دسترخوان
“دسترخوان” (dastarkhwan) — tablecloth in Urdu. Noun, level A2, topic — home and things. Literally "a resting place for the hand": the spread on which the whole meal sits. In a live sentence: “دسترخوان پر سب بیٹھتے ہیں” — Everyone sits at the tablecloth. Written with the characters د, س, ت, ر, خ, و, ا, ن. One of 193 words in the set “home and things” in the Urdu course.
In short
| Written in Urdu | دسترخوان |
| Read in Latin letters | dastarkhwan |
| Translation | tablecloth |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "a resting place for the hand": the spread on which the whole meal sits
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- دسترخوان پر سب بیٹھتے ہیںdastarkhwan per sab bethte hainEveryone sits at the tablecloth
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- گھرgharhouseThe home as one’s own dwelling, with a breath: ghar. Ghar jaana — to go home — carries the direction inside the verb of motion, no preposition needed
- رہائشrehaiishlodgingFrom rehna — to live — which you know: lodging is where one lives. A word of notices and papers; in talk one simply says ghar
- کمرہkamraroomA short word; the plural is kamre. Rooms are counted here as at home: teen kamre — three rooms
- باورچی خانہbawarchi khanakitchenLiterally "the cook’s house": khaana is the same "food", only here it also means "house, shelter". The kitchen in Urdu is a world of its own
- غسل خانہghusal khanabathroomLiterally "the house of washing" — the same khaana as the kitchen’s. A tub in the English sense is rare: more often a shower and a bucket
- بالکونیbalkonibalconyAn international word written in the local script. Evening tea on the balcony is as much a ritual as the balcony tea anywhere
- منزلmanzilfloorOne word for the floor and for the halting place of a journey: the house as a road, each floor a night’s lodging. Counted from the first, as at home
- لفٹliftliftAn international word written in the local script. Old houses have none at all — "there is no lift" is heard often
- سیڑھیsidhistairsThe staircase, the stepladder and the step are one word. Seedhi se — by the stairs: the direction here is said by the tail se after the word
- میزmeztableThe same mez the Persians keep: the word came down the trade roads with the furniture itself. Dining, writing and dressing tables are all mez
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “tablecloth” in Urdu?
Literally "a resting place for the hand": the spread on which the whole meal sits
- How do you say “floor” in Urdu?
One word for the floor and for the halting place of a journey: the house as a road, each floor a night’s lodging. Counted from the first, as at home
- How do you say “room” in Urdu?
A short word; the plural is kamre. Rooms are counted here as at home: teen kamre — three rooms
- How do you say “table” in Urdu?
The same mez the Persians keep: the word came down the trade roads with the furniture itself. Dining, writing and dressing tables are all mez
- How do you say “balcony” in Urdu?
An international word written in the local script. Evening tea on the balcony is as much a ritual as the balcony tea anywhere
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “tablecloth” in Urdu?
«دسترخوان», read “dastarkhwan”. In a live sentence: “دسترخوان پر سب بیٹھتے ہیں” — Everyone sits at the tablecloth. Noun, level A2, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters د, س, ت, ر, خ, و, ا, ن.
How is “دسترخوان” written in Latin letters?
dastarkhwan. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "a resting place for the hand": the spread on which the whole meal sits. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.