Learning Urdu

[Truthxsaber]

Assalamu-alaikum my fellow Urdu-speaking Muslims.

My parents are from Pakistan, but I was born in America. I didn't grow up talking much Urdu, so my Urdu is weak. I was hoping to start a thread so that I can practice my Urdu, and perhaps an Urdu speaker may want to practice their English. Perhaps this Urdu can become a dictionary/grammar rules thread.

You see, I've never taken a formal Urdu course in school, but only bits and phrases that I've picked up from asking my parents, "Mommy, how do I say this in Urdu?" or "Daddy, what does this mean in Urdu?" That's why I know how to speak basic sentences, but I was hoping if someone could help me with more complex sentences, such as variations in different grammatical tenses, and linguistic rules.

So without further ado:

Me (apni/meri? which one) Urdu improve (anyone know how to say improve in Urdu) karne chahta hoon.

Shukriya

[Banu_Hashim]

Wa 'alaikum asalaam wa rahmatullaahi wa baraakatuhu,

You have a similar background to me. I was born and raised in the United Kingdom. So, my exposure to Urdu was limited to my parents and extended family (khaandaan). Can you read Urdu? Although the script is similar to Arabic, it is closer to Persian and the sounds (as compared to Arabic and even Persian) are very different. With some help from my parents and grandmother, I taught myself the script- how to read and write.

There are books that you can buy to formally teach yourself Urdu. And of course the best learning is done by listening to and conversing with native Urdu speakers so you can get to grips with odd phrases, the nuances and accent of the language.

I still struggle with the masculine and feminine forms of words and different tenses, but with more exposure it becomes easier. You are essentially a baby learning a language. A baby does not have formal lessons in a particular language yet they learn how to form sentences as they grow up fairly quickly.

Main apni Urdu behtar karna chahta hoon - I want to improve my Urdu.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

P.S. Welcome to the forum!

[Bint-e-Adam]

Urdu is simple language. has not so tough grammar or rules...
there are many sites for learning urdu.
You can also ask here your questions

so that we can help you.
this thread u can use for talking urdu sentences as much as you know so we can know your level and u may get your urdu imrpove :)
http://www.islamicboard.com/urdu/134...u-general.html;D
as regarding to your question:

there are pronouns same as there is in English :
For the pronoun of first person singular: "I"
it has three cases same as in English:

I: means main(میں ) = Nominative Case
Me : means mujh/mjhe (مجھ /مجھے ) = Accusative Case
My: means : mera/meri (میرا /میری) = Genitive / Possessive Case...

I want to Improve My Urdu: main apni Urdu ko behter krna chahta hun.
(میں اپنی اردو بہتر کرنا چاہتا ہوں.)

[Bint-e-Adam]

Main apni Urdu behtar karna chahta hoon - I want to improve my Urdu.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Yes Inqilaab Bro is correct. Arabic and Urdu is so similar as well as persian too.
Because urdu is the mixture of Many languages. so mainly it includes persian, Punjabi, Arabic and Hindi etc.
so if you know any of these languages,then u can easily learn and Write urdu.wish you best of luck.
You can ask here anything u want. and please fell free to ask :)
Forgot to say you welcome here :D Hope you will have a helpful stay here :D in-sha-Allah

Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up

[Banu_Hashim]

ah, forgot the "ko" after "Urdu"... see it's these little things that get you... and you know the sentence is missing something you just don't know what lol.

[Bint-e-Adam]

Yes u r right. but we can write in both ways:
may apni urdu ko behter krna chahta hun( it is uses mostly when talking.)
may apniurdu behtr krna chatha hu (mostly when writing.)

[Bint-e-Adam]

Well i am a native Urdu speaker. and studied its grammar thoroughly also.
i hope i can help any one :)

[Banu_Hashim]

Even though the Arabic alphabet is present in Urdu, the sounds are very different, which is why (and you may have noticed) native Urdu speakers will have a hard time pronouncing some Arabic letters properly, unless they've been schooled early on in tajweed.

For example in Urdu the letters ز, ظ, ض and ذ are all pronounced as "z" as in "zebra".

And don't even get me started on ڑ lol, which took me an immensely long time to get to grips with.

[Bint-e-Adam]

yes there are many differences but not much so hard.
WE learn it very easily as some sounds are different only.
well the arabic accent is change form urdu. people knowing urdu , for them learning arabic is more easy as compared to people of any other language.

[Truthxsaber]

Thank you all for your comments and willingness to help.

Can you read Urdu?

