Urdu Phrase Book

[Annegret Haldiman]

Thisphrase is the most common way to say hello in Pakistan, as the population is predominantly Muslim. Non-Muslims use the word as well, but the regular hello also works in most urban areas. Urdu is a combination of Persian from Iran, Sanskrit from India and Arabic; therefore, Urdu has many words in common with these languages. Salam is, however, a word related to the word Islam, and most Muslims from the farthest corners of the world will recognise it. If you meet Hindus, you can be more appropriate by greeting them with Namaste.

No one in Pakistan is ever going to say no to a cup of chai. Pakistanis love chai, and if you take an interest in this national beverage, they are going to love you for it. Chai is something that the locals drink at any and all times of the day, sometimes for a good reason or none at all.

Did you know that Urdu is one of the two official languages of Pakistan? It is widely spoken throughout the country! In addition, this beautiful language is also spoken in parts of India and by many people in the United Kingdom and the United States.

If you plan a long wished visit to Pakistan, learning some basic words and phrases in Urdu can greatly enhance your experience and help you communicate more effectively with locals. Additionally, while traveling around the country, you will notice that many street signs or menus may be in Urdu, so a basic understanding of words in the language can make navigating the country much easier.

As in many languages, English words are used while speaking Urdu as well. Three common such words are hello, okay, and bye. To help you familiarize yourself with several other common Urdu terms, here is a simplified list to start with.

To immerse yourself in the daily life and culture of the Urdu-speaking people, it is suggested to try to go shopping to experience the hustle and bustle of the whole ordeal! If you are not a local, the sellers may try to sell items at a very high price or may convince you to purchase items that are absolutely worthless to your needs. Here is a list of shopping vocabulary in Urdu that can help you to avoid such situations.

Though the eccentric cuisine of Urdu-speaking people can be a dream come true for many, others may have specific dietary needs and tastes. It is important to learn some essential phrases to order what you want. Do not hesitate to speak about your wishes at a restaurant! Simply follow the phrases below:

It may require a bit of diligence to master this list early on in your language-learning process. But it will be worth it for you not to miss an appointment or commitment, which is highly valued among Urdu-speaking people.

Pakistanis are renowned for being family-oriented individuals. Members of the family are deeply committed to each other. The Urdu language is influenced highly by the Muslim religion. Therefore, several terms related to the family also descend from there. Perfect examples are Abbu for father and Ammi for mother. Not all Urdu-speaking families are Muslims, but this is useful to know. So, as a beginner, here are a few basic Urdu words related to family that you must learn:

I hope the content of this page was helpful to you and that you have learned some Urdu phrases, expressions, and words for your travel. Make sure to remember them so that you can use them in your daily conversations.

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Even though I get my desired matches (دنیا گول ہے, آوارہ گرد کی ڈائری, and ابن بطوطہ کے تعاقب میں), I also get undesired ones (ہے, ڈائری, and میں -- each of which is actually the last word of its phrase). Can anyone please point out how I can avoid the undesired matches?

The first [\x0600-\x06FF]+ matches the first word, then if there's some whitespace followed by another word, (?:\s+[\x0600-\x06FF]+)* matches it and any subsequent words. But it doesn't match any whitespace after the last word, which I presume you don't want.

Urdu shares almost all grammar with Hindi, though a greater proportion of its vocabulary is derived mainly from Persian, and some Arabic and Turkish, especially in more formal registers. It is written in a Perso-Arabic abjad writing system, in particular with the flowery script known as Nast'alīq (نستعليق). Dakkani is a dialect of Urdu with fewer hindi loanwords and some distinct old(persian) vocabulary mixed with local dialects and is spoken in the Muslim enclaves of the Deccan (India).

Urdu emerged during Muslim rule in Central and Southern Asia where Persian was the official language. The word Urdu is itself derived from the Turkish word ordu, ultimately derived from the Mongolian word "horde." In addition to vocabulary, Urdu also adopted the Persian use of the enclitic ezāfe and most poets used takhallus (noms de plume). Urdu is renowned for its poetic tradition dating back to Mughal times when, as mentioned, Persian was the court language; thus the reason why Persian vocabulary and elements are so notable. A mixture of Urdu and Hindi, called Hindustani, is the form heard in most Bollywood films, that try to appeal to the widest audience possible.

Urdu is written in the Shāhmukhī (شاہ مکھی) script, shared with Afghanistan, Iran and a number of other Pakistani languages. Urdu, as mentioned earlier, is written in a modified Perso-Arabic script called abjad. An abjad does not write short vowels, except at the beginning of a word with alif serving as a place holder. This can make it frustrating for the learner as the words I and in are both written ميں in Urdu. Urdu is also written in a stylized form of the Arabic script called nast'alīq (نستعليق). Developed in Persia, it is still used for religious and poetic calligraphy in Iran today, while Urdu still uses it as its standard script. Therefore, if you want to read an Urdu newspaper, street sign, etc. you will have to learn to read nastaliq, which can prove difficult for the beginner. As a result, a simpler style called Naskh (نسخ), as used in other languages using the Arabic abjad will be used for two reasons: 1. to ease the learner into nastaliq, and 2. because Unicode does not support nast'aliq. Vowel diacritics do exist, mostly used to modify the alif vowel holder at the beginning of a word but also used for educational purposes, in the Qur'ān, and for clarifying ambiguous spellings.

The Arabic system of writing is cursive. Most letters have four forms. Others, which do not attach to the letter coming next to them, have only two. These forms are quite self-explanatory: initial, medial, final, and isolated. When written alone letters are written in their isolated form. Example:

To make aspirated letters in Urdu the do chashmī he is added to the letter it aspirates. In Nastaliq, the do chashmī he, lit. meaning "two-eyed he" looks like this: ﻬ. Unfortunately unicode only supports this character as it exists in Arabic; therefore the Urdu Naskh will have to suffice.

khaṛa zabar - lit. "standing zabar", also only occurs in Arabic origin words. Written over a consonant like the above, it indicates an ā after that consonant. Also called a "dagger alif".

In Pakistan and other Urdu speaking place, two calendars are used: the Gregorian and the Islamic. Months of Gregorian calendar are used as these are in English so the Islamic will be discussed. The Islamic calendar is a lunar Calendar. Months are usually 29-30 days long. The Calendar dates from the hijra, or migration, of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. The abbreviation for Muslim dates is AH (anno Hegir). When writing in Urdu, the word ەجرى, hijrī should precede/ follow the date.

Note: If you stick to main cities Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad, you should be fine with using English words in Urdu phrases. The native speakers do it all the time. This is why the phrase I need a car' becomes Mujhe car chahye.

Indian retailer Fabindia has withdrawn an advertisement about its new festive line called Jashn-e-Riwaaz after facing a backlash from the Bharatiya Janata Party and right-wing groups that said the Urdu phrase hurt Hindu sentiments.

Our Urdu to English Translation Tool is powered by Google Translation API. You can start typing Urdu in the left-hand text area and then click on the "Translate" button. Our app will then translate your Urdu word, phrase, or sentence into English. You can also visit our homepage to type in Urdu.

The translation only takes a few seconds and allows up to 500 characters to be translated in one request. Although this translation may not be 100% accurate, you can still get a basic idea, and with a few modifications, it can be quite accurate. This translation software is evolving day by day, and Google Engineersare continuously working on it to make Urdu to English translation more intelligent and accurate. Hopefully, one day it will produce near-perfect translations!

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