Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "देर" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce देर in Hindi?

देर is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /d̪eːɾ/. It means “late / delay.” dayr — dental d, a flat long e, and one quick tap; not the English word "dare."

dayr — dental d, a flat long e, and one quick tap; not the English word "dare."

देर /d̪eːɾ/

der

All the length belongs to the vowel and the tap contributes almost nothing — precisely the opposite of what an English rhotic does to the same syllable shape. Getting that proportion right is the whole rhythmic task.

Listen: देर

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Sound it out

d Voiced dental द made on the upper teeth, released with no puff.

e Long ए held motionless, without the closing glide English gives "day."

r A single flick of the tongue tip. Anything longer colours the vowel and makes the word sound like English "dare."

Hear it in a sentence

मैं देर से पहुँचा।

Maiṁ der se pahuṁchaa.

I arrived late.

Listen: मैं देर से पहुँचा।

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"Maiṁ der se pahuṁchaa" uses der se as an adverbial phrase and pahuṁchaa as a masculine perfective, and pahuṁchaa contains a nasalized vowel followed by an unaspirated च. The sentence therefore has one dental, one nasal vowel and one palatal affricate to manage.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers say "dare" with an alveolar d and a long r-coloured vowel, which erases both the dental place and the pure vowel. Put the tongue tip on the teeth, hold the vowel steady, and add a single brief contact at the end rather than a sustained r.