hold a hand in front of your mouth: on ख it is pushed, on क barely at all.
Two letters the twelve left out
- यya — y as in yesयोyo“this”
- लla — l as in letठूलोṭhūlo“big”
On the teeth, or curled back
तta — tongue flat on the back of the top teeth
टṭa — tongue curled back to the roof
English t sits between them, so both will sound wrong at first and both will be understood
दda
डḍa
the same move, voiced
Where the spelling does not tell you the sound
श ष स
one s sound
three letters for a distinction the mouth largely gave up; श leans towards sh in careful speech
धन्यवाद
धन्यवादdhanyavād“thank you”
the guide writes v because the letter is व, but the mouth says b: “dhan-ya-bād”
बाघbāgh + ले
बाघलेbāghle“the tiger, as the doer”
the tiger’s own quiet a stays quiet when a small word attaches behind it — said bāgh-le, not “bā-gha-le”
तर
तरtara“but”
a handful of short everyday words keep their final a against the rule — learn those with the word
Which of the pair is it?
- ठूलो
The first letter is the puffed member of a curled-back pair.
Show answer +Hide answer −
ठूलोṭhūlo“big” — tongue curled back, and a puff of air. - बाघ against बाग
One stroke apart, and one puff apart.
Show answer +Hide answer −
बाघbāgh“tiger” has the puff; बागbāg“garden” does not. - Why is बाघले said in two syllables and not three?
Show answer +Hide answer −
Because बाघ already ends its a quietly, and ले attaches behind that: bāghle.