Urdu grammar
Urdu grammar explained in plain words. The polite “aap” serves for both “you” singular and plural, one past-tense form for every verb, and “he” and “she” are written the same. What is harder: the verb always closes the sentence, and desire is said through “to me”: mujhe chai chahiye — “to me tea is needed”.
Notes
- 📐Time word plus bakhair: how the greetings are builtOne hello serves every occasion: salam — to friends, strangers and any hour of the day. To elders and in town say…
- 📐Thank you, please and you are welcomeThanks is shukriya. The intensifier stands before it: bohat shukriya — thank you very much. One word carries the…
- 📐The verb stands at the end: the link "is"Unlike English, the verb here does not hide in the middle — it shuts the sentence. "My name is Ahmed" is literally…
- 📐Aap: one polite you instead of thou and youThe polite you is aap, and to one person as well. It is the same solution as the polite you of good manners, only…
- 📐"To me it is wanted": desire without "I want"Wanting is said through "me", not through "I": mujhe chaahiye — literally "to me tea is needed". The pronoun I is not…
- 📐Nahin — the negation after the wordNegation here is a separate word, nahin, and it stands AFTER what it negates. "Tea not" — it is not tea: chaai nahin.…
- 📐Gender: masculine in -a, feminine in -iEvery noun has a gender, and it is not about sex but about shape: Words ending in -a are masculine. Words in -i are…
- 📐The izafat: the glue between two nounsThere is no preposition "of" here, and "my" is not set before the word. In their place works a short vowel e: it glues…
- 📐More and less: zyada, kam and seComparison here is built not by an ending but by two small words: zyada — more and kam — less. Between them stands the…
- 📐Place after the word: mein, par, seThere are no prepositions before the word here at all. In their place work short tails that stand AFTER the word: ghar…
- 📐My: mera, meri, mere"My" here changes not by the speaker but by what is possessed. Mera goes with the masculine, meri with the feminine…
- 📐The past: gaya, gayi, gayeThe past here is an ending on the verb, and it knows the speaker’s gender. "I went" of a man is main gaya, of a woman…
- 📐The request: -o and -iyeA request opens with a verb form, and there are two. To the close one say rakho — put it, banao — make it: the ending…
- 📐The future: the tail ga at the end of the phraseThe future is built by a tail that glues onto the verb at the very end of the line. The forms: jaaoon ga, jaaye gi…
- 📐Right now: reha hoon between the verb and the endAn action going on this very moment takes a triple frame: the bare stem, then reha or rehi, then the familiar "be".…
- 📐The plural: -e and -ain live to the end of the phraseMasculine words in -a change their ending to -e in the plural: kamra — room, kamre — rooms. Bacha — child, bachche…
- 📐Feelings live in "me": mujhe, tumhein, useFear, boredom, joy and worry are not "felt" here — they come to someone. The someone is named by "to me", and it opens…
- 📐Must, can, must not: chaahiye and saknaNeed is said by chaahiye, and it changes neither by person nor by number. For me and for you — one and the same. Who…
- 📐Ye and woh: this and thatThere are two demonstratives: ye — this, the one near, and woh — that, the one further. The same woh serves as he, she…
- 📐Weather and states: no doer, and through "me"The weather speaks by itself: garmi hai — it is hot. Thand hai — it is cold. Baarish ho rahi hai — it is raining. No…
- 📐Thora, kaafi, bohat — and the judgment: shayad, bilkul, afsosThe degree of a quality is measured with a short ruler. Thora — a little; you have said this word since the first week.…
- 📐Ke, kyunke, agar, jab: two thoughts in one phraseFour conjunctions stitch short phrases into connected speech: ke — that and so that. Kyunke — because. Agar — if. Jab…
- 📐Mera/meri, aap ka/aap ki: whose — the word beside decidesPossession here is a short ka, and it changes by the gender of the THING, not the owner. Mera bhai — my brother. Meri…
- 📐Jo: how to say "which"English spends three words on the relative — which, whose, to whom. In its place here works the short jo, and it never…
- 📐How much: the number, bohat and thoraTo say "how much", the word of quantity stands before the name of what you count. Bohat — much; thora — little, a…
- 📐If… then: agar and toThe condition is assembled from two short words. Agar — if — stands at the head of the first half, to — then — before…
- 📐The most: sab se before the wordThe superlative here neither conjugates nor declines — it is folded from two ready parts: sab — all — and the tail se.…
- 📐Than: comparison through seTo compare two things is simple: the one compared against takes the tail se, and the adjective stays as it is. Ghar…
