Who works at what in Urdu
A family wedding: relatives at the table ask each other who works where in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «آپ کیا کام کرتے ہیں؟» — What is your occupation?; «میں کیمسٹ ہوں، اپنی دکان میں کام کرتا ہوں۔» — I am a pharmacist — I work in my own shop.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a family wedding: relatives at the table ask each other who works where. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- آپ کیا کام کرتے ہیں؟ap kya kam kerte hain?What is your occupation?
- میں کیمسٹ ہوں، اپنی دکان میں کام کرتا ہوں۔main kemist hun, apni dukan main kam kerta hun.I am a pharmacist — I work in my own shop.
- آپ کا بیٹا کیا کرتا ہے؟ap ka beta kya kerta hai?And what does your son do?
- وہ سکول میں ہے، بہت اچھا شاگرد ہے۔wo skul main hai, behot achchha shagird hai.He is at school — a very good pupil.
- میری بیٹی کالج جاتی ہے۔meri beti koledzh dzhati hai.My daughter goes to college.
- کالج کے بعد وہ اپنی دکان کھولے گی۔koledzh ke baad wo apni dukan khole gi.After college she will open her own shop.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| آپ کیا کام کرتے ہیں؟ | ap kya kam kerte hain? | What is your occupation? |
| میں کیمسٹ ہوں، اپنی دکان میں کام کرتا ہوں۔ | main kemist hun, apni dukan main kam kerta hun. | I am a pharmacist — I work in my own shop. |
| آپ کا بیٹا کیا کرتا ہے؟ | ap ka beta kya kerta hai? | And what does your son do? |
| وہ سکول میں ہے، بہت اچھا شاگرد ہے۔ | wo skul main hai, behot achchha shagird hai. | He is at school — a very good pupil. |
| میری بیٹی کالج جاتی ہے۔ | meri beti koledzh dzhati hai. | My daughter goes to college. |
| کالج کے بعد وہ اپنی دکان کھولے گی۔ | koledzh ke baad wo apni dukan khole gi. | After college she will open her own shop. |
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?
“آپ کیا کام کرتے ہیں؟” (ap kya kam kerte hain?) — What is your occupation? 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.