All lessons › Reading unit 4

First Words · Read for Real

Sound out words you already know

Time to cash in. Every word below is one you learned in the speaking levels — now decode it letter by letter. Read right to left, find the shapes, let the dots guide you.

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The phrases

نامnām — namenūn + alif + mīm
پانیpānī — waterpe + alif + nūn + ye
دوستdost — frienddāl + wā'o + sīn + te
چائےchāy — teache + alif + hamza + baṛī ye
دسdas — tendāl + sīn
بہنbehen — sisterbe + choṭī he + nūn
اردوurdū — Urdualif + re + dāl + wā'o
شکریہshukriya — thank youshīn + kāf + re + ye + choṭī he

Good to know

✨ You just read اردو — the language's own name — in its own script. The alif–re break and the dāl–wā'o break mean this four-letter word sits in three separate pieces.
✨ Urdu spelling is far more regular than English: once you know the letters, most words read exactly as written. No 'though/tough/through' nonsense.

Vowels · The Invisible Ink  ·  Ginti · Urdu Numerals

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