The Urdu Alphabet: All the Letters, Names and Sounds

Here is every letter in alphabetical order, with the name Urdu speakers use for it and the sound it usually makes. Letters marked Arabic words write sounds that Urdu pronounces like another letter; they matter for spelling, not for speaking. Capital letters in the Roman spellings follow our transliteration key: T and D are made with the tongue curled back, KH and G at the back of the throat.

Many letters share a basic shape and differ only in their dots. The boat family ب پ ت ٹ ث (b, p, t, T, s) is one shape with different dots; ج چ ح خ (j, ch, h, KH) is another; د ڈ ذ (d, D, z) and ر ڑ ز ژ (r, R, z, zh) are two more. Learn the shape once, then the dots, and the alphabet shrinks to about a dozen shapes.

Most letters join the letter after them and change shape depending on where they sit: at the start, middle or end of a word, or standing alone. Seven letters never join the next letter: ا د ڈ ذ ر ڑ ز ژ و, and after them the word starts afresh. That is why written Urdu words often break into pieces; the gaps are not spaces between words.

Long vowels are written with letters: ا for aa, و for uu, o and au, ی for ii, and ے for e and ai at the end of a word. Short vowels (a, i, u) are small marks above or below a letter, zabar, zer and pesh, and printed Urdu usually leaves them out. Readers know the word. That is why vocabulary and reading grow together, and why our course always gives the Roman Urdu alongside the script.

Learn the sounds first, then the script: the sounds unit trains your ear for the letters English does not have. Then work through the script lessons, a few letters at a time, reading real words from the first day. Finally, read real books: every chapter in our library has the Urdu with a facing English translation, and you can tap any word to see its meaning. See also How to learn Urdu.