Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "समझना" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce समझना in Hindi?

समझना is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sə.mədʒʱ.naː/. It means “to understand.” suh-MUJH-naa — three beats, and the jh is a single breathy-voiced sound with a warm sigh on its release.

suh-MUJH-naa — three beats, and the jh is a single breathy-voiced sound with a warm sigh on its release.

समझना /sə.mədʒʱ.naː/

samajhnaa

Two light schwa syllables lead into the heavy final one, so the word climbs toward -naa; the breathy release on झ also stretches the middle, giving the word an unusually soft centre. Unlike most verbs here, this one keeps three beats rather than two.

Listen: समझना

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Sound it out

sa An s and an inherent schwa, over in an instant; this syllable barely registers before the stressed one.

majh m, another schwa, and झ — voiced and aspirated simultaneously, so the vocal folds keep buzzing while breath rushes out.

naa Teeth-contact n and the long infinitive vowel, arriving right on the tail of that breathy release.

Hear it in a sentence

मैं यह शब्द नहीं समझता।

Maiṁ yeh shabd naheeṁ samajhtaa.

I don't understand this word.

Listen: मैं यह शब्द नहीं समझता।

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

"Maiṁ yeh shabd naheeṁ samajhtaa" drops the copula entirely, which is normal for a negated habitual, and shabd ends in a cluster with a deleted final schwa. The breathy jh in samajhtaa lands immediately before a dental t, a demanding junction to keep clean.

Where English speakers slip

Almost everyone flattens झ to an English j, giving "suh-MUJ-naa." Breathy voice is the missing ingredient and English offers no model for it. Try voicing a sigh: keep the vocal folds vibrating while pushing extra air out, then start that airflow at the moment the j releases.