Vocabulary: Yes and No

This lesson will be quick and easy. With all that we've covered so far, we still haven't learned the Urdu words for "yes" and "no". The Urdu translation varies depending on who you're speaking to:

Informal:

• han = yes
• nahin = no

Formal:

• ji = yes
• nahin = no

Extremely Formal:

• ji han = yes
• ji nahin = no

The ending "n"'s in both "han" and "nahin" have a soft, nasal sound. Note that the extremely formal translation is seldom used. You probably want to save those for when you're trying to woo your future in-laws.

Questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How ... and More!

In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask basic questions in Urdu. The six main questions ("who", "what", "when", "where", "why", and "how") are relatively straightforward to translate:

• kya = what
• kaun = who
• kahan = where
• kab = when
• kyoon = why
• kaise = how

(The "n" in "kyoon" is soft.) When using these words in a sentence, they usually precede the verb. Here are a few examples:

• Yeh kya hai? = What is this?
• Voh aadmi kaun hai? = Who is that man?
• Aap kahan jaate hain? = Where are you going?
• Aap log kab aaye? = When did you people come?
• Tum abhi kyoon chal rahe ho? = Why are you leaving now?
• Tum kaise soye? = How did you sleep?

As with English, in Urdu you can turn a sentence into a question simply by raising the intonation of your voice towards the end of the sentence. Take the following sentence, for example:

• Aap Canadian hain = You are Canadian

If you read this sentence with a rise in intonation towards the end of the sentence, as you would when asking a question in English, you can turn it into a question:

• Aap Canadian hain? = Are you Canadian?

To further emphasize that any such statement is a question, one can simply add the word "kya" ("what") at the start of the sentence:

• Kya aap Canadian hain? = Are you Canadian?

Of course, not all questions that we want to ask fit into the "big six" questions. Here are the Urdu words for a few less common questions:

• kitne = how much / how many
• kitne baje = what time
• kis ka = whose (masculine)
• kis ki = whose (feminine)
• kin ke = whose (plural)

And of course, here are a few examples to give you a better sense of how these words can be used:

• Aap ka kitne bacche hain? = How many children do you have?
• Tum kitne baje jaata hai? = What time are you going?
• Yeh kis ka ghar hai? = Whose house is this?
• Voh kin ke gaari hain? = Whose cars are those?

Vocabulary: Time

In this lesson, we'll cover a number of words and expressions that relate to time. Scroll down to the bottom of this lesson for some examples. Here are some terms for units of time for us to start with:

• secand = second
• minat = minute
• ghanta = hour
• din = day
• hafta = week
• maheena = month
• saal = year

To refer to a specific time of day, we can use the following phrases:

• # baje = # o'clock
• subh savere = early in the morning
• subh = morning / in the morning
• do pahr (ko) = (at) midday
• do pahr ke baad = afternoon / in the afternoon
• shaam (ko) = (in the) evening
• raat (ko) = (at) night

We can also use words like "yesterday" and "tomorrow" to refer to another time relative to the present:

• kal = yesterday, tomorrow
• aaj = today
• ahbi = now, right now

Note that "kal" can mean either "yesterday" or "tomorrow". This may seem strange, but it's usually easy to recognize the meaning from the context. And finally, below are some examples of what we learned.

Examples:

• doh minat = two minutes
• doosre din = the next day
• main har saal jaata hoon = I go every year

• ek baja = one o'clock (singular)
  
• dus baje = ten o'clock
  
• baara baje = twelve o'clock
  

• aaj subh = today in the morning
• aaj do pahr ke baad = today in the afternoon
• aaj shaam ko = today in the evening

• main kal karoonga = I will do it tomorrow
• voh kal aaye = they came yesterday
• ham abhi jaa rahe hain = we're leaving now

Vocabulary: Numbers

I considered writing out the translation of all numbers from 1 to 100 here, but I realized that most readers, myself included, probably wouldn't absorb that much information in one go. So instead, here are numbers 1 through 20, with a few other important ones thrown in there.

Numbers 0 through 9:

• sifr = zero
• ek = one
• doh = two
• teen = three
• chaar = four
• paanch = five
• cheh = six
• saat = seven
• aat = eight
• nau = nine

Numbers 10 through 19:

• dus = ten
• giyaara = eleven
• baara = twelve
• tera = thirteen
• chauda = fourteen
• pandra = fifteen
• sola = sixteen
• satra = seventeen
• ataara = eighteen
• unnees = nineteen

Some more useful numbers:

• bees = twenty
• tees = thirty
• chaalees = forty
• pachaas = fifty
• saath = sixty
• sattar = seventy
• assee = eighty
• navve = ninety
• sau = one-hundred

You might notice that the words for seven and sixty are very much alike. The difference in pronunciation lies in the letter T. In "saat" ("seven"), the T is pronounced the way you would pronounce it in English. In "saath" ("sixty"), the T is a much harder sound that results from rolling the bottom of your tongue forward along the roof of your mouth. Generally, we don't distinguish in this blog when to use which (because you'll naturally learn the more subtle pronunciations through conversation), but in this case, mispronouncing the word could lead to a different meaning.

We will come back to numbers in a later lesson (filling in those that we missed), but for now, this should be more than enough for us to continue with our lesson tomorrow: time!

