Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "बीमार" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce बीमार in Hindi?

बीमार is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /biː.maːɾ/. It means “ill / sick.” bee-MAAR — an unaspirated b, a long ee, a long aa, and one flicked r at the end.

bee-MAAR — an unaspirated b, a long ee, a long aa, and one flicked r at the end.

बीमार /biː.maːɾ/

beemaar

Nothing in this word needs punching. The contrast between the high front ee and the low open aa carries all the interest, and the closed final syllable gives it a broad, settled finish.

Listen: बीमार

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Sound it out

bee Plain voiced ब with no breathiness — adding a sigh would turn it into भ — followed by a long tense ई.

maar m, a long open aa, and a single tap. The two long vowels differ sharply in quality, which gives the word its shape.

Hear it in a sentence

मेरा बेटा आज बीमार है।

Meraa beṭaa aaj beemaar hai.

My son is ill today.

Listen: मेरा बेटा आज बीमार है।

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"Meraa beṭaa aaj beemaar hai" puts beṭaa immediately before it, and beṭaa contains a retroflex ट. So the sentence moves from a curled-back tongue in the noun to two entirely front-of-mouth consonants in the adjective, which is a useful contrast to feel.

Where English speakers slip

The final r is where English speakers give themselves away, turning "-maar" into a long rhotic that colours the aa. It is a single quick contact. The b also occasionally picks up breathiness by over-correction; keep it plain and voiced.