starting an urdu series similar to the french crash courses i’ve made, but they will be more expansive! here is a short list of some animals in urdu! i will be posting more urdu content soon that will dive into some important basics, such as grammar and figures of speech! feel free to ask me any questions or let me know if u have specific requests for content :)
also added french translations! i left out articles such as un/une and le/la so don’t forget those when you are creating phrases and sentences!
animals
ریچھ (reechh): bear: ours
اونٹ (oont): camel: chameau
بلی (billi): cat: chat
گاۓ (gaay): cow: vache
ہرن (hiran): deer: cerf
کتا (kutta): dog: chien
گدھا (gadha): donkey: âne
ہاتھی (haathi): elephant: éléphant
لومڑی (lomdi): fox: renard
زرافہ (zarafah): giraffe: girafe
بکری (bakri): goat: chèvre
گھوڑا (ghoda): horse: cheval
بندر (bandar): monkey: singe
چوہا (chooha): mouse: souris
ٹٹو (tattu): pony: poney
خرگوش (khargosh): rabbit: lapin
بھیڑ (bhaid): sheep: mouton
سانپ (saanp): snake: serpent
شير (sher): tiger: tigre
i can add many more animals, but these were the most commonly used when it comes to hearing it in everyday life while growing up and hearing urdu around me! i’ll probably make a part 2 once i’ve created a good amount of urdu content- i figured i should post more to take advantage of my knowledge of it and help those learning! i know especially on here there is a huge drought in content surrounding south asian languages-so i’m hoping posts like these will help a little :)
also, urdu is a very sound-driven language, so don’t forget to look up audios of people speaking the words out loud! the transliterated version of urdu can be difficult to digest if u don’t already speak it since the spelling doesnt always do it justice so it can get confusing if u don’t have audio guidance!
this post is meant to be a directory of every resource I come across for Urdu. it will be a continuous work in progress so thank you for your patience! if you have any issues or things to add, please reply to this post!
info
bbc voices
glottolog
hindustani: hindi and urdu - a single language? [video]
introduction by @ayearinlanguage
“in urdu we don't say...”
omniglot
overview of the hindi-urdu controversy
playlist of samples
wikipedia
world atlas of language structures
blogs
transparent
courses
bliubliu
book2
colloquial urdu (2nd edition) [pdf]
colloquial - urdu: the complete course for beginners [pdf]
colombia university - urdu: some thoughts about the script and grammar, and other general notes for students
fsi - headstart2
hindi and urdu since 1800: a common reader [pdf]
introductory urdu, vol 1 - university of chicago [scans]
learning heritage languages
let's study urdu: an intructory course - ali s. asani & syed akbar hyder [pdf]
mangolanguages
memrise
urdupod101
wikibook
cultural & historical info
acultura’s culture tag
india: the last handwritten newspaper in the world - global voices
national council for promotion of urdu language [india]
/r/india
/r/pakistan
dictionaries
urdu english dictionary
urduseek.com
urduword.com
forums
quora
/r/urdu
unilang
grammar
overview of hindustani grammar
urdu: an essential grammar [pdf]
listening practice
culturetalk
hamari boli [video interviews]
language by country: urdu in pakistan
Quran [audio]
sample voicemails
literature
digital urdu ghazal reader
list of urdu-language poets
list of urdu-language writers
logoslibrary [virtual library]
overview of urdu literature
overview of urdu poetry
Quran [scans]
rekhta [virtual library]
/r/urdupoetry
urdu poetry archive [poetry library]
media
urdu1
urdu fairy tales [youtube]
movie & tv recommendations
letterboxd
list of urdu-language films
news
bbc / bbc [youtube]
list of urdu newspapers
newspaper links
urdupoint
voice of america / voa [tv broadcast] / voa [youtube]
phrasebooks & travel guides
bbc - a guide to urdu
linguanaut
omniglot - useful phrases
the rough guide phrasebook [pdf]
wikivoyage
pronunciation
forvo [pronunciation dictionary]
ipa key
overview of hindustani phonology
quizzes & exercises
vocabulary games - digitaldialects
vocabulary quizzes - iteslj
radio
radio in karachi
voice of america
script
how to read
hugo's urdu alphabet pages
keyboard - branah
overview of roman urdu
overview of the urdu alphabet
script workbook [pdf]
urdu for all: an introduction to urdu script [pdf]
L’s ( ل ) are typically pronounced as an “rl” sound when they are in the middle of a word
Hai ( ہے ) is pronounced like “hey” and not “hi”
A’s ( ا ) are pronounced as “uh” regardless of where they are in the word, unless the letter is ( آ ), and it would be pronounced as a long “ah” ( آ is pretty much always used at the beginning of a word)
basic grammar/conjugations:
in urdu, infinitive (non-conjugated) verbs always carry the verb ending نا (na). when you are changing the tense of a verb or are asking a question, you would drop the نا (na) ending and replace it with the correct verb ending.
here are some basic verbs to start off:
چلنا (chalna) — to walk
رکنا (rukna) — to stop
کھانا (khana) — to eat
پینا (peena) — to drink
All such verbs in their basic forms function to mean/represent an act of doing, happening, or being in a state. This is the most basic definition of a verb in Urdu.
