Now that you can greet (Level 1), let's exchange names and origins. You'll also meet Urdu's famous three levels of 'you', politeness is built right into the grammar.
میرا نام مونیب ہےmerā nām Muneeb hai: My name is MuneebSwap in your own name. 'Merā' = my, 'hai' = is.
آپ کا نام کیا ہے؟āp kā nām kyā hai?: What is your name?'Āp' is the respectful 'you', your default with strangers.
آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئیāp se mil kar khushī huī: Pleased to meet youLiterally 'meeting you, happiness happened'.
میں امریکہ سے ہوںmaiṉ Amrīkā se hūṉ: I am from AmericaPattern: maiṉ ___ se hūṉ = I'm from ___.
آپ کہاں سے ہیں؟āp kahāṉ se haiṉ?: Where are you from?'Kahāṉ' = where. Notice the nasal ṉ, it's everywhere in Urdu.
میں اردو سیکھ رہا ہوںmaiṉ urdū sīkh rahā hūṉ: I am learning Urdu (male speaker)Verbs agree with the speaker's gender: rahā (m).
میں اردو سیکھ رہی ہوںmaiṉ urdū sīkh rahī hūṉ: I am learning Urdu (female speaker)…and rahī (f). Same sentence, different ending.
آہستہ بولیےāhista boliye: Please speak slowlyThe learner's best friend. Use it without shame.
تشریف رکھیےtashrīf rakhiye: Please have a seatCeremonious and very warm. Literally 'place your honour here'.
آپ کہاں رہتے ہیں؟āp kahāṉ rahte haiṉ?: Where do you live?Rahnā = to live, to stay. Different from kahāṉ se (where from).
آپ کیا کرتے ہیں؟āp kyā karte haiṉ?: What do you do?Work, asked the polite way, without the word for work.
مجھے بھی خوشی ہوئیmujhe bhī khushī huī: The pleasure is mine tooBhī = also, and it goes AFTER the word it lifts.
میں امریکہ میں رہتا ہوںmaiṉ Amrīkā meṉ rahtā hūṉ: I live in AmericaMeṉ = in. A woman says rahtī hūṉ.
میرے والدین پاکستان سے ہیںmere wālidain Pākistān se haiṉ: My parents are from PakistanWālidain = parents. The sentence this whole site was built for.
میں ڈاکٹر ہوںmaiṉ ḍākṭar hūṉ: I am a doctorSwap in your own: injīnīyar, ustād, tālib-e-ilm (student).
آپ سے دوبارہ ملیں گےāp se dobāra mileṉ ge: We'll meet againDobāra = a second time. Warmer than a plain goodbye.
Good to know
✨ Urdu has three words for “you”: tū (intimate/blunt), tum (casual, friends), and āp (respectful). Getting them wrong can be as awkward as calling your boss “dude”, when in doubt, use āp.
✨ Urdu sentences run Subject–Object–Verb: “maiṉ urdū sīkh rahā hūṉ” is literally “I Urdu learning am.” The verb always parks at the end.
✨ Spoken Urdu and spoken Hindi are largely mutually intelligible, learn one and you can chat with well over half a billion people.
Urdu Ustaadh is a free Urdu-learning resource: native audio, daily games, the Nastaliq script, and Pakistani culture. A project of Muneeb Ata Enterprises. Start learning free →