Yes, a little, but it's very difficult for two reasons:
1. There are no punctuation marks like there are in the Qur'an.
2. The font is very contracted, unlike the font sister Hidayat used:

میں اپنی اردو بہتر کرنا چاہتا ہوں

Seeing as though there's already a vocab thread - "the Urdu game" -his thread could be more for grammatical purposes.
So my next question is: Why did we say apni urdu and not meri urdu? When do you use which word?

[Bint-e-Adam]

Dear. both are almost same. a little difference as far as i can explain u.

this is my book. (ye meri kitaab hai.)
i have my book. (mere paas apni kitab hai.)

my: meri
my (emphasized ) = meri apni.
i hope it helps u

[Truthxsaber]

Okay so apne/apna (Also, what is the difference between apne and apna?) means the subject's owns the object. "Ye apna ghar hai (this is my house/I own this house)." Where as meraa emphasizes the subject - my own. "Ye mera apna ghar hai" (This is MY own house).

Similarly, what's the difference between tumaarha and teraa? And humaara and meraa?

Please offer any corrections as you wish.
I have lots of questions.

Thanks

[Truthxsaber]

Also why did you say:

mere paas apni kitab hai.

and not "Apne paas mera kitab hai" Does it make a difference?

[Bint-e-Adam]

Brother. there is the difference between apna and apni. as ther is difference between masculine and feminine.
Apna = My (masculine)
Apni = My (Feminine)
examples:
This is my book. = ye meri kitab hai. (یہ میری کتاب ہے.) as book is considered as feminine.
this is my toy. = ye mera khilona hai. (یہ میرا کھلونا ہے.) as toy is considered as masculine.

2nd question:
mera/meri is a common word used for owning or having.
but apna is used mostly for emphasizing attached with mera/meri.

examples:
this is my book. (ye meri kitab hai.)(یہ میری کتاب ہے.)

This is my own book. (ye meri apni kitab hai.)(یہ میری اپنی کتاب ہے)

and also apna is used for others. as
look at your book. (apni kitaab per dekho.)(اپنی کتاب پر دیکھو)
See yourself (apne aap ko dekho.) (اپنے آپ کو دیکھو)

3rd question:
tera / tumharaa is masculine 2nd person genitive/possessive case.
both are same. but unlike English or Arabic, there are many words that are used for respecting elders or anyone. for example:
tu, tera , tujhe etc.
for common use and being sophisticated also u can use "Aap" .

4th question:
Humaara (our/ours) is 1st person plural possessive case.
mera (my/mine) is 1st person singular possessive case.

examples:

this is our chair. = ye hamari kursi hai.(یہ ہماری کرسی ہے )
this is my chair = ye meri kursi hai.(یہ میری کرسی ہے )

Hope it will help u.

[Truthxsaber]

See yourself (apne aap ko dekho.

Ahh, notice what you did there? You put an e, not an a for masucline or i for feminine (so not apni/apna), but apne. Unless, perhaps, it was a typo.

Okay I just realized, if I remember correctly, the e is for making a plural. So "tere kitab" = your books. And "apne kitab" = my books.

So I'll rephrase my question: Why didn't you use "Apni paas meri kitaab hai?" Does it make sense?

[Bint-e-Adam]

Ahh, notice what you did there? You put an e, not an a for masucline or i for feminine (so not apni/apna), but apne. Unless, perhaps, it was a typo.

Okay I just realized, if I remember correctly, the e is for making a plural. So "tere kitab" = your books. And "apne kitab" = my books.

So I'll rephrase my question: Why didn't you use "Apni paas meri kitaab hai?" Does it make sense?

lol brother.
i told you that apna is masculine and apni is feminine.
it means my has two words: apna /apni
but where u use the word Self as (myself, yourself) the word apnay is used.


and as far as plural is concerned:
these are my books: ye meri kitabain hain.(یہ میری کتابیں ہیں.)
notice in the above example that the word "meri" has no plural.but the word books has plural word "kitabain" (کتابیں)

that sentence is wrong brother.
"Apni paas meri kitaab hai?"
it must be: "mere paas meri kitab hai."


apni does not means "I".
look at the example:
I have my book.
"mere paas meri kitab hai."
میرے پاس میری کتاب ہے.

I	Have	my	book
میرے	پاس ہے	میری	کتاب

it doen not make sense to use apna for "i" brother.

