Vowel Signs in Marathi: How क Becomes का, कि and कु

In Devanagari, each consonant carries an inherent a sound, so क reads ka. To change the vowel, you add a vowel sign, called a मात्रा (mātrā).

The full set for क

Vowel	Sign	Result	Sound
अ	(none)	क	ka
आ	ा	का	kā
इ	ि	कि	ki
ई	ी	की	kī
उ	ु	कु	ku
ऊ	ू	कू	kū
ए	े	के	ke
ऐ	ै	कै	kai
ओ	ो	को	ko
औ	ौ	कौ	kau

The same signs attach to every consonant. For म: मा, मि, मी, मु, मू, मे, मै, मो, मौ.

Where the signs go

• ा, ी go after the consonant.
• ि goes before the consonant (but is pronounced after it): कि.
• ु, ू go below.
• े, ै go above.
• ो, ौ wrap the consonant with an ा and marks above.

Reading words

• पाणी (pāṇī, water): पा + णी
• मित्र (mitra, friend): मि + त्र
• दूध (dūdh, milk): दू + ध
• केळे (keḷe, banana): के + ळे
• मोठा (moṭhā, big): मो + ठा

Practice

1. घर (ghar, house)
2. पुस्तक (pustak, book)
3. शाळा (śāḷā, school)
4. आई (āī, mother)

Tips

1. Learn the signs on क and apply to others.
2. Write syllable tables for a few consonants.
3. Use the dictionary to check spellings.

Look up any word with English Marathi Dictionary →