Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "हैं" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce हैं in Hindi?

हैं is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɦɛ̃ː/. It means “are (plural / polite).” Like "hen" without the n consonant — a long nasalized open-mid vowel after a voiced h.

Like "hen" without the n consonant — a long nasalized open-mid vowel after a voiced h.

हैं /ɦɛ̃ː/

haiṁ

The verb is a single heavy syllable and typically unstressed at the end of the clause, where Hindi intonation falls. Its length and nasality still have to be preserved even at low pitch, because they are what distinguish it from singular hai.

Listen: हैं

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

Sound it out

h Voiced ह: the vocal folds vibrate through the breath, unlike English's whispered h.

ai ऐ is a single long open-mid vowel in standard Hindi, near the e of "bed" but longer — not the diphthong of "high."

ṁ Nasality runs through the vowel from beginning to end. This nasal mark is the plural-polite signal, so it is grammar, not ornament.

Hear it in a sentence

वे मेरे दोस्त हैं।

Ve mere dost haiṁ.

They are my friends.

Listen: वे मेरे दोस्त हैं।

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

"Ve mere dost haiṁ" is the minimal pair lesson in miniature: with a singular subject it would be hai, and only the nasalization tells you which. Mere is plural-agreeing too, and dost stays unchanged, so the nasal vowel is doing a lot of work.

Where English speakers slip

Learners either drop the nasality — collapsing haiṁ into hai and losing the plural — or overcorrect by adding an audible -ng or -n. The correct sound has no oral closure at all: lower the soft palate at the start of the vowel and simply keep the vowel going.