- 📐The link by person: hoon, ho, hai, hain"To be" has only four forms, and they live in every second phrase. Hoon — I; ho — you; hai — he and she; hain — we and…
- 📐Other people’s words: ke — "that" — and the tense stays putOne’s own words and another’s are joined by the little ke — "that". After "say", "think", "hear" it always stands: bola…
- 📐When the doer is unnamed: the passive on -a jaata haiThe language of papers and notices does without who acts: "the application is submitted", "the work is done". Here such…
- 📐The bridges between thoughts: kyunke, is liye, agarche, lekinThe cause. Kyunke answers "why": nahin aaya, kyunke baarish thi. And is liye — "for this" — opens the second half and…
- 📐The order of the phrase: the verb at the end, frequency before the verbThe phrase lives by the scheme "who — what — does": main chaai peeta hoon — I tea drink. The verb closes the phrase…
- 📐The tail -wala: the one who does or hasFrom any matter the language builds a person: matter plus -wala. Khyaal rakhne wala — "the thought-keeping one", the…
- 📐The feelings come to "me": mujheShame, longing, love: none of them is "felt" here — all of them arrive. Mujhe sharm aati hai — "to me shame comes", I…
- 📐The kitchen pairs: a noun plus karna or daalnaHalf the cooking verbs are not verbs at all but pairs: a noun plus the service do-er. Namak daalna — literally "to give…
- 📐Se and ka: what it is made of and whose it isThe material is named through ka and ki, never through se: ye sweater oon ka hai — "this sweater is of wool". The…
- 📐Ho gaya: how it turned out by itselfWhat happens of itself — a break, a loss, a stop — takes the frame ho gaya: "became". Screen toot gayi — the screen…
- 📐Weather without a person: garmi hai, baarish ho rahi haiNo "it is raining" with an empty it: here the rain simply is — baarish hai — or is happening — baarish ho rahi hai. The…
- 📐The tails of place: "opposite the mosque", "beyond the bridge"Exact place is built as a pair: the landmark, then ke, then the tail. Masjid ke saamne — opposite the mosque. Pul ke…
- 📐I can: kar sakta hoon — ability through "can"Ability is a sandwich: the main verb, then sakna in its person, gender and number. Main gaari chala sakta hoon — I can…
- 📐The past: gaya, gayi, gaye — gender and number in one tailThe simple past hangs its whole grammar on one tail: gaya of a man, gayi of a woman, gaye of many. Baarish aa gayi…
- 📐The soft request: meharbani, agar, shayadA request here is softened three ways, and all three are already yours. Meharbani at the end: paani dijiye, meharbani…
- 📐A profession is "a person’s deed": -kaar, -daar, -aariTrades are built from the deed: builder — tameer-kar, the one of building. The holder — -daar, as in the taxi driver’s…
- 📐The word does not bend — the tail after it will sayA noun here has no cases: the word stands, and a tail after it does all the work. Kaam ki jagah — the place of work.…
- 📐One and many: the vowel at the end decidesThe plural here is not an ending glued on but a vowel changed: bacha — child, bachche — children. Kamra — room, kamre…
- 📐One root — a whole brood of wordsThe bookish half of the vocabulary grows from roots: kitab — book, maktab — school, maktabi — clerk — all of one…
- 📐To play, to strike, to win: what goes with whatSports verbs pair with their nouns, and the pair is worth learning whole. Khel khelna — to play a game; the game is…
- 📐Number and measure: do, das — and the word stands as it stoodThe noun after a number does not change: teen metre lambi — three metre long. Das litre paani — ten litre of water. The…
- 📐Where it hurts: meri kamar dard hai — the pain comes "to me" and to the body partA pain is stated in two moves. First whose. Then what aches. Then the word dard — pain. Mera sar dard hai — my head…
- 📐Time and occasion: ko, par, mein — little words after the wordTime is said with the same tails as place, only the question changes. Tehwar par — at the festival; chhuttion mein — in…
- 📐Whose words: ke baqol, kehte hain ke, maloom hai keThree frames hand a thought to another speaker. Daaktar ke baqol — according to the doctor: the source, then ke baqol…
- 📐Advice and "ought to have": chaahiye, chaahiye tha, tumhari marziAdvice is chaahiye with the doer in the to-whom form. Mujhe dawa leni chaahiye — I ought to take the medicine. The verb…
- 📐Ghisa hua, bhara hua: the state of a thing is a participleA thing’s state — open, broken, faded — is said by a participle: the verb plus hua. Darwaza khula hai — the door is…
- 📐With: se in place of the instrumentThe instrument of an action takes se: roti chaaku se kaato — cut the flatbread with the knife, literally "flatbread…
- 📐Where and where to: ki taraf unfolds the wordEvery place word has a motion twin: the place stands alone, the motion adds ki taraf — "toward". Upar — above; upar ki…
