The words you need at the doctor, at the dinner table, and any time somebody asks kyā hāl hai. Twelve body parts, eight feelings, and the four names for the parts of a day. Urdu builds most feelings as 'to me, hunger is attached' rather than 'I am hungry', and that small flip is worth meeting early.
آنکھāṉkh: eyenasal ṉ then aspirated kh, the whole Sound School in one word
کانkān: earkān kā kachchā = gullible, 'soft of ear'
ناکnāk: nosenāk kaṭnā, 'the nose being cut', is to be publicly humiliated
منہmuṉh: mouthwritten with the gol he, said with a nasal hum
ہاتھhāth: handhāthī, the elephant, is 'the one with a hand'
پاؤںpāoṉ: footpair is the other everyday word for it
پیٹpeṭ: stomachretroflex ṭ, tongue curled back
بالbāl: hairone hair or a whole head of it, same word
دانتdāṉt: toothyour Sound School minimal pair, now with a picture
بازوbāzū: armalso the arm of a chair, and a wing of a building
ٹانگṭāṉg: legṭāṉg aṛānā, 'to jam your leg in', is to butt into someone's business
خوشkhush: happyPersian; never changes shape, for anyone
اداسudās: sadthe quiet, wistful kind of sad that ghazals live on
بھوکاbhūkā: hungrya woman says bhūkī; or say mujhe bhūk lagī hai, 'hunger has struck me'
پیاساpyāsā: thirstysame pattern: pyāsī for a woman, pyās for the thirst itself
تھکا ہواthakā huā: tiredliterally 'having tired'; thak gayā is the everyday way to say it
غصہghussa: angerthe noun: mujhe ghussa ā rahā hai, 'anger is coming to me'
ڈرا ہواḍarā huā: frightenedfrom ḍar, fear; ḍar lagtā hai = it scares me
حیرانhairān: surprisedsurprised, amazed, and slightly bewildered, all at once
صبحsubah: morningsubah bakhair = good morning
دوپہرdopahar: midday / afternoondo (two) + pahar, the old three-hour watch of the day
شامshām: eveningthe same word Urdu uses for Syria, Shām
راتrāt: nightrāt ko = at night; shab is its poetic twin
Good to know
✨ Urdu rarely says 'I am hungry'. It says mujhe bhūk lagī hai, 'hunger has struck me'. Feelings arrive and happen to you, they are not things you are, and the grammar keeps that idea alive.
✨ A pahar is an old three-hour division of the day, eight to a full cycle. dopahar (midday) still carries that arithmetic inside it, long after anyone stopped counting the day that way.
✨ Body parts run Urdu's idioms: nāk kaṭnā (nose cut, to be humiliated), kān kā kachchā (soft-eared, gullible), ṭāṉg aṛānā (leg jammed in, to interfere). Learn the twelve words and a whole layer of conversation opens up.
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