Vowels in Urdu - A Complete List
Learn all Urdu vowels (اردو حروفِ علّت) and diacritical marks (اعراب) with pronunciation and examples. Urdu uses both standalone vowel letters and special marks placed above or below consonants to represent vowel sounds.
Vowel Letters (حروفِ علّت) in Urdu
Diacritical Marks (اعراب) in Urdu
Vowel Sounds with Examples
About Vowels in Urdu
The Urdu vowel system is fundamentally different from English. While English has dedicated vowel letters (A, E, I, O, U), Urdu uses a combination of three vowel letters called حروفِ علّت (Huroof-e-Illat) — Alif (ا), Wao (و), and Yay (ی/ے) — along with diacritical marks (اعراب) placed above or below consonant letters. These marks, known as Zabar (زَبر), Zer (زِیر), and Pesh (پِیش), indicate short vowel sounds, while the vowel letters indicate long vowel sounds.
In everyday Urdu writing, diacritical marks are usually omitted, and readers are expected to know the correct pronunciation from context. They are primarily used in the Quran, children's textbooks, dictionaries, and poetry to ensure accurate reading. Urdu has approximately 10 distinct vowel sounds — short a, i, u and long aa, ee, oo, e, ai, o, au. The Tanween marks (دو زبر، دو زیر، دو پیش) are borrowed from Arabic and appear mainly in Arabic loanwords used in Urdu. Understanding vowels and diacritical marks is essential for proper Urdu pronunciation, reading Quranic text, and mastering the writing system.