Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "जाना" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce जाना in Hindi?

जाना is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /dʒaː.naː/. It means “to go.” JAA-naa, two long aa vowels with a dental n between them and no aspiration on the j.

JAA-naa, two long aa vowels with a dental n between them and no aspiration on the j.

जाना /dʒaː.naː/

jaanaa

An even pair of long-vowelled syllables, which is the standard shape for -aanaa verbs across the language. English rhythm wants to shorten the second vowel; here that vowel is the infinitive marker and has to stay full.

Listen: जाना

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Sound it out

jaa ज is a voiced affricate made slightly further forward than English j, with no breathiness, opening into a long aa.

naa The nasal is made on the teeth and the vowel that follows is as long as the first one — Hindi does not taper off at the end of a word the way English does.

Hear it in a sentence

मैं पार्क जाना चाहता हूँ।

Maiṁ paark jaanaa chaahtaa hooṁ.

I want to go to the park.

Listen: मैं पार्क जाना चाहता हूँ।

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

"Maiṁ paark jaanaa chaahtaa hooṁ" leaves paark without any postposition, which is normal for destinations with jaanaa. The infinitive stays in its -naa form before chaahtaa, exactly as honaa did earlier — that pattern is worth hearing repeatedly.

Where English speakers slip

The main risk is an English j with a slight puff and a reduced final vowel: "JAH-nuh." Both vowels are long आ and the affricate should be dry and forward. Compare it with jaannaa, "to know," which doubles the n — mixing the two is a real and common confusion.