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REET Level 1 & 2 · Hindi

Varn Vichar and Pronunciation

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Varn vichar is the foundation of Hindi grammar — vowels, consonants, their places of articulation, and the rules of varn-vichchhed all start here. Questions on varn-vichchhed and dictionary order from this topic show up in nearly every paper, across both REET Language I and Language II.

  • 4 questions in REET 2024
  • Class 6-8 depth
  • 9 min read
Verified 17 September 2026

How REET asks this topic

REET 2024's four questions split into two patterns. Two questions were on varn-vichchhed — breaking a word (such as 'वृक्ष', 'मनोवृत्ति') into its correct letters, which tested whether you treat 'ऋ' as an independent vowel. Two questions were on dictionary order (वर्णानुक्रम) — which of the given words would come first or last in a dictionary, where understanding the order between words with ordinary vowel signs and words with conjuncts (like 'प्र') was essential. In short, this topic rewards rule-based understanding far more than memorisation.

Varn, vowels and consonants

The smallest, indivisible sound produced by the mouth is called a varn (a phoneme/letter). In the Devanagari script, varn are grouped into two main categories — vowels (स्वर) and consonants (व्यंजन).

Vowels are sounds produced independently from the throat, without needing the support of any other letter. Hindi has 11 vowels — अ, आ, इ, ई, उ, ऊ, ऋ, ए, ऐ, ओ, औ. Based on how long they take to pronounce, they're divided into three groups: short vowels (ह्रस्व स्वर: अ, इ, उ, ऋ — taking one मात्रा of time), long vowels (दीर्घ स्वर: आ, ई, ऊ, ए, ऐ, ओ, औ — taking two मात्रा of time), and प्लुत vowels (taking more than three मात्रा of time, as when calling out to someone from far away — 'राऽऽऽम'). By formation, अ, आ, इ, ई, उ, ऊ, ऋ are called basic (मूल) vowels, and ए, ऐ, ओ, औ are called compound (संयुक्त) vowels, formed by combining two basic vowels. अं (anusvar) and अः (visarg) are called अयोगवाह — sounds that travel along with a vowel.

Consonants are sounds that need a vowel's support to be pronounced — every consonant is understood to carry an inherent 'अ' (so 'क' is actually क् + अ). Hindi has 33 basic consonants (from क to ह), 2 द्विगुण consonants (ड़, ढ़), and 4 conjunct consonants (क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, श्र — formed by combining two consonants).

Anusvar (अं) and anunasik are very commonly confused — anusvar is a pure nasal consonant sound shown by a dot (ं) after a vowel (as in 'गंगा'), while anunasik is a vowel pronounced through the nose and shown by a chandrabindu (ँ) (as in 'चाँद', 'हँसी'). Both involve the nose, but anusvar behaves like a consonant while anunasik behaves like a pure vowel — this distinction is useful in REET's correct-spelling questions.

Consonants classified by place of articulation

Place of articulationConsonantsExample word
Guttural / कंठ्य (from the throat)क, ख, ग, घ, ङकमल
Palatal / तालव्य (from the palate)च, छ, ज, झ, ञचरण
Retroflex / मूर्धन्य (from the roof of the mouth)ट, ठ, ड, ढ, णटमाटर
Dental / दंत्य (from the teeth)त, थ, द, ध, नतालाब
Labial / ओष्ठ्य (from the lips)प, फ, ब, भ, मपानी
Semi-vowel / अंतःस्थय, र, ल, वयमुना
Sibilant / ऊष्म (air with friction)श, ष, स, हशरद

Stop consonants (स्पर्श व्यंजन) fall into 5 classes (क-वर्ग to प-वर्ग); य-र-ल-व are called अंतःस्थ and श-ष-स-ह are called ऊष्म consonants.

