Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "दफ़्तर" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce दफ़्तर in Hindi?

दफ़्तर is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /d̪əf.t̪əɾ/. It means “office.” DUF-tur — a dental d, a genuine f from the nuqta, a dental t, and a final tap.

DUF-tur — a dental d, a genuine f from the nuqta, a dental t, and a final tap.

दफ़्तर /d̪əf.t̪əɾ/

daftar

It is easy to over-inflate a word for something as important as an office, but Hindi gives this one no long vowel at all — both syllables are short and closed. Keep it brisk.

Listen: दफ़्तर

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Sound it out

daf The stop is made on the teeth with a bare schwa after it, and the syllable closes on फ़ — a labiodental f marked by its nuqta.

tar Dental त, again on the teeth and unaspirated, a second schwa, and one flick of the tongue tip.

Hear it in a sentence

मैं रोज़ दफ़्तर जाता हूँ।

Maiṁ roz daftar jaataa hooṁ.

I go to the office every day.

Listen: मैं रोज़ दफ़्तर जाता हूँ।

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"Maiṁ roz daftar jaataa hooṁ" needs no postposition on daftar as a destination with jaanaa, and roz ends in a nuqta ज़. So the sentence contains two Persian-derived nuqta letters — a z and an f — in consecutive words.

Where English speakers slip

Reading फ़ as an aspirated p gives "daphtar," and both stops tend to land on the alveolar ridge. Look for the dot, then push the tongue tip forward onto the teeth for the d and the t. The final r is one contact, not a rhotic vowel.