Want to write words? Open the Pashto keyboard.
About the Pashto alphabet
Pashto is written right to left in a Perso-Arabic script, usually in the Naskh style. It adds letters for its own sounds: the retroflex ټ ډ ړ ڼ, ښ and ږ (whose sound differs between southern and northern dialects), څ ځ and the ring-marked ګ.
Five kinds of ye
Pashto uses several forms of ye that change grammar: ي ې ی ۍ ئ. For example ې marks the e sound and ۍ the feminine ending.
Dialects
ښ sounds like sh in Kandahar and like kh in Peshawar (so Pashto / Pakhto), and ږ sounds like zh or g. The spelling is the same everywhere.
Frequently asked questions
How many letters are in the Pashto alphabet?
Pashto is usually written with 44 letters. Some lists give 45 by counting hamza (ء) separately.
Which letters are special to Pashto?
ټ, ډ, ړ, ږ, ښ, ګ, ڼ, څ, ځ, ې, ۍ and ئ are Pashto letters not used in standard Urdu or Persian.
Why is it Pashto in some places and Pakhto in others?
The letter ښ is pronounced sh in southern dialects and kh in northern ones, so the same word پښتو is said Pashto or Pakhto.
How do I type Pashto letters?
Use the Harf Pashto keyboard: Shift + F gives ښ, Shift + H ږ, Shift + T ټ, Shift + D ډ, Shift + R ړ and Shift + L ڼ.