Rules for varn-vichchhed

Breaking a word down into its underlying letters (vowels + consonants) is called varn-vichchhed. Rule: convert the vowel sign (मात्रा) attached to each consonant into its full independent vowel form (so 'कि' = क् + इ, 'पू' = प् + ऊ). Add the inherent 'अ' to any consonant that has no vowel sign. Split conjuncts (like क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, श्र) into their two component consonants plus whatever vowel is attached at the end — for example, 'क्षमा' = क् + ष् + अ + म् + आ.

The most common mistake involves 'ऋ' — it is an independent vowel, so splitting it as 'र् + इ' is wrong. For example, the correct varn-vichchhed of 'वृक्ष' is व् + ऋ + क् + ष् + अ (not व् + र् + इ + क् + ष् + अ), and in 'मनोवृत्ति', 'वृ' should always be written as व् + ऋ, never व् + र्.

How dictionary order (वर्णानुक्रम) is decided

Basic rule
Words are compared left to right, letter by letter; the first point of difference decides the order.
Vowel-sign order
Words are ordered following the sequence: no sign (अ) → आ → इ → ई → उ → ऊ → ऋ → ए → ऐ → ओ → औ.
Where conjuncts fall
A conjunct like 'प्र' (प् + र) comes after that letter's ordinary vowel-sign forms (प, पा, पि, पी...).
Worked example
पश्चिम (प) → पृथ्वी (पृ) → प्रकृति (प्रक) → प्रयोजन (प्रय) — this exact order was asked in REET 2024.

How to teach children

Activity

Have children stand facing the alphabet chart and, as they say each letter, feel where in the mouth the sound is coming from (throat, palate, teeth, lips) — this makes the place of articulation stick naturally.

Teaching materials

A cross-section diagram of the mouth showing places of articulation, and a colour-coded vowel-consonant chart, are very effective aids for Class 1-5.

Common misconception

Children often mistake 'ऋ' for a vowel sign attached to 'र', and forget to count both letters of a conjunct (क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ) — both are mistakes worth repeatedly clarifying.

Assessment

Have children do varn-vichchhed for 5 simple words and arrange 4-5 words in dictionary order, checking both orally and in writing.

Memory trick / exam tip

Whenever you see the vowel sign for 'ऋ' (ृ) in a varn-vichchhed question, always write it as the independent vowel 'ऋ', never as 'र्' — this is REET's most common trap, and almost every time, one option is built exactly on this mistake.

Questions asked in REET 2024 (solved)

निम्नलिखित गद्यांश को पढ़कर प्रश्न संख्या 77 से 86 तक के उत्तर दीजिए । भारतीय मन संपूर्ण प्रकृति और नदियों का भी मातृ स्वरूप में दर्शन करता है । गंगा को हम माता कहते हैं, तुलसी को हमने माता माना, अश्वत्थ वृक्ष की हमने पूजा की और इन सबके माध्यम से समाज के मन में प्रकृति के प्रति एक पूज्य भाव उत्पन्न किया । हम तो कबूतरों, चिड़ियों को दाना चुगाते हैं, हम तो चींटियों तक को आटा डालते हैं क्योंकि इन सबके अस्तित्व का कोई प्रयोजन है । इस विश्व के प्रत्येक पेड़-पौधे, जीव-जंतु का अपना प्रयोजन है । इस प्रयोजन को जानकर सारे विश्व की रचना में उसका क्या स्थान है, इसको पहचानकर उसको बनाए रखें, तभी समन्वय ठीक से बैठेगा । इसी को हमारे यहाँ धर्म कहा है । उसको पहचानकर, उसके नियमों को जानकर तदनुसार यदि हम अपनी सारी रचना और विकास-पथ का उपयोग करेंगे तो प्रकृति के साथ शायद हमारा सुसंगत विकास हो सकेगा । हमारी प्राचीन काल से ही यह अवधारणा रही है कि प्रकृति के साथ मिलकर चलो और इसलिए प्रकृति के प्रति पूज्यभाव हमने उत्पन्न किया । पृथ्वी को हमने माता कहा है । धरती धारण करती है इसीलिए उसे माता कहा । वास्तव में जिस धरा और प्रकृति के सहारे संपूर्ण मानव जाति का अस्तित्व निर्भर है, वही आज संकटग्रस्त हो गई है । पश्चिम की उपभोगवादी दृष्टि से प्रकृति के अमर्यादित उपभोग का विचार विकसित हुआ है । हमारी प्रथा संयमित उपभोग की है । हमारे वर्तमान के लिए भी यही विकास-पथ श्रेष्ठ है और यही शेष संसार को नष्ट होने के मार्ग से बचाने वाला मार्गदर्शक विकास-पथ हो सकता है ।

