Sanskrit for Beginners · शुरुआती संस्कृत
Read your first Devanagari words and introduce yourself in Sanskrit.
Read the letters · Say your name · Practise · Beginner worksheet
Read four syllables · अक्षर और मात्राएँ
The consonant क has a built-in short a. A vowel mark changes it. The sign ् removes that vowel, so क् is just k.
| Independent vowel | With क् | Read it as |
|---|---|---|
| अ | क | ka |
| आ | का | kā |
| इ | कि | ki |
| ई | की | kī |
कि में इ की मात्रा क के पहले दिखती है। पढ़ते समय पहले क् और फिर इ की ध्वनि आती है।
Read five words aloud
| Sanskrit | Roman spelling | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| नमः | namaḥ | अभिवादन | salutation |
| मम | mama | मेरा | my |
| नाम | nāma | नाम | name |
| फलम् | phalam | फल | fruit |
| अस्ति | asti | है | is |
Read नाम as nā-ma. The line over ā marks a long vowel. In फलम्, the final म् closes the word with an m sound.
Say your name · अपना नाम बताइए
मम नाम आशा अस्ति। Mama nāma Āśā asti.
मेरा नाम आशा है। ‘मम’ का अर्थ ‘मेरा’ और ‘अस्ति’ का अर्थ ‘है’ है।
Replace आशा with your name. Say it while looking at the sentence, then say it from memory.
Check your reading and writing
Which syllable has a short i? का / कि / की
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कि · ki.
Match नाम and फलम् to “fruit” and “name”.
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नाम means name. फलम् means fruit.
Put these words in the order used in the model sentence. अस्ति / नाम / मम / आशा
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मम नाम आशा अस्ति।
Write “My name is Ravi” and read it aloud.
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मम नाम रविः अस्ति।
In this practice sentence the words are shown separately, before applying sandhi. रविः replaces आशा.
From vowel signs to sentences
1. Read the vowel marks
Read कु, कू, के, को as ku, kū, ke, ko. In कु and कू the signs sit below the consonant. Use the same marks on प् to read पु, पू, पे, पो.
2. Read a whole word
पुस्तकम् (pustakam, पुस्तक, book) begins with पु. Read the joined स् + त as sta and finish with kam. Try the same method with दीपः (dīpaḥ, दीपक, lamp). The mark ः is visarga.
3. Read a sentence in chunks
मीरा पुस्तकं पठति। मीरा पुस्तक पढ़ती है। Mira reads a book.
मीरा tells you who acts, पुस्तकं what she reads and पठति what she does. Compare the standalone spelling पुस्तकम् with पुस्तकं before पठति.
Beginner worksheet · Read, build and translate
Write your answers in a notebook. Read each word or sentence before opening its answer.
- Write pū and ko in Devanagari.
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पू, को।
- Which word has long ī, दिनम् or दीपः?
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दीपः has the long vowel sign ी. दिनम् has short i.
- Which word means water, जलम् or फलम्?
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जलम् means water. फलम् means fruit.
- Arrange these words to say “Mira reads a book”. पठति / पुस्तकं / मीरा
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मीरा पुस्तकं पठति।
- Replace Mira with Ravi and read the new sentence aloud.
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रविः पुस्तकं पठति। The action stays the same.
- Translate बालिका जलं पिबति। Hint · पिबति means “drinks”.
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लड़की पानी पीती है। The girl drinks water.
Keep practising
Try a two-person conversation · Look up noun forms · Look up verb forms