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.
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 →