Samohlásky a souhlásky

Every Bengali vowel has two written forms: a full letter, used at the start of a word or on its own, and a vowel sign (কার), used after a consonant.

Do not confuse ও o (as in go, without the glide) with the built-in vowel অ ô (as in British hot): কো ko is not ক kô.

Signs that sit in odd places

Vowel signs attach to the right, left, top or bottom of a consonant - or on both sides. The trickiest for English readers: ি (i) and ে (e) are written before the consonant but pronounced after it. দিন is written "i-d-n" but read din; দেশ is written "e-d-sh" but read desh. ো wraps around the consonant: কো.

Conjunct consonants

When two consonants meet with no vowel between them, they usually merge into a conjunct (যুক্তবর্ণ). Some are easy to take apart; others look like new letters and are best learned as wholes:

• ক্ত kt - রক্ত rokto (blood)
• ক্ষ - read kkh in the middle of a word and kh at the start: ক্ষমা khoma (forgiveness)
• জ্ঞ - read gg or g: জ্ঞান gyan (knowledge)

Tip: spelling and modern pronunciation part ways in places, as they do in English. Learn a word's sound together with its shape - start with the street signs and menu words you meet: চা, ভাত (bhat, rice), মাছ (machh, fish).