Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "पति" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce पति in Hindi?

पति is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pə.t̪ɪ/. It means “husband.” PUH-ti — two very short vowels, an unaspirated p, and a dental t. Nothing long anywhere.

PUH-ti — two very short vowels, an unaspirated p, and a dental t. Nothing long anywhere.

पति /pə.t̪ɪ/

pati

With two short vowels in open syllables, this is one of the lightest nouns in the course — it has no heavy syllable at all. English speakers instinctively stretch the first vowel, which is the main thing to guard against.

Listen: पति

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Sound it out

pa प with no burst of air and a bare schwa; the syllable is over almost immediately.

ti Dental त on the upper teeth with a short lax इ. Both consonants are ones English would aspirate here, and neither may be.

Hear it in a sentence

उनके पति डॉक्टर हैं।

Unke pati ḍokṭar haiṁ.

Her husband is a doctor.

Listen: उनके पति डॉक्टर हैं।

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"Unke pati ḍokṭar haiṁ" uses the plural unke and haiṁ as honorifics for a husband, so the sentence is grammatically plural while referring to one person. Ḍokṭar keeps its retroflex ड and ट even as an English loan.

Where English speakers slip

Aspiration on both stops is the standard error, producing something like "puh-TEE" with breath on the t and a lengthened final vowel. Keep both consonants completely dry, and keep the final इ short — a long ee would change the word's shape entirely.