Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "मानना" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce मानना in Hindi?

मानना is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /maːn.naː/. It means “to believe / to accept.” MAAN-naa: a long aa, then a doubled dental n, then another long aa. Three long units in a two-beat word.

MAAN-naa: a long aa, then a doubled dental n, then another long aa. Three long units in a two-beat word.

मानना /maːn.naː/

maannaa

This is one of the longest-feeling two-syllable verbs in the course: a long vowel, an extended nasal closure, and another long vowel. Rushing the n is what makes it collapse into something a listener would parse as a different form.

Listen: मानना

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Sound it out

maa m plus a long open आ, fully held.

nn The geminate again — tongue against the upper teeth for an extended closure. Without it the word would sound like maanaa, a different form.

aa The infinitive vowel; keep it as long as the first aa so the word does not tail off.

Hear it in a sentence

मैं मानता हूँ कि यह सच है।

Maiṁ maantaa hooṁ ki yeh sach hai.

I believe that it is true.

Listen: मैं मानता हूँ कि यह सच है।

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

"Maiṁ maantaa hooṁ ki yeh sach hai" keeps the geminate in the inflected maantaa and then introduces a subordinate clause with ki. Sach ends in an unaspirated च, so no puff of air should escape at the end of the sentence.

Where English speakers slip

Learners simplify the double n and also often nasalize the preceding vowel instead, giving something like "mãanaa." Hindi wants an oral long vowel followed by a genuinely long oral nasal consonant — the nose comes in during the n, not during the vowel.