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Hindi · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "शायद" in Hindi?
SHAA-yud — a long aa at the front, a y glide, a schwa, and a dental d at the end.
shaayad
Heavy first, light second — the reverse of the more common Hindi pattern, and worth noticing because English speakers who expect a final beat will lengthen the schwa. The long aa should clearly outlast everything after it.
Listen: शायद
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Hear it in a sentence
शायद आप सही हैं।
Shaayad aap sahee haiṁ.
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Listen: शायद आप सही हैं।
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"Shaayad aap sahee haiṁ" puts the modal adverb at the head of the clause, where it scopes over the whole statement. Sahee just after it has its own long ee, so the sentence runs a long aa, then a long aa in aap, then a long ee — three heavy vowels before the nasal ending.
Where English speakers slip
The final d is the giveaway: English speakers make it alveolar and devoice it, giving something like "shy-it." It should be dental and voiced. The first vowel also tends to be shortened, and the schwa in the second syllable tends to be over-pronounced as "yad" with a full a.