Pronunciation Challenges for Hindi Speakers Learning English

The "th" sounds

English has two th sounds that Hindi doesn't:

• think, thank, three (unvoiced, with the tongue between the teeth)
• this, that, the (voiced)

Many speakers replace them with थ or द. To practise, place your tongue lightly between your teeth.

T and D

In English, t and d are made with the tongue at the ridge behind the upper teeth. Hindi has two sets:

• त, द — tongue touches the teeth (dental)
• ट, ड — tongue curled back (retroflex)

Hindi speakers usually hear English t and d as ट and ड, which is why words like table and doctor are written टेबल and डॉक्टर in Devanagari. This is normal, and understandable in English.

Consonant clusters

Hindi words rarely begin with two consonants, so speakers often add a vowel before English clusters:

• school → iskool
• station → istation
• speak → ispeak

Practise saying s followed directly by the next consonant.

Silent letters

English spelling often includes letters you don't pronounce:

Word	Silent letter
knife	k
write	w
hour	h
island	s
psychology	p
debt	b

Stress

English stresses one syllable in each word: PHOtograph, phoTOgrapher, photoGRAPHic. Listening to native speakers helps you catch it.

Practice ideas

1. Record yourself and compare with a native speaker.
2. Practise minimal pairs like very / wary.
3. Use the dictionary to check example sentences for new words.
4. Read aloud for ten minutes daily.

Look up any word with English Hindi Dictionary →