Dialogue - Urdu

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A:السلام علیکم . میرا نام علی ہے . آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی
 B:. میرا نام صبا ہے . آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی

Vocabulary (Review)

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السلام علیکم Assalam u alaikum Hello
نام Naam name
آپ app you
ہے hai is
ملنا milna to meet
خوش khush happy, glad
میرا mera my

Lesson Notes

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Lesson Focus

The Focus of This Lesson is Greetings
Aap se milkar khushi hui
"Nice to meet you."

 

 

In the conversation, we had the construction Mera naam + (name) + hai.

Basically, the structure of simple Urdu sentences is different from English because it is Subject + Object + Verb.

Another example is Aap se milkar khushi hui. Aap se milkar khushi hui can be used by both men and women and means "Nice to meet you." It is used when meeting someone for the first time.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Assalam u Alaikum

Assalam u alaikum in Urdu is equivalent to "hello" and can be used at any time of the day.

 

Mera

The word mera means "my." This is a way to refer to yourself and can be used by both men and women.

 

Naam

The word naam means "name."

 

Aap

Aap is the word to refer to the second person. This is the most respectful way to say "you."

 

Hai

Hai is attached to the end of the sentence and it literally means "to exist."

 

Cultural Insights

Names in Urdu

 

Pakistani people normally call others by first name or nickname. Most Pakistanis have a nickname because parents or relatives like to call small children by nicknames. In formal situations, it is common to introduce yourselves by using your first name or full name. When addressing people you are not familiar with or who are higher than you in status, it is important to add the suffix Ji to their name, but not to your own name.

 

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Lesson Transcript

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INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, Eric here, and welcome to UrduPod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp Lesson 1 - Basic Greetings in Urdu. This is the first in a five-part series that will help you ease your way into Urdu.
Afrah: Assalam u Alaikum. I’m Afrah! In this series, we’ll go over all the basics that will really help you to understand Urdu.
Eric: And we’ll have fun doing it! In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself and ask someone their name! This conversation is between strangers.
Afrah: The language they're using is polite, because these two people don’t know each other. But it's not overly formal, because they'll use their first names, not surnames.
Eric: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Ali: السلام علیکم. میرا نام علی ہے. آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی
Saba: السلام علیکم. میرا نام صبا ہے. آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی. صبا.
Eric: Now let’s hear it one time slowly.
Ali: السلام علیکم. میرا نام علی ہے. آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی
Saba: السلام علیکم. میرا نام صبا ہے. آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی.
Eric: And one more time with the translation.
Ali: السلام علیکم. میرا نام علی ہے. آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی
Eric: Hello, my name is Ali. Nice to meet you.
Saba: السلام علیکم. میرا نام صبا ہے. آپ سے مل کر خوشی ہوئی.
Eric: My name is Saba, nice to meet you.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: So Afrah, what do people in Pakistan do when they first meet? Is there any sort of general custom?
Afrah: Well Eric, Pakistan has different customs according to the region.
Eric: You mean greetings can vary from east to west and north to south?
Afrah: That’s right, but the most common way to greet someone is by saying Assalam u Alaikum. You can use it anywhere in Pakistan and it shows respect.
Eric: And what about shaking hands?
Afrah: Pakistani people usually shake hands. You can also always use the Assalam u Alaikum greeting when meeting people of any age, whether or not you know them. It's not uncommon to shake hands with people both older and younger than you. For people who are your close friends or the same age, shaking hands and hugging is also fine.
Eric: But what about in a business situation?
Afrah: Well, in a business situation, you might want to use a handshake, especially if the people you are meeting are used to dealing with people from western countries. If you feel people are hesitant to shake hand, you can just say Assalam u Alaikum and that would work perfectly.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Okay, let’s now take a close look at some of the vocabulary from this lesson. First we have...
Afrah: Assalam u Alaikum
Eric: "Hello."
Afrah: A-ssa-lam-u-Alai-kum
Eric: And next we have...
Afrah: Mera
Eric: "My."
Afrah: Me-ra
Eric: Okay. And next,
Afrah: Naam
Eric: "Name."
Afrah: Na-am
Eric: And next
Afrah: Milkar
Eric: "To meet."
Afrah: Mil-kar
Eric: Okay. And next is,
Afrah: Khushi
Eric: "Happy."
Afrah: Khu-shi
Eric: Next...
Afrah: Hai
Eric: "Is."
Afrah: Hai
Eric: And finally we have...
Afrah: Aap
Eric: "You."
Afrah: Aap
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Eric: So Afrah, we already went over the word for "hello."
Afrah: Yes. To refresh, you can say Assalam u Alaikum whether you are male or a female.
Eric: And after that, I thought I heard the English word "name."
Afrah: Well Eric, you're not far off. We use the word naam, which is quite similar to the word "name" in English.
Eric: That should be easy to remember, but what about the word that came before it in the conversation?
Afrah: That was mera. This is a word like the English word "my." When you’re talking about your name, you can use mera whether you are male or female. Mera naam is the same for both genders.
Eric: That should make things pretty simple.
Afrah: I think so. And after that, we use the word milkar, which means "to meet."
Eric: This word describes meeting someone for the first time, but you can also use it to talk about any other time you meet.
Afrah: That’s right.
Eric: What's our final word?
Afrah: Khushi, which means "happy" or "a pleasure." When used here in the phrase Aap se milkar khushi hui, it has the same feeling of "nice" in "nice to meet you" or "it was a pleasure to meet you."
Eric: So in Urdu, to say "nice to meet you," you can say...
Afrah: Aap se milkar khushi hui
Eric: regardless of whether you are male or female.

Lesson focus
Eric: All right. Now let’s look at the grammar behind the self-introductions. In the dialogue, Ali said...
Afrah: Mera naam Ali hai
Eric: "My name is Ali." Where is the "is" in the sentence?
Afrah: The word hai is very much like the English "is."
Eric: In Urdu, the word order is different than in English. In the sentence, the verb comes at the end, after the name "Ali." So please repeat.
Afrah: Mera naam Ali hai
Eric: "My name is Ali." So would I say Mera naam Eric hai to say "My name is Eric."
Afrah: Very good! And I would say Mera naam Afrah hai to say "My name is Afrah."
Eric: So just replace the word before Hai with your name and you can introduce yourself.
Afrah: This structure with hai at the end of the sentence is a very common one in Urdu.
Eric: So we'll be using it a lot.
Afrah: Yes, as often as you use the verb "to be" in English.
Eric: I'm sure it will be very useful!

Outro
Eric: Okay. And that’s all for this lesson! Listeners, you can check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson. And if you have any questions or comments, let us know at UrduPod101.com.
Afrah: We’re happy to help! Thanks for listening, everyone. Phr milenge.
Eric: See you next time!
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