[Bint-e-Adam]

Hope these will be helpful for you:
http://mylanguages.org/learn_urdu.php

http://www.languageshome.com/English-Urdu.htm

http://forum.urduworld.com/f3056/

http://www.alphadictionary.com/directory/Languages/Indo,045Iranian/Urdu/

http://mylanguages.org/urdu_feminine.php

[Truthxsaber]

Acha, samajgaya. So apnay means Yourself/Ownself, not male/female object possession as in apni/apna, which are used if used in addition to meri/mera show emphasis. Thanks!

So is this sentence correct? "Ye apni kitab hai." (This is my book)

[Bint-e-Adam]

brother, this sentence will be "ye meri kitab hai."
if you will add apni then u must attach it with meri/mera for emphasis: "ye meri apni kitab hai"

[Truthxsaber]

Ok thanks sister! That concludes lesson 1: Possession

Lesson 2: Grammatical tenses (Where am I getting these lessons? Myself :p. I just have many questions, and I'll keep asking until I feel confident that I could say anything in Urdu.)

Let us use the verb: To eat - "Khaanaa"

Present: I am eating - Me khaaraha hoon
Imperfect Past (Incomplete/ongoing action): I was eating - Me khaaraha tha/khaa chuka tha?
Preterit Past (Completed action): I ate - Me khaaliya or Mene khaaya
Conditional: I might eat/I would eat - ? [is there a separate tense here?]
Far Future: I will eat - Me khaaoonga
Near future: I am about to eat - Me khaane wala hoon?
Command: Eat/Please eat - Khaalo/Khaaye (or Khaajiye to be polite?)
Question: Will you eat? Tum khaaoge/i?

Please feel free to correct me/add anything.

[Bint-e-Adam]

You are welcome brother. nice to hear about your arrangement of lessons :)
You may ask freely here whatever you have confusion. we will in-shaa-Allah help you as much as possible.:hiding:

Present Continuous: I am eating - Me khaaraha hoon^o)

Past Continuous (Incomplete/ongoing action): I was eating - Me khaa raha/rahi tha/thi.
(chuka is used for has,had,have only.) ;D

Past indefinite (Completed action): I ate -Mene khaaya
(liya is also used only for has,had,have)+o(

Conditional: I might eat/I would eat - [me khaa leta (shaid)/ me khaa skta.]
(might = skta / skti)^o)

Far Future: I will eat - Me khaaoonga:statisfie

Near future: I am about to eat - Me khaane wala hoon?:omg:

Command: Eat/Please eat - Khaalo /Khao/ Khaayiye (or Khaa lijiye to be polite?)
(1).Commanding to small one : khao... 2).the word is kha Lijye.);D

Question: Will you eat? Kia Tum khaaoge/i?
(neccessary to put the helping verb brother. as u have put in English "will".):phew


Green color is for right lines and words.
Red for omissions and mistakes :)
hope that can help u. in-shaa-Allah.:statisfie

[Haya emaan]

why is this reminding me of my Translation and Tenses classes at school with our English teacher.. old school days..

[Bint-e-Adam]

Lol :)
childhood is evergreen memory. grammar classes looked so horrible in childhood :(
learning definitions of proper noun. common noun its type and then its type onwards. :D

[Jalal~]

should i try to improve my urdu or not? My urdu isn't that good, but i dont see much point when i already know english and more than likely going to live in america for a while. what is your purpose for improving your urdu if you dont mind me asking?

[Muhaba]

ma bap ki baree mistake hain kai wo jab amreeka jatain hain to wo apni bacho si english mai batain karna shuroo kardaitain hain. iski do (2) negative consequences hotain hain. aik: bachi urdo naheen seekti hain. Doosra or wo pahli si bhi batar: bacho ki english accent kharab ho jati hain (agar ma bap native english speakers nahin hotain.) to ma bab, please agar ap native english speakers naheen hai to apni bacho ki sat apni quomi zaban mai batay karay. shukriya

[Bint-e-Adam]

well said WRITER sister.

[Scimitar]

Well, I'm a Guji Indian born in the UK, and I can kinda speak Hindi and Urdu and know the differences between the two.

I learnt from watching bollywood movies at a young age lol... funny thing is, I pick up languages this way. I love world cinema. Especially Kung Fu flicks. But that's offtopic.

Agar kisi ko buraa laga toh yeh post ko report karo. :D

[Bint-e-Adam]

lol. ek bat bht ajeeb hai. Urdu was Pakistan's national language also discovered by a pakistani. But now-a-days urdu is recognized as the name "Hindi" and taken as language of india all over the world,because of the hindi movies that are all in urdu language. :) rather these two languages i.e hindi and urdu are quite different ones. :heated:

[Pure Purple]

off topic please delete......