Question 77

In the word 'वृक्ष' (vriksh/tree), the correct order of sounds (letters) is-

  1. Aव् + अ + र + क् + च् + अ
  2. Bव् + र् + इ + क् + ष् + अ
  3. Cव् + ऋ + इ + क् + ष् + अ
  4. Dव् + ऋ + क् + ष् + अ

Explanation

‘वृक्ष’ में ‘वृ’ = व् + ऋ, और ‘क्ष’ संयुक्त व्यंजन = क् + ष् + अ है। अतः सही वर्ण-क्रम व् + ऋ + क् + ष् + अ है। ‘ऋ’ स्वतंत्र स्वर है, इसे र् + इ के रूप में नहीं तोड़ा जाता।

Question 82

Among the following words, which word will come last in a dictionary?

  1. Aप्रकृति
  2. Bप्रयोजन
  3. Cपश्चिम
  4. Dपृथ्वी

Explanation

शब्दकोश में पहले मात्रा-क्रम (अ, आ, इ … ऋ …) आता है और संयुक्ताक्षर (जैसे प्र) बाद में आते हैं। अतः क्रम होगा — पश्चिम (प), पृथ्वी (पृ), प्रकृति (प्रक), प्रयोजन (प्रय)। ‘प्र’ के बाद ‘क’ पहले और ‘य’ बाद में आता है, इसलिए सबसे बाद में ‘प्रयोजन’ आएगा।

निर्देश : निम्नलिखित गद्यांश के आधार पर प्रश्न संख्या 81 से 90 तक उत्तर दीजिए । ‘संस्कृति’ शब्द का संबंध संस्कार से है जिसका अर्थ है संशोधन करना, उत्तम बनाना, परिष्कार करना । अंग्रेजी शब्द ‘कल्चर’ में वही धातु है जो ‘एग्रीकल्चर’ में है । इसका भी अर्थ ‘पैदा करना, सुधारना’ है । संस्कारों से किसी व्यक्ति अथवा जाति का विकास गतिपूर्वक होता है । जातीय संस्कारों को ही संस्कृति कहते हैं । संस्कृति एक समूहवाचक शब्द है । जलवायु के अनुकूल रहन-सहन की विधियाँ और विचार-परंपराएँ जाति के लोगों में दृढ़मूल हो जाने से जाति के संस्कार बन जाते हैं । इनको प्रत्येक व्यक्ति अपनी निजी प्रकृति के अनुकूल न्यूनाधिक मात्रा में पैतृक संपत्ति के रूप में प्राप्त करता है । ये संस्कार व्यक्ति के घरेलू जीवन तथा सामाजिक जीवन में परिलक्षित होते हैं । मनुष्य अकेला रहकर भी इनसे छुटकारा नहीं पा सकता । संस्कृति का बाह्य पक्ष भी होता है और आंतरिक भी । उसका बाह्य पक्ष आंतरिक का प्रतिबिम्ब नहीं तो उससे संबंधित अवश्य रहता है । हमारे बाह्य आचार, हमारे विचारों और मनोवृत्तियों के परिचायक होते हैं । संस्कृति एक देश-विशेष की उपज होती है, उसका संबंध देश के भौतिक वातावरण और उसके पालित, पोषित एवं परिवर्द्धित विचारों से होता है । भाषा संस्कृति का अंग है, फिर भी वह हमारी जातीय मनोवृत्ति की परिचायिका होती है ।

Question 85

In terms of dictionary order, which word will come last?

