The phonology of krn is similar to that of English, without much modification. There are some variations, however, and they are clarified below.

The consonants used by krn is as follows; each consonant is listed along with its IPA representation and a word example:

b, b, bold
c, tʃ, chair
d, d, dove
f, f, first
g, g, gold
h, h, help
j, dʒ, jeans
k, k / c¹, cold / करना
l, l, light
m, m, most
n, n, most
p, p, paint
r, ɾ, caro (Spanish) / three
s, s, sand
t, t, think
v, v, vine
w, w, world
z, z, zest

1: Here, both the English "k" and the Hindi "क" are acceptable. They differ slightly in that the English "k" is a palatal plosive, made by touching the tongue to the hard palate more towards the front of the mouth, whereas the Hindi "क" is made by touching the tongue to the hard palate further towards the back. krn does not differentiate between the two.

Every consonant, when not followed by a vowel, has an implied short vowel sound after it, similar to the sound made by English speakers when saying "uh" -- represented by a ə in the International Phonetic Alphabet. If a consonant is the last letter in a word, the short sound after it is optional.

Examples:
krn (kərənə or kərən)
klm (kələmə or kələm)

The long vowels are as follows:

a, ɒ, not
e, e, may
i, y, mean
o, o, most