The Gujarati Consonant Chart and How to Say Each Sound

Gujarati consonants are arranged in a logical chart shared with other Indian scripts. Learning them by row makes the whole system easier to remember.

The five rows

Each row shares a place of articulation. Within each row, the order is: plain, aspirated (with a puff of breath), voiced, voiced aspirated, and nasal.

Row	Letters	Sounds
Velar (throat)	ક ખ ગ ઘ ઙ	ka, kha, ga, gha, nga
Palatal (palate)	ચ છ જ ઝ ઞ	cha, chha, ja, jha, nya
Retroflex (tongue curled)	ટ ઠ ડ ઢ ણ	ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa
Dental (tongue on teeth)	ત થ દ ધ ન	ta, tha, da, dha, na
Labial (lips)	પ ફ બ ભ મ	pa, pha, ba, bha, ma

The remaining consonants

ય (ya), ર (ra), લ (la), વ (va), શ (sha), ષ (ssha), સ (sa), હ (ha), ળ (retroflex la)

The letter ળ is distinctive: it's a retroflex l, and appears in many common words, such as કાળો (kaalo, black), ઘડિયાળ (ghadiyaal, clock) and શાળા (shaalaa, school).

Aspiration matters

Aspirated consonants carry a puff of air. Hold your hand in front of your mouth: ક (ka) has little air, ખ (kha) has a clear puff. English speakers often hear only one sound, but Gujarati distinguishes them. Compare કાન (kaan, ear) and ખાન (khaan, a surname and title).

Retroflex versus dental

Retroflex letters (ટ ઠ ડ ઢ ણ) are made with the tongue tip curled back. Dental letters (ત થ દ ધ ન) are made with the tongue touching the teeth. English t and d fall in between. Try ટ and ત side by side: ટપાલ (tapaal, post) versus તપાસ (tapaas, investigation). The first uses a curled-back t, the second a t on the teeth.

The three sibilants

શ, ષ and સ are three letters for sh and s sounds. In Gujarati, શ is sh, સ is s, and ષ is also sh and appears mainly in Sanskrit-derived words such as ષટ્કોણ (hexagon). Everyday words use શ and સ: શાળા (school), સારું (good).

The letters ક્ષ and જ્ઞ

Two combinations are often taught as extra letters:

• ક્ષ (ksh, or chh in some words): ક્ષમા (forgiveness)
• જ્ઞ (gn or gy): જ્ઞાન (knowledge)

The sound of વ

The letter વ can sound like v or w. In Gujarati it's usually a soft sound between the two: વાત (vaat, talk), વર્ષ (varsh, year).

Practice words

• કમળ (kamal, lotus)
• ઘડિયાળ (ghadiyaal, clock)
• છોકરો (chhokro, boy)
• ઝાડ (jhaad, tree)
• ટપાલ (tapaal, post)
• ફૂલ (phool, flower)
• ભાઈ (bhaai, brother)

Learning strategy

1. Learn one row a day.
2. Say each letter with the vowel a, and note the aspirated pairs.
3. Copy each letter by hand.
4. Practise minimal pairs.

Dictionary note

Search in Gujarati script when you can, since sounds like શ/સ and ટ/ત aren't always distinguishable in transliteration.

Search Gujarati words in script with English Gujarati Dictionary →