Vocabulary: Verbs #1

Now that we have some basic pronouns and grammar rules under our belts, we can start to expand our vocabulary of verbs. Here are some verbs that you'll be hearing very often in daily Urdu conversation:

• hona = to be
• karna = to do
• jaana = to go
• aana = to come
• kaana = to eat
• peena = to drink
• dekhna = to see
• sunna = to hear, to listen to
• saamajhna = to understand
• bataana = to tell
  

Notice that all of these verbs end with "na". To conjugate these verbs in the present habitual tense, we replace the "na" with the appropriate suffix, as outlined in our last lesson. Here are a few examples:

• aap kaam karte hain = you (do) work
• voh paanee peeti hai = she drinks water
• main school jaata hoon = I go to school
• ham saamajhte hain = we understand

In cases where the context makes it obvious who the verb is referring to, the pronoun is often left out:

• kaam karte hain = you (do) work
• paanee peeti hai = she drinks water
• school jaata hoon = I go to school
• saamajhte hain = we understand

The Present Habitual Tense

Today we'll learn how to conjugate Urdu verbs in the present habitual tense. This tense refers to phrases such as "I do", "I eat", and so on (as opposed to the present continuous tense: "I am doing", "I am eating", etc.) Urdu verbs in their infinitive form all have the suffix "na". Here are a few examples:

• karna = to do
• peena = to drink
• bataana = to tell

We'll look at some more verbs in our next lesson, but for now, let's focus on the verb "karna" ("to do"). To conjugate a verb in the present habitual tense, first we replace the "na" suffix with the appropriate ending (which depends on whether the subject is masculine or feminine). Then we add the appropriate conjugation of the verb "hona". The example below shows how to conjugate the verb "karna" in the present habitual tense.

Masculine:

• main karta hoon = I do
• aap karte hain = you do
• tum karte ho = you do
• tu karta hai = you do
• yeh/voh karta hai = he/it does
• ham karte hain = we do
• yeh/voh karte hain = they do

Feminine:

• main karti hoon = I do
• aap karti hain = you do
• tum karti ho = you do
• tu karti hai = you do
• yeh/voh karti hai = she/it does
• ham karte hain = we do
• yeh/voh karti hain = they do

You can see that in the masculine case, the suffix "na" is replaced by either "ta" or "te" (depending on the pronoun). In the feminine case, the suffix "na" is always replaced with the ending "ti", except for the pronoun "ham" (which uses the ending "te" instead).

The Verb "Hona" ("To Be")

The Urdu word for "to be" is "hona". Memorizing its conjugation is essential since it's so frequently used, not only by itself, but for conjugating other verbs as well (as we will see in later lessons).

• main hoon = I am
• aap hain = you are
• tum ho = you are
• tu hai = you are
• yeh/voh hai = he/she/it is
• ham hain = we are
• yeh/voh hain = they are

Note that the letter n in "hoon" and "hain" are soft n's -- they're pronounced the way you would pronounce the letter n in the French word, "bon".

To use the verb in conjunction with a noun or adjective, you can insert the noun or adjective in between the pronoun and the verb :

• Tum mera beta ho = You're my son
  
• Voh dur hain = They're late
  

Vocabulary: Members of the Family

Today, we'll cover vocabulary relating to family relations. We'll start with the immediate family.

• abbu = dad
• ammi = mom
• bhai = brother
• bahen = sister
• beta = son
• beti = daughter
• husband = shohar
• wife = bivi

The Urdu vocabulary describing family members is more thorough than it is in English. For example, in Urdu, you wouldn't refer to both of your grandmothers by the same title. Instead, you would call your paternal grandmother "daadi" and your maternal grandmother "naani".

• daada = paternal grandfather
• daadi = paternal grandmother
• naana = maternal grandfather
• naani = maternal grandmother

The same is true for aunts and uncles.

• chacha = paternal uncle
• chachi = paternal uncle's wife
  
• maamoon = maternal uncle
• maami = maternal uncle's wife
  
• phuppi = paternal aunt
• phuppa = paternal aunt's husband
  
• khala = maternal aunt
• khalu = maternal aunt's husband
  

Again the same kind of description is made when referring to nieces and nephews.

• bhateeja = nephew (brother's son)
• bhaanja = nephew (sister's son)
• bhateeji = niece (brother's daughter)
• bhaanji = niece (sister's daughter)

Finally, cousins are usually referred to by using the word for brother or sister: "bhai" or "bahen". To be more explicit about who you're talking about, these words can be preceeded by "chachazaad", meaning "born of the paternal uncle", or "mamoonzaad", meaning "born of the maternal uncle".

• bhai = male cousin
• bahen = female cousin
• chachazaad bhai = male cousin from father's side
• chachazaad bahen = female cousin from father's side
• mamoonzaad bhai = male cousin from mother's side
• mamoonzaad bahen = female cousin from mother's side

Plural Pronouns: we, you, they, these, those

In our last lesson we covered singular pronouns, so today we'll cover plural pronouns. The Urdu word for "we" is "ham" (rhymes with "drum").

• Ham kar rahe hain = We are doing

The Urdu words "aap" and "tum", covered in our previous lesson, can actually also be used in plural cases.

• Singular Case: Tum larki ho = You are a girl
• Plural Case: Tum larkian ho = You are girls
  

The same is true for the words "yeh" and "voh". In addition to meaning "he", "she", or "it", these words can also mean "they" (with "yeh" again referring to people or objects closeby, and "voh" again referring to people or objects that are far away).

• Singular Case: Voh aadmi hai = He (far) is a man
• Plural Case: Voh aadmi hain = They (far) are men
  

The word "lohg", meaning "people", is commonly used to emphasize that a pronoun is referring to multiple people.

• Ham lohg kar rahe hain = We people are doing
• Aap lohg Pakistani hain? = Are you people Pakistani?
• Tum lohg larkian ho = You people are girls
• Voh lohg aadmi hain = Those people are men
  

In summary:

• ham = we
• aap = you (plural, formal)
• tum = you (plural, informal)
• yeh = they/these (near)
• voh = they/those (far)
  

The word "lohg", meaning "people", can be used after any plural personal pronoun to emphasize its plurality.