The argument at the office meeting in Urdu
A small firm; two disagree about the price in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «میں تجویز کرتا ہوں کہ قیمت دس فیصد بڑھے۔» — I propose that the price grow by ten percent; «میری رائے میں یہ خطرناک فیصلہ ہے، دلیلیں کیا ہیں؟» — In my opinion it is a dangerous decision — what arguments?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a small firm; two disagree about the price. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- میں تجویز کرتا ہوں کہ قیمت دس فیصد بڑھے۔main tadzhwiz karta hun ke qimat das fisad barhe.I propose that the price grow by ten percent.
- میری رائے میں یہ خطرناک فیصلہ ہے، دلیلیں کیا ہیں؟meri rai main ye khatarnak faisla hai, delilen kya hain?In my opinion it is a dangerous decision — what arguments?
- خرچے بڑھ گئے ہیں، یہ حقیقت ہے، رائے نہیں۔kharche barh gae hain, ye haqiqat hai, rai nahin.The expenses have grown — that is a fact, not an opinion.
- میں مخالف ہوں، گاہک شکایت کریں گے۔main mukhalif hun, gahak shikayat karen ge.I am against — the clients will complain.
- ٹھیک، گاہکوں کا سروے کرواتے ہیں۔thik, gahakon ka sarwe krawate hain.Good — we shall conduct a survey of the clients.
- سہی بات، فیصلہ اگلے ہفتے کرتے ہیں۔sihi bat, faisla agle hafte karte hain.Right — the decision will be taken next week.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| میں تجویز کرتا ہوں کہ قیمت دس فیصد بڑھے۔ | main tadzhwiz karta hun ke qimat das fisad barhe. | I propose that the price grow by ten percent. |
| میری رائے میں یہ خطرناک فیصلہ ہے، دلیلیں کیا ہیں؟ | meri rai main ye khatarnak faisla hai, delilen kya hain? | In my opinion it is a dangerous decision — what arguments? |
| خرچے بڑھ گئے ہیں، یہ حقیقت ہے، رائے نہیں۔ | kharche barh gae hain, ye haqiqat hai, rai nahin. | The expenses have grown — that is a fact, not an opinion. |
| میں مخالف ہوں، گاہک شکایت کریں گے۔ | main mukhalif hun, gahak shikayat karen ge. | I am against — the clients will complain. |
| ٹھیک، گاہکوں کا سروے کرواتے ہیں۔ | thik, gahakon ka sarwe krawate hain. | Good — we shall conduct a survey of the clients. |
| سہی بات، فیصلہ اگلے ہفتے کرتے ہیں۔ | sihi bat, faisla agle hafte karte hain. | Right — the decision will be taken next week. |
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?
“میں تجویز کرتا ہوں کہ قیمت دس فیصد بڑھے۔” (main tadzhwiz karta hun ke qimat das fisad barhe.) — I propose that the price grow by ten percent. 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.