Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "कृपया" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce कृपया in Hindi?

कृपया is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kɾɪ.pə.jaː/. It means “please.” kri-puh-YAA — the opening कृ is a k plus a very short ri, not the English word "cree."

kri-puh-YAA — the opening कृ is a k plus a very short ri, not the English word "cree."

कृपया /kɾɪ.pə.jaː/

kripayaa

Light, light, heavy: the two opening syllables have short vowels and the final one has a long aa, which draws whatever accent there is. Do not let English politeness intonation push a rise onto the first syllable the way "PLEASE" would.

Listen: कृपया

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Sound it out

kri The vowel sign ऋ is historically a syllabic r; in modern Hindi it is realised as a tapped r plus a short i. One flick of the tongue tip on the ridge, then straight on.

pa Unaspirated p — hold your palm in front of your mouth and feel nothing. English initial p always puffs, and that puff is a different Hindi letter.

yaa य as a full glide into a long aa. This is the longest, most prominent part of the word.

Hear it in a sentence

कृपया एक कॉफ़ी दीजिए।

Kripayaa ek kofee deejiye.

A coffee, please.

Listen: कृपया एक कॉफ़ी दीजिए।

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"Kripayaa ek kofee deejiye" places the politeness word first and the polite imperative deejiye last, so courtesy is marked twice, at both ends of the request. Notice deejiye also has a long ee — the imperative ending is where much of the politeness lives.

Where English speakers slip

Two errors compound here. The र in कृ gets read as an English retroflex-ish r with the tongue bunched, when it should be a single quick tap against the alveolar ridge, like the middle of American "butter." And the p gets aspirated, which nudges it toward फ. Tap the r, keep the p dry, and the word settles.