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Sab Se Behtar · Comparisons

Bigger than, best of all, compare anything with one little se

You already know se as 'from' (L11). Urdu recycles it for comparisons: X se baṛā = bigger than X. And 'the most'? Sab se, 'than all'. Two words, and suddenly you can rank the whole world.

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The phrases

یہ اس سے بڑا ہےyeh us se baṛā hai: This is bigger than thatThe template. Us se = than that; swap in anything.
آم سیب سے میٹھا ہےām seb se mīṭhā hai: Mango is sweeter than appleSeb = apple, mīṭhā = sweet. The bazaar agrees.
یہ سب سے سستا ہےyeh sab se sastā hai: This is the cheapestSab se = than all → the superlative. Sastā from your bargaining kit.
کے ٹو سب سے اونچا پہاڑ ہےK2 sab se ūṉchā pahāṛ hai: K2 is the highest mountainTrue in Pakistan (8,611 m). Ūṉchā = high, pahāṛ = mountain. Naqsha vocabulary, live.
لاہور کراچی سے پرانا ہےlāhaur karāchī se purānā hai: Lahore is older than KarachiHistorically true. Lahore is ancient; Karachi boomed in the 1800s. Purānā = old.
یہ بہتر ہےyeh behtar hai: This is betterBehtar = better, no se needed. Behtarīn = the very best.
تھوڑا سستا کریںthoṛā sastā kareṉ: Make it a bit cheaperThoṛā from thoṛā-thoṛā. Deploy at the bazaar with RP3's confidence.
آج کل سے گرم ہےāj kal se garam hai: Today is hotter than yesterdayL8's āj/kal + L12's garam, comparison unlocks small talk.
یہ زیادہ اچھا ہےyeh zyāda achhā hai: This one is betterZyāda = more. The everyday comparative.
دونوں ایک جیسے ہیںdonoṉ ek jaise haiṉ: Both are the sameDonoṉ = both; ek jaise = alike.
اس سے سستا کچھ ہے؟is se sastā kuchh hai?: Is there anything cheaper than this?Your bazaar move: se for the comparison, kuchh for 'anything'.
یہ سب سے مہنگا ہےyeh sab se mahangā hai: This is the most expensiveSab se = than all. The superlative, every time.
کم سے کمkam se kam: at leastLiterally 'less than less'.
زیادہ سے زیادہzyāda se zyāda: at mostAnd its mirror, 'more than more'.
میرے خیال میں یہ بہتر ہےmere khayāl meṉ yeh behtar hai: In my opinion this is betterKhayāl = thought, opinion. Literally 'in my thought'.
جتنا بڑا، اتنا مہنگاjitnā baṛā, utnā mahangā: The bigger it is, the pricierjitnā…utnā, Urdu's the-more-the-more pair.

Good to know

✨ Se is Urdu's hardest-working little word: from (Lahore se), than (us se), with (chamach se), since (kal se). Context does the sorting.
✨ Sab se literally means 'than all'. Urdu builds 'the best' as 'better than everything', which is honestly more logical than English's good/better/best.
✨ K2's name is a surveyor's label that stuck, locally it's also called Chhogori. At 8,611 m it's Earth's second-highest peak, and entirely in Pakistan's Karakoram.

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