Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "इंसान" in Hindi?

in-SAAN — a short i, then a long aa, with dental n's at both ends.

इंसान /ɪn.saːn/

insaan

English speakers who front-stress this produce "IN-san," which flattens the long vowel and inverts the pattern. The weight belongs decisively at the back.

Listen: इंसान

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Sound it out

in A short lax इ closed by a dental न, tongue tip on the upper teeth.

saan s, a long open आ, and a second dental n. The vowel contrast between the two syllables — short then long — is the word's rhythm.

Hear it in a sentence

वह एक अच्छा इंसान है।

Voh ek achchhaa insaan hai.

He is a good person.

Listen: वह एक अच्छा इंसान है।

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"Voh ek achchhaa insaan hai" makes achchhaa masculine to agree with insaan, which is grammatically masculine regardless of who it refers to. Achchhaa's geminated च्च with its aspirated release is the sentence's hardest sound.

Where English speakers slip

Both n's come out alveolar for English speakers, and the second vowel gets shortened. Push the tongue tip forward to the teeth for each nasal and let the aa run long. The initial vowel also tends to get a hard glottal onset that Hindi does not use.