A sophisticated and poetic language that is closely related to the Hindi, Farsi and Arabic languages. Urdu is a member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-European family of languages. It is spoken as a first language by approximately 70 million people and as a second language by over 100 million people, mainly in Pakistan and some parts of India.
You’re probably thinking “but where else is Urdu spoken?” Well, guess what? It is also spoken by large communities in North America, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates!
Try to use the below 19 common words and phrases to introduce yourself to your Pakistani friends or your colleagues at work in Urdu.
1. Hello (general greeting) – asalam u alaikum – السلام عليكم
2. How are you? – aap kaisi hain (f) – آپ کیسی ہيں؟ – aap kaise hain (m) – آپ کيسے ہيں؟
3. I’m good, thank you! And you? – main theek hoon, shukriya! Aur app? – میں ٹھیک ہوں، شکریہ! اور آپ؟
4. What is your name? – aap ka naam kya hai? – آپ كا نام كيا ہے؟
5. My name is _______ – mera naam _______ hai – ميرا نام _______ ہے
6. Nice to meet you! – aap se milker khushi huwi! – !آپ سَے ملکر خوشی ہوًی
7. How was your day? – aap ka din kaisa tha – آپ کا دِن کيسا تھا؟
8. What are you doing? – aap kya kar rahe hai – آپ کيا کررہے ہو؟
9. See you later – phir milain-gai – پھر مليں گے
10. Goodbye – khuda hafiz – خدا حافظ
11. Take care of yourself – apna khayal rakhna – اپنا خيال رکھنا
12. Do you speak English? – kya aap angrezi bolte hain? – كيا آپ انگريزی بولتے ہیں؟
13. Where are you from? – aap kahan sai hain – آپ کہاں سے ہیں؟
14. I’m from __________ – main __________ sai hoon – ميں __________ سے ہوں
15. How old are you? – aap ki umr kya hai? – آپ کی عمر کيا ہے؟
16. I’m ___ years old – meri umr ___ saal hai – میری عمر ___ سال ہے
17. What is this? – yeh kya hai? – يہ کیا ہے؟
18. No – nahi – نہيں ; yes – ji – جى
19. Congratulations – mubarak ho – مبارک ہو