the following are the most basic verb tenses- present, past, and future. for the present tense, you drop the نا (na) ending in a verb and add تا ہے (ta hai) or تی ہے (ti hai), which are the masculine and feminine verb endings (urdu is a gendered language, much like french or spanish), respectively. you complete the same steps with the past and future tenses, which are below. using the verbs mentioned above as examples, see how the verbs are conjugated (i will use masculine verbs throughout the post, but you can use feminine ending using the same steps):
***IMPORTANT NOTE/EDIT: the conjugated urdu script is not properly connected in this post because I do not personally have access to an urdu keyboard (i am working on it tho), so please make sure that the conjugations are always connected to the root of the word when writing in urdu. coincidentally, the separation actually makes the conjugations more clear but plewse refer to the examples in the very beginning of this post to see what the conjugations should actually look like when properly written (i copy/pasted the script for those so that is in fact the correct way)!***
Present Simple Tense: تا ہے/تی ہے (ta hai) / (ti hai)
چل تا ہے (chalta hai) — is going
رک تا ہے (rukta hai) — is stopping
کھا تا ہے (khata hai) — is eating
پی تا ہے (peeta hai) — is drinking
Summary: for basic present tense, drop the نا (na) infinitive and add تا ہے/تی ہے (ta hai) / (ti hai).
Past Simple Tense: یا/یی (ya)/(yi) or یا تھا/یی تھی (ya tha) / (yi thi)
چل یا (chalya) — walked
رک یا (rukya) — stopped
کھا یا (khaya) — ate
پی یا تھا (peeya tha) — drank
Summary: for basic past tense, drop the نا (na) infinitive and add either یا/یی (ya)/(yi) or یا تھا/یی تھی (ya tha) / (yi thi)
Future Simple Tense: گا/گی (ga) / (gi)
چل گا (chalga) — will walk
رک گا (rukga) — will stop
کھا گا (khaga) — will eat
پی گا (peega) — will drink
Summary: for basic future tense, drop the نا (na) infinitive and add گا/گی (ga) / (gi)
QUICK TIP: usually you will be able to tell if a verb was conjugated as masculine or feminine because masculine endings almost end with “a” or the “ah” sound while feminine endings use “i” or the “ee” sound. for example, the verb conjugation “will eat” is khaga (m.) vs. khagi (f.) — just one of many example with the “ah” vs “ee” sound when it comes to masculine vs. feminine.
sentence structures in urdu
english typically uses the subject + verb + object (svo) sentence pattern, while urdu uses a subject + object+ verb (sov) sentence pattern. here’s a quick example of the urdu sentence structure:
وہ کھانا کھاتا ہے۔
(Woh khana khata hai.)
they food eat
(s) (o) (v)
verbs list
i highly recommend going through this list and just conjugating them in a notebook using the information above! after that you would pretty much have a solid chunk of the everyday, simple spoken language down when it comes to verbs :) the verbs on this list are some of the most used one a day-to-day basis!
دوڑنا (dorna) — to run
لڑنا (larna) — to fight
رونا (rona) — to cry
ہنسنا (hansna) — to laugh
گانا (gana) — to sing
کھیلنا (khelna) — to play
پڑھنا (parhna) — to read
کھڑے ہونا (kharay hona) — to stand up
بیٹھ جانا (baith jana) — to sit down
سننا (sun-na) — to listen
بند کرنا (band karna) — to close
کھولنا (kholna) — to open
چلانا (chalana) — to turn on
بند کرنا (band karna) — to switch off
جیتنا (jeetna) — to win
ہارنا (harna) — to lose
لکھنا (likhna) — to write
پکانا (pakana) — to cook
دھونا (dhona) — to wash
دینا (dena) — to give
لینا (lena) — to take
بات کرنا (baat karna) — to talk
نہانا (nahana) — to bathe
خریدنا (khareedna) — to buy
بیچنا (bechna) — to sell
دھکیلنا (dhakelna) — to push
کھینچنا (khenchna) — to pull
چڑھنا (charhna) — to climb
کھودنا (khodna) — to dig
سوچنا sochna) — to think
جاننا (jan-na) — to know
بھولنا (bhoolna) — to forget
یاد رکھنا (yaad rakhna) — to remember
وعدہ کرنا (waada karna) — to promise
پیار کرنا (pyar karna) — to love
نفرت کرنا (nafrat karna) — to hate
بتانا (batana) — to tell
ستانا (satana) — to tease
ملنا (milna) — to meet/find
سونا (sona) — to sleep
جاگنا (jagna) — to wake up
زندہ رہنا (zinda rehna) — to live
مرنا (marna) — to die
آنا (aana) — to come
جانا (jana) — to go
مزہ لینا (maza lena) — to enjoy
دوڑنا (dorna) — to run
گرنا (girna) — to fall
اٹھنا (uthna) — to get up
دبانا (dabana) — to press
بچانا (bachana) — to save
بولنا (bolna) — to speak
شور کرنا (shor karna) — to make a noise
پوچھنا (poochna) — to ask
سوال کرنا (sawal karna) — to question
جواب دینا (jawab dena) — to reply
داخل ہونا (dakhil hona) — to enter
حاصل کرنا (hasil karna) — to get
hope this post helped provide a solid introduction to urdu verbs! more urdu content is yet to come but in the meantime let me know what else you guys want to see, whether it’s urdu or other languages!
