The wrong pattern in Urdu
In a cloth shop: the buyer returns yesterday’s purchase — at home she saw the pattern is not the one in Urdu. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «معاف کیجیے، میں کل والی قمیض واپس دینا چاہتی ہوں۔» — Excuse me, I want to return yesterday’s shirt; «جی، مسئلہ کیا ہے؟» — Yes — what is the matter?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: in a cloth shop: the buyer returns yesterday’s purchase — at home she saw the pattern is not the one. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- معاف کیجیے، میں کل والی قمیض واپس دینا چاہتی ہوں۔maaf kidzhiye, main kal wali qamiz wapas dina chahti hun.Excuse me, I want to return yesterday’s shirt.
- جی، مسئلہ کیا ہے؟dzhi, masla kya hai?Yes — what is the matter?
- رنگ چمکدار تھا، میں نے ایک رنگ کا چاہا تھا۔rang chamakdar tha, main ne ek rang ka chaha tha.The color was bright, and I wanted a plain one.
- یہ دھاری دار ہے اور یہ چیکس والی۔ آپ کو کون سی پسند ہے؟ye dhari dar hai aur ye cheks wali. ap ko kun si pasand hai?This one is striped, and this one checkered. Which do you like?
- وہ دھاری دار والی، مہربانی۔wo dhari dar wali, meharbani.The striped one, please.
- اس میں دھبے بھی ہیں، دیکھیے۔is main dhabbe bhi hain, dekhie.It has polka dots too — look.
- اچھا، یہی دیجیے، شکریہ۔achchha, yehi didzhiye, shukriya.Fine, give me this one, thank you.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| معاف کیجیے، میں کل والی قمیض واپس دینا چاہتی ہوں۔ | maaf kidzhiye, main kal wali qamiz wapas dina chahti hun. | Excuse me, I want to return yesterday’s shirt. |
| جی، مسئلہ کیا ہے؟ | dzhi, masla kya hai? | Yes — what is the matter? |
| رنگ چمکدار تھا، میں نے ایک رنگ کا چاہا تھا۔ | rang chamakdar tha, main ne ek rang ka chaha tha. | The color was bright, and I wanted a plain one. |
| یہ دھاری دار ہے اور یہ چیکس والی۔ آپ کو کون سی پسند ہے؟ | ye dhari dar hai aur ye cheks wali. ap ko kun si pasand hai? | This one is striped, and this one checkered. Which do you like? |
| وہ دھاری دار والی، مہربانی۔ | wo dhari dar wali, meharbani. | The striped one, please. |
| اس میں دھبے بھی ہیں، دیکھیے۔ | is main dhabbe bhi hain, dekhie. | It has polka dots too — look. |
| اچھا، یہی دیجیے، شکریہ۔ | achchha, yehi didzhiye, shukriya. | Fine, give me this one, thank you. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Urdu in this situation?
“معاف کیجیے، میں کل والی قمیض واپس دینا چاہتی ہوں۔” (maaf kidzhiye, main kal wali qamiz wapas dina chahti hun.) — Excuse me, I want to return yesterday’s shirt. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.