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Hindi · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "माफ़ कीजिए" in Hindi?
maaf KEE-ji-yay — the f is a genuine f (that dot under फ़ matters), and the ee in keejiye is long.
maaf keejiye
Across the two words, the heaviest syllable is keeeee's long vowel, and that is where the phrase peaks; maaf carries its own long aa but functions as the leading, lower-pitched half. Neither word is hammered — Hindi apology is carried by the verb ending, not by loudness.
Listen: माफ़ कीजिए
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
माफ़ कीजिए, मैंने सुना नहीं।
Maaf keejiye, maiṁne sunaa naheeṁ.
Sorry, I didn't hear you.
Listen: माफ़ कीजिए, मैंने सुना नहीं।
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"Maaf keejiye, maiṁne sunaa naheeṁ" is a good showcase for the ergative marker -ne on maiṁne, which appears because sunaa is a past transitive. Pronunciation-wise, maiṁne keeps its nasal vowel and simply adds -ne, so you get a nasalized vowel followed by a dental n.
Where English speakers slip
The trap is the nuqta. Learners who have memorised फ = ph read माफ़ as "maaph" with an aspirated p, which sounds archaic or simply wrong in this Persian-derived word. Equally, keejiye often comes out as a two-syllable "key-jay"; it has three syllables and a short middle vowel that must survive.