Late, and sorry in Urdu
Two friends at a tea-house, one has kept the other waiting in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «معاف کیجیے، بہت دیر ہو گئی۔» — Excuse me, I am very late; «کوئی مسئلہ نہیں۔ کیا ہوا؟» — No problem. What happened? The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two friends at a tea-house, one has kept the other waiting. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- معاف کیجیے، بہت دیر ہو گئی۔maaf kidzhiye, behot dir ho gai.Excuse me, I am very late.
- کوئی مسئلہ نہیں۔ کیا ہوا؟koi masla nahin. kya hua?No problem. What happened?
- ریل گاڑی چھوٹ گئی۔ میں ناراض ہوں۔ril gari chhut gai. main naraz hun.The train left without me. I am angry.
- ارام سے۔ پہلے چائے پیتے ہیں۔aram se. pehle chai pite hain.Calm down. First we drink tea.
- شکریہ۔ تم صحیح ہو۔shukriya. tum sahih ho.Thank you. You are right.
- پھر میں رکشہ سے آؤں گا۔phir main riksha se aun ga.Next time I will come by rickshaw.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| معاف کیجیے، بہت دیر ہو گئی۔ | maaf kidzhiye, behot dir ho gai. | Excuse me, I am very late. |
| کوئی مسئلہ نہیں۔ کیا ہوا؟ | koi masla nahin. kya hua? | No problem. What happened? |
| ریل گاڑی چھوٹ گئی۔ میں ناراض ہوں۔ | ril gari chhut gai. main naraz hun. | The train left without me. I am angry. |
| ارام سے۔ پہلے چائے پیتے ہیں۔ | aram se. pehle chai pite hain. | Calm down. First we drink tea. |
| شکریہ۔ تم صحیح ہو۔ | shukriya. tum sahih ho. | Thank you. You are right. |
| پھر میں رکشہ سے آؤں گا۔ | phir main riksha se aun ga. | Next time I will come by rickshaw. |
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، بہت دیر ہو گئی۔” (maaf kidzhiye, behot dir ho gai.) — Excuse me, I am very late. 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.