  1. Aपरिलक्षित
  2. Bप्रतिबिम्ब
  3. Cप्रकृति
  4. Dपक्ष

Explanation

शब्दकोश में पहले ‘प’ के बाद आने वाले स्वर/मात्रा का क्रम देखा जाता है और संयुक्ताक्षर ‘प्र’ (प् + र) बाद में आता है। क्रम होगा— पक्ष, परिलक्षित, प्रकृति, प्रतिबिम्ब। ‘प्रक’ और ‘प्रत’ में क के बाद त आता है, इसलिए ‘प्रतिबिम्ब’ अंत में आएगा।

Question 90

In which option is the phonetic (वर्ण-विच्छेद) breakdown of the word incorrect?

  1. Aभौतिक = भ् औ त् इ क् अ
  2. Bवातावरण = व् आ त् आ व् अ र् अ ण् अ
  3. Cपरिचायक = प् अ र् इ च् आ य् अ क् अ
  4. Dमनोवृत्ति = म् अ न् ओ व् र् त् त् इ

Explanation

‘मनोवृत्ति’ में ‘वृ’ = व् + ऋ है, अतः सही वर्ण-विच्छेद होगा— म् अ न् ओ व् ऋ त् त् इ। विकल्प (D) में ‘ऋ’ स्वर की जगह ‘र्’ व्यंजन लिख दिया गया है, इसलिए वर्णों का क्रम असंगत है। शेष तीनों विच्छेद सही हैं।

Practice questions

Question 1

Which are the hrasva (short) vowels in Hindi?

  1. Aअ, इ, उ, ऋ
  2. Bआ, ई, ऊ, ए
  3. Cअ, आ, इ, ई
  4. Dए, ऐ, ओ, औ

Explanation

Vowels that take the least time to pronounce (one मात्रा) are called short vowels — अ, इ, उ, ऋ. All the rest fall in the long (दीर्घ, two मात्रा) category.

Question 2

The correct varn-vichchhed (letter decomposition) of the word 'ज्ञान' is

  1. Aज् + ञ् + आ + न् + अ
  2. Bज् + ञ् + आ + न
  3. Cज्ञ + आ + न्
  4. Dज् + अ + ञ् + आ + न् + अ

Explanation

'ज्ञ' is a conjunct consonant formed from ज् + ञ्. The full word 'ज्ञान' splits into ज् + ञ् + आ + न् + अ. A vowel must be added at the end of every consonant, so option B is incomplete.

Question 3

The place of articulation (uchcharan sthan) of the consonants 'च, छ, ज, झ, ञ' is

  1. Aकंठ्य
  2. Bतालव्य
  3. Cमूर्धन्य
  4. Dदंत्य

Explanation

च, छ, ज, झ, ञ are pronounced with the tongue touching the palate, so they're called palatal consonants. Guttural covers the क-वर्ग, retroflex the ट-वर्ग, and dental the त-वर्ग.

Question 4

Which of the following words will come first in a dictionary?

  1. Aकमल
  2. Bकिरण
  3. Cकद
  4. Dकर्म

Explanation

Dictionary order compares words by the vowel sequence अ, आ, इ… 'कद' has an unmarked 'क' (क+द), while the other words either add an extra consonant after 'अ' (कर्म) or carry a different vowel sign (किरण has इ); 'कद' is the shortest and so comes first.

Question 5

The number of vowel sounds (swar) in the word 'स्वतंत्र' is

  1. A1
  2. B2
  3. C3
  4. D4

Explanation

The varn-vichchhed of 'स्वतंत्र' is स् + व + अ + त् + अं + त् + र् + अ. This gives three vowel sounds — the inherent 'अ' in 'व', the anusvar-carrying 'अं' on 'त', and the inherent 'अ' on the final 'र्'. So the answer is 3, not 2.

