The phone fell silent in Urdu
The phone fell off the table and no longer switches on; two people sort out what to do in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «میرا فون کام نہیں کر رہا۔» — My phone does not work; «کیا اسکرین ٹوٹ گئی ہے؟» — Is the screen broken?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the phone fell off the table and no longer switches on; two people sort out what to do. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- میرا فون کام نہیں کر رہا۔mera fon kam nahin kar reha.My phone does not work.
- کیا اسکرین ٹوٹ گئی ہے؟kya skrin tut gai hai?Is the screen broken?
- نہیں، اسکرین ٹھیک ہے لیکن فون آن نہیں ہوتا۔nahin, skrin thik hai lekin fon on nahin hota.No, the screen is whole, but the phone will not switch on.
- ری اسٹارٹ کرو، شاید ٹھیک ہو جائے۔ri start karo, shaiyad thik ho dzhae.Restart it — maybe it will come right.
- پہلے چارجنگ پر لگاؤں؟pehle chardzhing per lagaun?Put it on charge first?
- جی، پہلے چارجنگ، پھر ری اسٹارٹ۔dzhi, pehle chardzhing, phir ri start.Yes — first the charge, then the restart.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| میرا فون کام نہیں کر رہا۔ | mera fon kam nahin kar reha. | My phone does not work. |
| کیا اسکرین ٹوٹ گئی ہے؟ | kya skrin tut gai hai? | Is the screen broken? |
| نہیں، اسکرین ٹھیک ہے لیکن فون آن نہیں ہوتا۔ | nahin, skrin thik hai lekin fon on nahin hota. | No, the screen is whole, but the phone will not switch on. |
| ری اسٹارٹ کرو، شاید ٹھیک ہو جائے۔ | ri start karo, shaiyad thik ho dzhae. | Restart it — maybe it will come right. |
| پہلے چارجنگ پر لگاؤں؟ | pehle chardzhing per lagaun? | Put it on charge first? |
| جی، پہلے چارجنگ، پھر ری اسٹارٹ۔ | dzhi, pehle chardzhing, phir ri start. | Yes — first the charge, then the restart. |
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?
“میرا فون کام نہیں کر رہا۔” (mera fon kam nahin kar reha.) — My phone does not work. 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.