کراچی
“کراچی” (Karachi) — Karachi in Urdu. Noun, level A0, topic — buildings and premises. The port city and the biggest in the country: people come to it from everywhere for work. Karachi’s speech is softer than Lahore’s — the city cousin of the same voice. In a live sentence: “کراچی بڑا شہر ہے” — Karachi is a big city. Written with the characters ک, ر, ا, چ, ی. One of 25 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Urdu course.
In short
| Written in Urdu | کراچی |
| Read in Latin letters | Karachi |
| Translation | Karachi |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
The port city and the biggest in the country: people come to it from everywhere for work. Karachi’s speech is softer than Lahore’s — the city cousin of the same voice
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.
- کراچی بڑا شہر ہےKarachi bara sheher haiKarachi is a big city
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- پاکستانPakistanPakistanThe country of the course: the name reads "land of the pure". Its language is the one you are learning, official alongside the neighbor’s
- لاہورLahorLahoreThe heart of the course: the city whose dialect fills the films and the bazaars. A Lahori is its person, and the tea there is a science of its own
- ریسٹورانٹrestorantrestaurantAn international word written in the local script. The cheap eatery is khaane ki dukaan, "a shop of food" — the same dukaan as the shop
- چوکchoksquareA crossroads, a square where roads meet. Chowk Ghanta Ghar with its clock tower is the heart of old Lahore
- بازارbazarmarketThe very bazaar English has known for centuries: the covered rows of Lahore are a city within the city, with mosques, tea-houses and lanes of their own
- اسٹیشنsteshanstationOne word for the railway station and the bus stop: bus station is the bus one. An international word written in the local script
- دکانdukanshopA stall, a kiosk, a workshop — any place of trade. One eats in a dukaan too: khaane ki dukaan — the eatery
- کاؤنٹرkauntercounterAn international word written in the local script: the shop counter and the cashier’s window are one counter. There is no separate street stall — the trader sits behind his own
- کریانہ اسٹورkirana storgrocery storeKirana is the dry goods: rice, flour, spices. Such a shop stands at every corner, and the owner knows the customers by name
- ہسپتالhisptalhospitalThe same word as hospital: it came into the language through the same Latin. Big hospitals are many in the cities, private ones more
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “Karachi” in Urdu?
The port city and the biggest in the country: people come to it from everywhere for work. Karachi’s speech is softer than Lahore’s — the city cousin of the same voice
- How do you say “shop” in Urdu?
A stall, a kiosk, a workshop — any place of trade. One eats in a dukaan too: khaane ki dukaan — the eatery
- How do you say “restaurant” in Urdu?
An international word written in the local script. The cheap eatery is khaane ki dukaan, "a shop of food" — the same dukaan as the shop
- How do you say “hospital” in Urdu?
The same word as hospital: it came into the language through the same Latin. Big hospitals are many in the cities, private ones more
- How do you say “station” in Urdu?
One word for the railway station and the bus stop: bus station is the bus one. An international word written in the local script
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 “Karachi” in Urdu?
«کراچی», read “Karachi”. In a live sentence: “کراچی بڑا شہر ہے” — Karachi is a big city. Noun, level A0, from the set “buildings and premises”; written with the characters ک, ر, ا, چ, ی.
How is “کراچی” written in Latin letters?
Karachi. 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?
The port city and the biggest in the country: people come to it from everywhere for work. Karachi’s speech is softer than Lahore’s — the city cousin of the same voice. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.