All lessons › Sound School 4

The Puff of Air · بھ پھ تھ

Aspiration, consonants that ride out on a breath

Some Urdu consonants come with a built-in puff of breath. Hold your palm at your lips: if it feels the wind, you're doing it right.

Practice this lesson free, with audio, quizzes & games →

The phrases

پھلphal: fruitp + puff. NOT an English 'f'!
کھاناkhānā: foodk + puff
ٹھیکṭhīk: fine / okaycurl AND puff, the full combo
پلpal: a moment
پھلphal: fruit
باتbāt: a matter, talk
بھاتbhāt: cooked rice
پھولphūl: flowerpuff, then the vowel
بھائیbhāī: brotherbh, the family puff
کھاناkhānā: food, to eatkh at the front
گھرghar: housegh, voiced and breathy at once
تھالیthālī: metal platedental t plus the puff

Good to know

✨ Hold your palm in front of your mouth. Say “pin”, feel the puff? Now “spin”, no puff. English does both automatically; Urdu makes them separate sounds, written with ھ.
✨ The pair matters: پل pal (a moment) vs پھل phal (fruit). Same word, one puff apart.
✨ Drill: alternate 'spin-pin, spin-pin' with your palm up, then transfer that puff onto k → kh, t → th, ch → chh.
✨ Aspiration is why 'Pakistan' said by a native speaker sounds different from the English version: the P is unaspirated, no puff, while English blasts it.

The Dental Touch · ت د  ·  From the Throat · خ غ ق

Urdu Ustaadh is a free Urdu-learning resource: native audio, daily games, the Nastaliq script, and Pakistani culture. A project of Muneeb Ata Enterprises. Start learning free →