[Jalal~]

how is this off topic, i just wanted to know why i should try to improve my urdu.
Here check this out:
shukriya writer, apki advice bohth ucha ta? lol, i tried to say thanks writer, your advice was great.
I'm not too good with male/female grammar, but insha allah, ill improve on this thread

[Haya emaan]

Urdu was Pakistan's national language also discovered by a pakistani.

jis zamanay may urdu ma'riz e wajood may ayee the us waqt pakistan ka door door tk koi nam o nishan mojood nahi tha...^o)

[Endymion]

:giggling: :omg:

[piXie]

shukriya writer, apki advice bohth ucha ta?

aap ki naseehat bohot achhi thi.*

or better said..

aap ne bohot achhi naseehat di hai*

[Banu_Hashim]

lol. ek bat bht ajeeb hai. Urdu was Pakistan's national language also discovered by a pakistani. But now-a-days urdu is recognized as the name "Hindi" and taken as language of india all over the world,because of the hindi movies that are all in urdu language. :) rather these two languages i.e hindi and urdu are quite different ones. :heated:

Well the two languages have a common ancestor in "khari boli", and only very recently divulged into the two registers as they are known today. Is it quite sad however, that the land from which Urdu came (India) does not give as much importance (at least from a government level) as is due. It is places like Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad where Urdu reached dizzying heights.

Urdu hai jiska naam ham hi jaante hai daagh. Saare jahaan meiN dhoom, hamaari zubaan ki hai.

[waji]

Asalam u Alikum

Do check out this website too Darvazah
website contains audio also which will be helpful for learner.

[Bint-e-Adam]

its too good. :) jazakALlah ul khair akhee

[Jalal~]

does naseehat mean advice?

[Bint-e-Adam]

does naseehat mean advice?

yes akhee. naseehat means advice.

[Truthxsaber]

:sl:
Wow this thread really took off since I left. I had to study for a test last week, which is why I've been absent.
Anyway now that I'm back, let's see if I have mastered Lesson 2 by using a different verb (To Be - Hona) and a different subject (It/He/She/They - Wo):

Present: He is - Wo hai [add nasalization for they (hain)]
Past incomplete: He was being - Wo ho raha tha
Past complete: He was - Wo hua, Wo tha, or both Wo hua tha (I think maybe I switched the tha/hua - which one is past incomplete/complete - perhaps someone can explain the difference - Wo doctor tha {He was a doctor}, Wo doctor hua {He was a doctor?})
Conditional: He would be - Wo hojaiga - Wo ho leta (Can someone clarify the use of leta)
Far future: He will be - Wo hoga
Near future: He is about to be - Wo hone waala hai
Command: Be (like, be happy) - Ho (khush ho)
Question: Are/Will you become? - Kya tum ho/hoge?

Again thanks to Sister Hidayat for offering to help. If anyone else has any corrections feel free to help.

[Who Am I?]

:sl:

I myself am (slowly) learning to speak Hindi.

I still cannot read any of the letters though... :hmm:

[Truthxsaber]

what is your purpose for improving your urdu if you dont mind me asking?

:sl:, brother Jalal. I'd like to learn Urdu for several reasons, but here's the main one.
I want to be able to communicate with people from the Indian subcontinent of all ages whose first language may not be English. So you ask, when am I likely to run into Urdu-speakers if I live in the United States? The answer: My masjid and my fathers' friends. When my father is talking to other uncles, (not my uncles, but just a term of respect for other men my father's age) I have to stand there silently, nodding and smiling. Because even though I might be picking up a little, I don't feel like I belong in the conversation. Learning Urdu will help me bridge the gap, and help me get to know my fellow brothers better. A common language fosters unity.

So with all that said, let's get to learning! :statisfie

If anyone has the corrections to my post on the verb "to be," please feel free to reply.

[Bint-e-Adam]

Wa-alaikum-Assalam

Wo doctor tha {He was a doctor}, Wo doctor hua {He was a doctor?})

Hua means: To be/become = as
he was a doctor: wo doctor tha.
he became a doctor: wo doctor hua, (mor suitable: wo doctor bna)

Conditional: He would be - Wo hojaiga - Wo ho leta (Can someone clarify the use of leta)
leta is similar to : jata... as tm ho lete or: tm ho jatay,

Again thanks to Sister Hidayat for offering to help. If anyone else has any corrections feel free to help.

U r most welcome ... I have clarified the mistakes u have done. even the minor one.
and answered to ur confusions. may it helps u.
JazakAllah ul khair