An examination at the doctor’s in Urdu
A consulting room; a man has come with a back pain and insomnia in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «معاف کیجیے، مجھے معائنہ کروانا ہے۔» — Excuse me, I need an examination; «پہلے ایکسرے ہوں گے، پھر تشخیص ہوگی۔» — First there will be an X-ray, then the diagnosis.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a consulting room; a man has come with a back pain and insomnia. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- معاف کیجیے، مجھے معائنہ کروانا ہے۔maaf kidzhiye, mujhe muaina krawana hai.Excuse me, I need an examination.
- پہلے ایکسرے ہوں گے، پھر تشخیص ہوگی۔pehle iksre hun ge, phir tashkhis hogi.First there will be an X-ray, then the diagnosis.
- میری کمر درد ہے اور رات کو بے خوابی بھی ہے۔meri kamar dard hai aur rat ko be khwabi bhi hai.My back hurts, and at night insomnia too.
- ذہنی دباؤ بھی تکلیف دیتا ہے، دوا لکھ دیتا ہوں۔zehni dabao bhi taklef deta hai, dawa likh dita hun.Stress also gives suffering — I will prescribe medicine.
- اس دوا کا سائیڈ ایفیکٹ تو نہیں؟is dawa ka said efekt to nahin?This medicine has no side effect, right?
- نہیں، لیکن کمزوری آ سکتی ہے، آرام ضروری ہے۔nahin, lekin kamzori a sakti hai, aram zaruri hai.No, but weakness may come — rest is obligatory.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| معاف کیجیے، مجھے معائنہ کروانا ہے۔ | maaf kidzhiye, mujhe muaina krawana hai. | Excuse me, I need an examination. |
| پہلے ایکسرے ہوں گے، پھر تشخیص ہوگی۔ | pehle iksre hun ge, phir tashkhis hogi. | First there will be an X-ray, then the diagnosis. |
| میری کمر درد ہے اور رات کو بے خوابی بھی ہے۔ | meri kamar dard hai aur rat ko be khwabi bhi hai. | My back hurts, and at night insomnia too. |
| ذہنی دباؤ بھی تکلیف دیتا ہے، دوا لکھ دیتا ہوں۔ | zehni dabao bhi taklef deta hai, dawa likh dita hun. | Stress also gives suffering — I will prescribe medicine. |
| اس دوا کا سائیڈ ایفیکٹ تو نہیں؟ | is dawa ka said efekt to nahin? | This medicine has no side effect, right? |
| نہیں، لیکن کمزوری آ سکتی ہے، آرام ضروری ہے۔ | nahin, lekin kamzori a sakti hai, aram zaruri hai. | No, but weakness may come — rest is obligatory. |
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، مجھے معائنہ کروانا ہے۔” (maaf kidzhiye, mujhe muaina krawana hai.) — Excuse me, I need an examination. 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.