- 📐Le liya, kar diya: carry the action to its endA completed action takes a helper: the verb stem plus lena (for oneself) or dena (for another and for good). Kitab parh…
- 📐Aadha, tehaai, dugna: shares and multiplesShares have their own words: aadha — half; tehaai — a third; chauthaai — a quarter. They stand before the noun and…
- 📐Jab tak … nahin: until it happensTime clauses are a small family with one habit: the verb at the end of their half. Jab — when; jab se — since; jis waqt…
- 📐The verb plus jaana: carried to the resultThe second completion frame adds jaana — to go — to the verb: the deed goes all the way. Gal jaana — to rot away; bhool…
- 📐The tails -gi and -pan: how to name a qualityA quality becomes a noun by a tail: sasti (cheap) plus -gi gives susti — laziness. Neki from neak — goodness. Garmi…
- 📐Lagna: to seem, to attach, to turn outOne small verb does the work of three English ones. As "to seem" it lives with mujhe: mujhe lagta hai — it seems to me.…
- 📐Another’s question and another’s request: poochha ke kahaanA reported question keeps its question word: poochha ke kahaan — asked where. Kya, kab, kyun — all hold their place…
- 📐The paperclips glue on after the wordThe little words too, only, still, already glue on after what they serve: main bhi — I too. Sirf tum — only you. Abhi…
- 📐Whose — by the tail ka, ki, kePossession rides on the tail ka, ki or ke, chosen by the thing possessed: ye us ki gaari hai. This is his (her) car.…
- 📐Mujhe wants, mujhe needsWant and need live in the to-me form. Mujhe abhi jaana hai — to me there is going now. Mujhe ye kitab chaahiye — to me…
- 📐The verb at the end, the tail adds the senseThe subject-object-verb order is the backbone of every phrase here: main waqt par pahunch gaya — I on-time arrived.…
- 📐Someone, nothing and the obligatory nahinKoi — someone, anyone; kuchh — something, anything. Neither is negative by itself: koi aaya tha — someone came. To…
- 📐The question without a question wordA yes-no question is built by kya at the head: kya tum mujhe jaante ho? — do you know me? Nothing else moves: the…
- 📐One letter — and another acts: gira dena, nikaalna, utaarnaThe make-do form makes another person the doer: girna — to fall; gira dena — to drop (make fall). The mother dried the…
- 📐A noun and a verb in a pair: saaf karna, brake lagana, paani denaHalf the verbs of action are pairs: a noun plus the doer. Farsh saaf karna — to do the floor clean, to mop. Brake…
- 📐Like a thing: jaisa after the nounA thing is compared to a thing by jaisa after it. Ye roti patthar jaisi hai — this flatbread is like a stone. The…
- 📐The tool: se before the verbThe instrument of a deed takes se after it: main pen se likhta hoon — I write with a pen. The teacher writes the name…
- 📐Ke liye: for what and for whomPurpose and beneficiary take ke liye after the word: ye kitab bachon ke liye hai — this book is for the children. The…
- 📐Kaam nahin karta: when a thing does not do its deedA broken thing here "does not do its work": TV kaam nahin kar raha — the TV is not doing work. The verb is kaam karna…
- 📐Ke zariye: through whatA means or a channel takes ke zariye after the word. Hum internet ke zariye baatein karte hain — we talk through the…
- 📐Ke saath and ke baghair: with whom and without whomCompany takes ke saath after the word: main dost ke saath football khelta hoon — I play football with a friend. The…
What works differently from what you know
The verb in Urdu closes the sentence: mujhe chai chahiye is literally “to me tea is needed”. Desire here speaks “to me”, not “I”, and the polite aap serves for both “thou” and “you” — like the Russian vy.
R. L. Schmidt, «Urdu: An Essential Grammar», Routledge, 1999
What is hard about Urdu and what comes for free
Hard: the verb always closes the sentence, and desire is said through “to me”: mujhe chai chahiye — “to me tea is needed”.
Easy: the polite “aap” serves for both “you” singular and plural, one past-tense form for every verb, and “he” and “she” are written the same.
This is not a verdict on the language but a hint on where to spend effort. The hard parts are best taken a little at a time and often; the easy parts — left alone while they work by themselves.
Frequently asked
Is the grammar of Urdu complicated?
The verb always closes the sentence, and desire is said through “to me”: mujhe chai chahiye — “to me tea is needed” is the main difficulty. In return, the polite “aap” serves for both “you” singular and plural, one past-tense form for every verb, and “he” and “she” are written the same.
Should grammar be learned separately?
Not as a separate course. A rule learned before you need it is forgotten before you meet it. It is more useful to work it out at the moment you stumble over it.