Meaning & use
Urdu
Last updated
Meanings
proper nounproper
A South Asian language, written in an Arabic-based script, and the national language of Pakistan.
Grammar: No article: she speaks Urdu.
Patterns
- speak Urdu
- translate something into Urdu
My neighbor teaches Urdu on weekends.
The poem was originally written in Urdu.
Urdu and Hindi sound very similar in everyday speech.
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to the Urdu language or the people who use it.
Grammar: Used before nouns: an Urdu newspaper.
Patterns
- Urdu poetry
- Urdu newspaper
She reads an Urdu newspaper every morning.
The Urdu section of the library is on the second floor.
He loves Urdu poetry.
Common combinations
- speak Urdu
- Many people in Karachi speak Urdu.
- Urdu poetry
- Urdu poetry is famous for its ghazals.
- Urdu script
- The Urdu script is written from right to left.
- translate into Urdu
- We translated the leaflet into Urdu.
Word family
- Urdu-speaking adjective
- able to speak Urdu
- Pakistani adjective
- relating to Pakistan
Commonly confused: Urdu or Hindi?
Urdu vs Hindi
Hindi is a related language written in Devanagari script; Urdu uses an Arabic-based script and borrows more Persian vocabulary.
Practice
In which direction is Urdu written?
Choose one answer.
Urdu uses an Arabic-based script that runs from right to left. Left to right is how English is written, which makes it the tempting wrong option.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Urdu”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.