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Urdu is a living language which, according to estimates, is spoken by close to 100 million people around the world. It is the official language of Pakistan, a status which it shares with English. It is also spoken and understood in parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Middle East, and many other countries around the world where Pakistani communities have settled.

In India, Urdu is spoken in places with large Muslim communities or cities that were once power centres of Muslim Empires. They include parts of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kashmir, Bhopal and Hyderabad. Some Indian schools teach Urdu as a first language and have their own syllabus and exams.

The Urdu community in the UK numbers about four hundred thousand speakers.

Many English words are commonly used in spoken and written Urdu.

爻丕卅賳爻 [science], science
诏賱丕爻 [glass], glass
讴乇倬俟 [corrupt], corrupt
賲丕卅賳趫 [mind], mind
讴賵乇俟 [court], court
噩蹖賱 [jail], jail
賮丕卅賱 [file], file
讴丕倬蹖 [copy], copy
賮賵俟賵 [photo], photo
賱丕卅亘乇蹖乇蹖 [library] library
讴丕乇 [car], car
亘爻 [bus], bus
乇蹖賱賵蹝 [railway], railway
丕卅乇倬賵乇俟 [airport], airport

Similarly, Urdu has also contributed a few words to the English language.

cushy from 听禺賵卮蹖 [khushi], ease, happiness
pukka from 听倬讴賾丕 [pakka], solid
cummerbund from 听讴賲乇 亘賳丿 [kamarband], waist binding
chutney from 听趩俟賳蹖 [chatni], to crush
jungle from 听噩賳诏賱 [jangal], jungle
thug from 听俟诰诏 [thhug], cheat, swindler
verandah from 听亘乇丌賲丿蹃 摆产补谤鈥檃补尘诲补丑闭, verandah
garam masala from 听诏乇賲 賲氐丕賱丨蹃 [garam masaalah], hot mix

Urdu grammar, word construction and sentence structure are very systematic, however, Urdu presents some challenges.

Urdu uses formal and informal verb forms and each noun has either masculine or feminine gender. Don鈥檛 worry if you mix things up at the beginning 鈥� as a learner you will be forgiven.

For those whose mother tongue is written from left to right, one of the challenges of learning Urdu is getting used to reading right to left.

Urdu pronunciation is not always regular. For example, the word exactly is written 听亘丕賱讴賱 [bal kul], but pronounced 鈥渂il kul鈥�, so it鈥檚 advisable to memorise vocabulary with the exact pronunciation. In this respect it鈥檚 similar to English which has plenty of irregular spellings.

If you say any of these tongue twisters repeatedly, you鈥檙e bound to stumble!

爻賲噩诰 爻賲噩诰 讴蹝 爻賲噩诰 讴賵 爻賲噩诰賵
爻賲噩诰 爻賲噩诰賳丕 亘诰蹖 丕讴 爻賲噩诰 蹃蹝
爻賲噩诰 爻賲噩诰 讴蹝 亘诰蹖 噩賵 賳蹃 爻賲噩诰蹝
賲蹖乇蹖 爻賲噩诰 賲蹖诤 賵蹃 賳丕爻賲噩诰 蹃蹝

[Samajh samajh ke samajh ko samjho
Samjh samjhana bhee ek samajh hai
Samajh samjh ke bhee jo na samjhe
Meri samjh mein wo naasamajh hai.]

In an understanding way, understand the understanding. Understanding the understanding is an understanding in itself.
He who doesn't understand the understanding, in my understanding, is a 'non-understanding'.

趩賳賵 讴蹝 趩丕趩丕 賳蹝
趩賳賵 讴蹖 趩丕趩蹖 讴賵
趩丕賳丿賳蹖 乇丕鬲 賲蹖诤
趩丕賳丿蹖 讴蹖 趩賲趩 爻蹝
趩俟賳蹖 趩俟丕卅蹖

[Chunnu kay chacha ne,
chunnu ki chachi ko,
chandni raat mein,
chandi ki chamach se,
chatni chatai.]

The little boy's uncle made the little boy's auntie lick the sauce with a silver spoon on a moonlit night.

讴趩丕 倬丕倬趹 倬讴丕 倬丕倬趹
[Katcha papad pakka papad.]
Uncooked poppadum, cooked poppadum.

丕蹖讴 賲賵俟丕 丌丿賲蹖 丕倬賳蹝 丿亘賱蹝 倬鬲賱蹝 丿賵爻鬲 爻蹝 讴蹃鬲丕 蹃蹝: 鈥欌�欂� 賲蹖诤 鬲賲诰蹖诤 丿蹖讴诰鬲丕 蹃賵诤 鬲賵 賱诏鬲丕 蹃蹝 讴蹃 丿賳蹖丕 賲蹖诤 賯丨胤 倬趹诏蹖丕 蹃蹝蹟貙貙
丿亘賱丕 賮賵乇丕賸 噩賵丕亘 丿蹖鬲丕 蹃蹝: 鈥欌�欂з堌� 鬲賲诰蹖诤 丿蹖讴诰 讴乇 讴賵卅蹖 亘诰蹖 丌爻丕賳蹖 爻蹝 蹖蹃 爻賲噩诰 爻讴鬲丕 蹃蹝 讴蹃 蹖蹃 賯丨胤 讴蹖賵诤 倬趹丕 蹃蹝蹟貙貙

[Aik mota aadmi apney dubley dost sey kehta hey: 鈥渏ab bhi mey tumhey dekhta hoon, lagta hey dunya mey qehet par gaya hey.鈥欌��
Dubla foran jawab deta hey: 鈥淎ur tumhey dekh key koi bhi asaani sey ye samajh sakta hey key ye qehet kioon para hey.鈥漖