Question 6

Among the words 'विद्यालय', 'विद्या' and 'विद्यार्थी', which word will come right before it in dictionary order?

  1. Aविद्या
  2. Bविद्यार्थी
  3. Cदोनों एक साथ
  4. Dकोई नहीं, विद्यालय पहले आएगा

Explanation

Dictionary comparison happens letter by letter, and the shorter word (with nothing extra following it) comes first — so 'विद्या' comes before both 'विद्यालय' and 'विद्यार्थी', since nothing follows 'विद्या' while the other two add further letters.

Question 7

What type of consonant is 'क्ष'?

  1. Aमूल व्यंजन
  2. Bद्विगुण व्यंजन
  3. Cसंयुक्त व्यंजन
  4. Dअंतःस्थ व्यंजन

Explanation

'क्ष' is formed by combining two consonants (क् + ष्), so it's called a conjunct consonant. क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, श्र are the four conjunct consonants; ड़ and ढ़ are the द्विगुण consonants.

Question 8

Which of the following words begins with a consonant articulated at the palate (talu)?

  1. Aतालाब
  2. Bजल
  3. Cकमल
  4. Dपवन

Explanation

'जल' begins with 'ज', a palatal consonant. 'तालाब' begins with the dental 'त', 'कमल' with the guttural 'क', and 'पवन' with the labial 'प'.

Question 9

The most suitable way for a teacher to make the place of articulation (uchcharan sthan) easy for children to understand in class is

  1. Aकेवल पाठ्यपुस्तक पढ़वाना
  2. Bमुख के कट-सेक्शन चित्र के साथ ध्वनि बुलवाकर अनुभव कराना
  3. Cबिना उदाहरण के परिभाषा रटवाना
  4. Dकेवल लिखित गृहकार्य देना

Explanation

An abstract topic like place of articulation sticks with children only when they say the sound themselves and feel which part of the mouth it comes from, paired with a visual aid. Rote reading or memorising a definition doesn't build real understanding.

Question 10

What are 'utkshipt/dwigun vyanjan' (flapped consonants) called?

  1. Aक्ष, त्र
  2. Bड़, ढ़
  3. Cय, र, ल, व
  4. Dश, ष, स, ह

Explanation

'ड़' and 'ढ़' are called द्विगुण (flapped) consonants — formed by flicking the tongue while pronouncing 'ड' and 'ढ'. क्ष and त्र are conjunct consonants, and य-र-ल-व are semi-vowels.

Frequently asked questions

How many vowels and consonants does Hindi have in total?+

Hindi has 11 vowels and 33 basic consonants. Beyond these, 2 द्विगुण consonants (ड़, ढ़) and 4 conjunct consonants (क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, श्र) are also part of the alphabet.

How many varn vichar questions come in REET?+

REET 2024 carried 4 questions from this topic, mainly on varn-vichchhed and dictionary order. It's normal for 1-3 questions to come from this area in Language I/II every year.

How should 'ऋ' be written in varn-vichchhed?+

'ऋ' is an independent vowel, so always write it as 'ऋ' — splitting it as 'र् + इ' is considered incorrect.

What's the difference between stop, semi-vowel and sibilant consonants?+

Stop consonants (क-वर्ग to प-वर्ग) involve the tongue making full contact with some part of the mouth; semi-vowels (य, र, ल, व) involve only partial contact; sibilants (श, ष, स, ह) release air with friction.

What's the difference between anusvar and anunasik?+

Anusvar (ं) is a nasal consonant sound (as in गंगा), while anunasik (ँ) is the nasal pronunciation of a pure vowel (as in चाँद, हँसी). The dot versus the chandrabindu marks the spelling difference between them.

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Word Origins: Tatsam, Tadbhav, Deshaj, Videshaj

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  • 17 September 2026 — English page published — mirrors the fact-checked Hindi page, independently bilingual-accuracy checked