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June 25th, 2010 102 Comments
Lesson #3: Vowels Part 2; i and ee
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?, a and aa. We also learnt a few words that use these letters. Today
were going to continue with the vowel and learn the next two. So lets get straight into it!
i
If you cant seethe 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 i. What does it look like? Well its a bit like a capital S with a line on top and a strange little tail.
i is pronounced just like the i in the English word pit or hit. Make sure you listen to it many times! Again,
like a, i should make quite a short sound. Practice writing and saying the letter, i, i, i. Got it?
acchaa good!
Lesson #3: Vowels Part 2; i and ee | Learning Hindi! http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/732878148/lesson-3-vowels-part-2-i...
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Ready to learn a word that starts with i?
Pretend for me that theres 21 candles on this cake because youre celebrating your 21st
birthday!
4| ikkees is the number Twenty One in Hindi. Can you see the letter i in the word? Yeah, thats
right, its 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; 4| ikkees-
Twenty One and ciriyaa - Bird
When you want to add the vowel 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 ciriyaa - Can you see the letter i here? Have a look for the
symbol. Can you see it? Yeah, thats right, theres two! We have an i on ca giving
ci (pronounced like the start of chick) and we also have a i on ra giving ri! Dont worry too
much if this is confusing, all it takes is practice, promise.
Ready for the fourth vowel of Hindi? Here it is;
Lesson #3: Vowels Part 2; i and ee | Learning Hindi! http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/732878148/lesson-3-vowels-part-2-i...
2 of 6 13-07-2014 09:01
ee
This is the letter ee. What does it look like? Its very similar to i but it has this flick on top, can you see
the difference? i and ee. Got it? . ee is pronounced just like the ee in the words feet or see. Its a
long vowel sound. eeeeeee. Ready to learn some words using ee?
When we want to add ee to a consonant we use this symbol; . Lets see an example;
The word ~| billee means cat in Hindi. Can you see the ee here? Yeah thats right, its at the end;
we have | lee. Can you also see the letter i in this word? Yep, its at the start, on the ba giving bi.

Click the play button above to here the two sample words of the letter pronounced; ~| billee - Cat and
saaree - Sari.
Its really important to understand the differences in the symbols for these two vowels; the short vowel i
comes before the letter giving, for example, ni and the long vowel ee comes after, giving nee. Can
you see the difference? Dont worry if it takes sometime getting used to.
Lesson #3: Vowels Part 2; i and ee | Learning Hindi! http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/732878148/lesson-3-vowels-part-2-i...
3 of 6 13-07-2014 09:01
Image by wikipedia.
Do you know what the women in the picture above are wearing? Its an Indian dress called a saaree -
mostly spelt Sari in English. Can you see the letter ee in this word? Yep, thats right its at the end again!
So weve learnt two more vowels today, i and ee. Keep practicing them!
Click here to go back to the Vowels Section.
Tags:devanagari vowels i ee alphabet june2010
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Lesson #3: Vowels Part 2; i and ee | Learning Hindi! http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/732878148/lesson-3-vowels-part-2-i...
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102 Comments


LaLunaUnita
I wanted to mention that there are many free sources for children's Hindi handwriting
worksheets, if you google "Hindi handwriting" or "Hindi alphabet" or something like that. I printed
off the worksheets and I say the vowel as I write it about 30 times. It helps me to remember the
Hindi alphabet piece by piece!



LearningHi ndi Moderator
That's a great suggestion, thank for sharing :) That's also a really great way to practice!



Chacha
can you please tell me why there are three e's in billeee


LearningHi ndi Moderator
Sorry that's a typo, thanks for spotting it. It should be billee with just two e's :) Sorry for
the confusion.



i mene
namaste! well i have a question about the word saree ..why instaed of writing the word with tail u
put a dot



LearningHi ndi Moderator
I don't really understand your question but let me see if I can help. The word has the
consonant ra in it. This is completely different to the consonant da, which is why we
add an extra dot.
Does that help? Perhaps if you explain your question again I might be able to help you
more.



Guest
Good site to learn hindi...Thanks for this site...I wish to clarify the writing style of adding i and ee
to consonant. Writing style of both looks same. How to differentiate them.




Lesson #3: Vowels Part 2; i and ee | Learning Hindi! http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/732878148/lesson-3-vowels-part-2-i...
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Lesson #3: Vowels Part 2; i and ee | Learning Hindi! http://www.learning-hindi.com/post/732878148/lesson-3-vowels-part-2-i...
6 of 6 13-07-2014 09:01