A chubby man says to a thin friend: 鈥淲hen I look at you, I feel the world is hit by a famine.鈥�
The thin man replies: 鈥淎nd looking at you I feel it is you who has caused this famine.鈥�

亘趩蹃 亘丕倬 爻蹝: 鈥欌�欂жㄙ� 賱诏鬲丕 蹃蹝 讴蹃 丌倬 讴丕 賯丿 亘趹诰 乇蹃丕 蹃蹝蹟貙貙
亘丕倬: 鈥欌�欂呞聚屭� 讴蹖爻蹝 倬鬲蹃 趩賱丕責貙貙
亘趩蹃: 鈥欌�欂①� 讴丕 爻乇 亘丕賱賵诤 爻蹝 亘丕蹃乇 丌乇蹃丕 蹃蹝蹟貙貙

[Bacha baap sey: 鈥淎bbu lagta hey key aap ka qad barh raha hey.鈥�
Baap: 鈥渢umhey kesey pata chala?鈥�
Beta: 鈥渁ap ka sar balon sey bahar aaraha hey.鈥漖

A little boy says to his father: 鈥淒ad! You look like you鈥檙e getting taller.鈥�
Dad: 鈥淗ow do you know this?鈥�
Boy: 鈥淵our scalp is coming out of your hair.鈥�

The closest relation of Urdu is Hindi. Spoken Urdu and Hindi are almost identical at the day-to-day functional level, apart from certain words. After learning Urdu, you鈥檒l find it much easier to speak and understand Hindi but written Hindi will remain a mystery as it鈥檚 written in a different script.

Other languages written in the same script as Urdu include Pashto, Kashmiri and Panjabi, although Panjabi is also written in a script called Gurumukhi. The Urdu script is over 90% similar to the Persian and Arabic scripts as well, so learning Urdu will help you to read the Arabic and Persian alphabets. Urdu vocabulary also borrows about 40% from Arabic and Persian.

In Urdu there are three commonly used verbs which are very similar:
听讴蹃賳丕 [kehna], to say
听讴诰丕賳丕 [khana], to eat
听讴乇賳丕 [karna], to do
Learners often mix these up, so pay careful attention to them.

The informal Urdu word for hey or hello is 听丕賵卅蹝 [oey] but don鈥檛 use this with anyone in the street or any other public place because it is an extremely informal, almost intimate, word. You may only use the word with a respectful suffix like 听亘诰丕卅蹖 [bhai] brother or 听丿賵爻鬲 [dost] friend.

To attract someone鈥檚 attention in a polite way, you may use a variety of different words like 听爻賳卅蹝 [sunye], similar to excuse me in English - 听亘诰丕卅蹖 噩丕賳 [bhai jaan] elder brother or 听噩賳丕亘 [Janab] mister, sir. To get the attention of a woman you may use polite words like 听亘丕噩蹖 [baaji], older sister or 听亘蹃賳 噩蹖 [behen jee], a respectful word for sister. With older women you can use 听亘蹖 亘蹖 [bibi] lady or 听丕賲丕诤 噩蹖 [amma jee] dear mother.

孬亘丕鬲 丕蹖讴 鬲睾蹖乇 讴賵 蹃蹝 夭賲丕賳蹝 賲蹖诤

[Sabaat aik taghayyur ko hey zamaney mey.]
Only change is permanent.
Famous Urdu poet Allama Iqbal (1877-1938)

毓丿丕賱鬲 讴蹖 賳丕丕賳氐丕賮蹖賵诤 讴蹖 賮蹃乇爻鬲 亘趹蹖 胤賵賱丕賳蹖 蹃蹝貙 鬲丕乇蹖禺 丌噩 鬲讴 丕爻讴蹝 賲丕鬲賲 爻蹝 賮丕乇睾 賳蹃 蹃賵爻讴蹖蹟

[Adaalat ki na-insafion ki fehrist bari toolani hey. Tareekh aaj tak iskey maatam sey farigh na hosaki.]
The list of injustices of judiciary is so long that history still could not end its mourning.
Indian congress leader and famous Urdu writer, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958).

The first book in Urdu is known to be 听爻亘 乇爻 [Sabras], written in 1635-36 by Mullah Asadullah Wajhi. It鈥檚 an allegorical mystical romance translated from the Persian Masnavi Dastur-e-Ushshaq and Husn-o-dil by Mohammad Yahya Ibn-e-Saibak, written about two centuries earlier. The copies of Sabras were handwritten as the printing press had not yet reached India at that time.

The first Urdu book printed by a printing press brought to India by the Portuguese, was 听亘丕睾 賵 亘蹃丕乇 [Bagh-o-bahar] by Mir Amman, published in 1801.

Urdu is a delicate and sophisticated language and many of its words are used to show respect and civility. This emphasis on politeness in vocabulary is known as 听丕丿亘 [adab], respect or 听鬲讴賱賮 [takalluf], politeness. This polite vocabulary is generally used when talking to seniors or people you鈥檙e not familiar with.

For example, the English pronoun you can be translated into three words in Urdu:
听鬲賵 [tu] informal, extremely intimate or offensive
听鬲賲 [tum] informal and showing closeness
听丌倬 [aap] (the plural form) formal and respectful

Similarly, different request forms of verbs can be used to give degrees of formality in three ways. For example, when telling someone 'to go', using the verb 听噩丕賳丕 [jaanaa] to go, there are three forms you could choose from:
听噩丕 [jaa] extremely informal, very intimate, but also derogatory depending on who it is addressed to
听噩丕丐 [jaao] informal
听噩丕鈥彻屰� [jaaiye] formal and respectful

Some small things are considered very bad manners in an Urdu speaking society 鈥� even in the family circle. For example, smoking, sitting cross-legged or shouting in the presence of elders, not standing up and paying regards when an elder appears or talking while eating.