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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