02 · CONSONANTS · FREE READING GUIDE
Gujarati consonants
Learn Gujarati consonants in sound families, from the back of the mouth to the lips. Play available recordings and practise the differences within a row.
Try a practice lesson →Choose Listen beside an available recording. Audio plays only when you ask.
Read beyond the English spelling
Study one course group at a time. Keep the native letter visible beside its English label, especially when several letters have similar labels.
- ક — k as in skip, with little puff of air. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words.
- ખ — k with a clear puff of air after release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words.
- ગ — g as in go, with vocal-fold vibration. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words.
34 Gujarati consonants in course groups
The k family
The traditional five-column group: plain, aspirated, voiced, voiced aspirated, then nasal. These sounds use the back of the mouth.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ક | ka | k as in skip, with little puff of air. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ખ | kha | k with a clear puff of air after release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ગ | ga | g as in go, with vocal-fold vibration. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઘ | gha | Voiced g with a breathy release; gh is a single consonant here. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઙ | nga | The nasal at the end of sing. A traditional alphabet letter, rarely written by itself in everyday Gujarati. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The ch family
Five traditional letters near the hard palate. Compare the release and the voicing before the nasal.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ચ | cha | ch as in chair, with little added breath. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| છ | chha | ch with a puff of air; pronunciation can vary by dialect. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| જ | ja | j as in jam. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઝ | jha | Voiced j with a breathy release; some speakers use a more z-like realization. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઞ | nya | A palatal nasal, roughly ny in canyon. Mainly a traditional or joined-letter spelling, as in જ્ઞ. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The curled-tongue family
Five letters with the tongue tip curled back. A dot under the Latin letter marks this position.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ટ | ṭa | Curled-tongue ṭ with little puff. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઠ | ṭha | Curled-tongue ṭ with a puff of air. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ડ | ḍa | Voiced curled-tongue ḍ; it can be a flap between vowels. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઢ | ḍha | Voiced curled-tongue ḍ with a breathy release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ણ | ṇa | A curled-tongue nasal, distinct from ordinary ન in the beginner model. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The dental family
Touch the upper teeth with the tongue for this traditional five-column group.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ત | ta | Dental t with little puff; keep the tongue at the teeth. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| થ | tha | Dental t with a puff, not English th in thin. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| દ | da | Voiced dental d, with the tongue at the upper teeth. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ધ | dha | Voiced dental d with a breathy release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ન | na | Ordinary n, made toward the teeth rather than with the tongue curled back. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The lip family
The traditional p group has five columns. ફ can be ph or f in Gujarati, depending on speaker and word.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| પ | pa | p as in spin, with little puff. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ફ | pha | Traditionally p with a puff. Many speakers use f; ph here is an alphabet aid, not an instruction to reject f. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| બ | ba | b as in boy. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ભ | bha | Voiced b with a breathy release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| મ | ma | m with both lips closed and air passing through the nose. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
Gliding and flowing sounds
Read y, r, l and v. Their positions and movement differ from the stop families.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ય | ya | y as in yes. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ર | ra | A quick tongue-tip tap or trill, rather than a sustained English r. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| લ | la | Ordinary l, with the tongue toward the teeth; compare curled-tongue ળ. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| વ | va | A sound often between English v and w, with variation by context. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
Sh spellings, s, h and ળ
શ and ષ commonly share sh in Gujarati. Parentheses distinguish their spellings. Keep ordinary લ and curled-tongue ળ separate.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| શ | sha (શ) | sh as in ship. Commonly the same sound as ષ; the qualifier identifies this written letter. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ષ | sha (ષ) | Usually the same sh as શ in modern Gujarati. A traditional Sanskrit retroflex reading may occur in recitation. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| સ | sa | s as in sun. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| હ | ha | A breathy h; in words it can affect the neighboring vowel. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ળ | ḷa | Curl the tongue tip back and let air pass around its sides for ḷ. It is not ordinary લ; dialects can vary. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
Recognise a group at a time
- Choose a few written forms and compare their English hints.
- Cover the hints and identify the letters in a different order.
- Practise with matching, mixing, flashcards, or a visual quiz.
Keep one consonant fixed in the vowel-sign chart, then look for it in beginner words.
Prepared by Learn Akshara from our beginner Gujarati curriculum. English spellings are approximate learning aids. Writing-system reference: The Unicode Standard, South Asian Scripts. AI-generated pronunciation is a learning aid, not a guarantee of accuracy. See our audio sources and credits.