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Mat Karo · No, Don't, Stop

Negation and commands, with courtesy built in

Saying no, telling people what (not) to do, and doing both politely. Urdu builds respect directly into command endings, the -iye you met at the chai dhaba runs the whole system.

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The phrases

متmat: don't (with commands)The command-negator: mat jāo, don't go.
مت جاؤmat jāo: Don't go!Every Bollywood/Lollywood climax in one phrase.
رکوruko: Stop! / Wait!
آؤāo: Come!Casual tum-level command. Āiye for āp-level.
بیٹھیےbaiṭhiye: Please sitThe -iye courtesy ending from Level 10, every host's first word.
سنیےsuniye: Please listen / excuse meThe universal polite summons, how you call a waiter or begin a request.
مجھے نہیں پتہmujhe nahīṉ patā: I don't knowTop-five most useful sentence in the language. Deploy honestly.
کوئی مسئلہ نہیںkoī mas'alah nahīṉ: No problemSibling of L10's koī bāt nahīṉ.
فکر مت کروfikr mat karo: Don't worryFikr = worry. The phrase that ends most desi phone calls.
نہیں چاہیےnahīṉ chāhiye: (I) don't want/need itL5's chāhiye, negated, bazaar armor.
جی، ضرورjī, zarūr: Yes, certainlyThe warm yes to any polite request.
ایسا مت کہیںaisā mat kaheṉ: Please don't say thatMat with the polite -eṉ ending: a soft refusal of a compliment.
آہستہ چلیںāhista chaleṉ: Go slowlyPainted on the back of trucks, and said to every rickshaw driver.
جلدی کریںjaldī kareṉ: Hurry upJaldī karnā, to do quickness. Politer than it sounds.
اجازت دیجیےijāzat dījiye: Allow me / with your permissionSaid when leaving a gathering. Nobody just walks out.
خیال رکھیے گاkhayāl rakhiye gā: Do take careThe gā softens a command into a wish. The kindest goodbye.

Good to know

✨ Commands come in three courtesies matching the three 'you's: jā (tū, blunt), jāo (tum, casual), jāiye (āp, gracious). The verb ending does your bowing for you.
✨ Suniye, literally 'please listen', is the all-purpose polite attention-getter: waiters, shopkeepers, strangers, spouses. Urdu's answer to 'excuse me', but warmer.
✨ Nahīṉ parks right before the verb: “maiṉ nahīṉ jāūṉgā”. I will NOT go. Negation slots into every tense you now own.

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