Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "घंटा" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce घंटा in Hindi?

घंटा is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɡʱəɳ.ʈaː/. It means “hour.” GHUN-ṭaa — a breathy-voiced g at the front and two retroflex consonants in the middle, tongue curled back.

GHUN-ṭaa — a breathy-voiced g at the front and two retroflex consonants in the middle, tongue curled back.

घंटा /ɡʱəɳ.ʈaː/

ghaṇṭaa

The retroflex pair in the middle takes real time to execute, so the word runs slower than its beat count suggests. Effort is concentrated at the front while the long vowel waits at the back.

Listen: घंटा

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Sound it out

gh घ asks for voicing and breath at once: close the back of the tongue against the soft palate with the voice already on, then let a warm sigh out as you release.

ṇ ण is the retroflex nasal — tongue tip curled up and back, air through the nose. English has nothing at this place of articulation.

ṭaa ट keeps the tongue in that curled-back position for a voiceless stop, released without aspiration into a long aa.

Hear it in a sentence

इस काम में एक घंटा लगेगा।

Is kaam meṁ ek ghaṇṭaa lagegaa.

This work will take an hour.

Listen: इस काम में एक घंटा लगेगा।

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

"Is kaam meṁ ek ghaṇṭaa lagegaa" uses lagegaa, the masculine future of lagnaa, meaning the work "will take" an hour. Ghaṇṭaa is masculine, which is what licenses that -egaa ending on the verb.

Where English speakers slip

Three substitutions are standard: a plain g for the breathy घ, an alveolar n for ण, and an alveolar t for ट. That leaves "GUN-ta," which shares almost nothing with the Hindi word. Build it backwards — retroflex pair first, then add the breathy onset.