At the service window in Urdu
A government-office window, the visitor missed half of what was said in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «معاف کیجیے، سن نہیں سکا۔ آپ نے کیا کہا؟» — Excuse me, I did not catch it. What did you say?; «فارم مہینے کے آخر تک جمع کروانا ہے۔» — The form must be submitted by the end of the month.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a government-office window, the visitor missed half of what was said. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- معاف کیجیے، سن نہیں سکا۔ آپ نے کیا کہا؟maaf kidzhiye, sun nahin saka. ap ne kya kyaha?Excuse me, I did not catch it. What did you say?
- فارم مہینے کے آخر تک جمع کروانا ہے۔farm mahine ke akhir tak dzhama karwana haiThe form must be submitted by the end of the month.
- اگر میں ٹھیک سمجھا ہوں، تیس تاريخ تک؟agar main thik samajha hun, tis tarikh tak?Did I understand rightly — by the thirtieth?
- جی ہاں۔ اور ایک کاپی بھی چاہیے۔dzhi han. aur ek kapi bhi chahiyeYes. And one copy is needed too.
- یہ لفظ کیسے لکھا جاتا ہے؟ye lafz kaise likha dzhata hai?How is it written?
- حرف حرف بتائیں؟ ٹھیک ہے، آہستہ سنو۔harf harf bitain? thik hai, ahista sunoDictate it letter by letter? Good, listen slowly.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| معاف کیجیے، سن نہیں سکا۔ آپ نے کیا کہا؟ | maaf kidzhiye, sun nahin saka. ap ne kya kyaha? | Excuse me, I did not catch it. What did you say? |
| فارم مہینے کے آخر تک جمع کروانا ہے۔ | farm mahine ke akhir tak dzhama karwana hai | The form must be submitted by the end of the month. |
| اگر میں ٹھیک سمجھا ہوں، تیس تاريخ تک؟ | agar main thik samajha hun, tis tarikh tak? | Did I understand rightly — by the thirtieth? |
| جی ہاں۔ اور ایک کاپی بھی چاہیے۔ | dzhi han. aur ek kapi bhi chahiye | Yes. And one copy is needed too. |
| یہ لفظ کیسے لکھا جاتا ہے؟ | ye lafz kaise likha dzhata hai? | How is it written? |
| حرف حرف بتائیں؟ ٹھیک ہے، آہستہ سنو۔ | harf harf bitain? thik hai, ahista suno | Dictate it letter by letter? Good, listen slowly. |
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، سن نہیں سکا۔ آپ نے کیا کہا؟” (maaf kidzhiye, sun nahin saka. ap ne kya kyaha?) — Excuse me, I did not catch it. What did you say? 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.