Learn how to use "was" and "were"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to UrduPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, Season 1 Lesson 24 - Were You Watching Cricket Yesterday in Pakistan? I’m John. |
| Afrah: Assalam u alaikum, I'm Afrah. |
| John: In this lesson you'll learn about the verbs "was" and "were" in Urdu. |
| Afrah: The conversation takes place in a classroom. |
| John: The conversation is between Ali and Sarah. |
| Afrah: They are friends so they’ll be speaking informally with each other. |
| John: Let's listen to their conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| علی: آپ کل کیا کر رہی تھی؟ |
| سارہ: میں کرکٹ دیکھ رہی تھی. |
| علی: اور آپ کا بھائی؟ |
| سارہ: وه بهی کرکٹ دیکھ رہا تھا. |
| John: Now let's listen to the same conversation at a slow speed. |
| علی: آپ کل کیا کر رہی تھی؟ |
| سارہ: میں کرکٹ دیکھ رہی تھی. |
| علی: اور آپ کا بھائی؟ |
| سارہ: وه بهی کرکٹ دیکھ رہا تھا. |
| John: Let's now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Ali: Aap kal kia ker rahi thi? |
| John: "What were you doing yesterday?" |
| Sarah: main cricket dekh rahi thi. |
| John: "I was watching cricket." |
| Ali: aur aap ka bhai? |
| John: "And your brother?" |
| Sarah: Woh bhi cricket daikh raha tha. |
| John: "He was also watching cricket." |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Afrah: You know, cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, which is the direct result of the British colonial rule. Today, many people play cricket or watch cricket all over Pakistan. |
| John: Is it the national sport of Pakistan? |
| Afrah: Actually it's not. Hockey is the national sport of Pakistan. |
| John: Well, in any case, cricket players are treated like stars. They earn millions by endorsing products, appearing in commercials, and doing many other things like sports players all over the world. |
| Afrah: Yes, and not only that, cricket has sometimes been used as a political tool. Matches between India and Pakistan have been held in both the countries to boost relationships between them. |
| John: That's very interesting! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Afrah: آپ [natural native speed] |
| John: you |
| Afrah: aap [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah:aap [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: کل [natural native speed] |
| John: tomorrow or yesterday [natural native speed] |
| Afrah: kal [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: kal [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: کر رہی [natural native speed] |
| John: doing (feminine) |
| Afrah: ker rahi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: ker rahi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: کیا [natural native speed] |
| John: what |
| Afrah: kia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: kia [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: تھی [natural native speed] |
| John: was (feminine) |
| Afrah: thi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: thi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: کرکٹ [natural native speed] |
| John: cricket |
| Afrah: cricket [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: cricket [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: دیکھ رہی [natural native speed] |
| John: watching (feminine) |
| Afrah: daikh rahi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: daikh rahi [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: آپ کا [natural native speed] |
| John: your (informal) |
| Afrah: aap ka [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: aap ka [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Afrah: بهی [natural native speed] |
| John: also |
| Afrah: bhi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: bhi [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Afrah: تھا [natural native speed] |
| John: was (masculine) |
| Afrah: tha [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Afrah: tha [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's now go over some of these words. |
| Afrah: The word کر رہی in Urdu comes from the verb کرنا, which means "to do. " |
| John: Like most verbs, it changes according to the gender and number of the subject. If the subject is a singular or plural female or if the sentence is about another female, then you would use… |
| Afrah: کررہی. So the sentence "I am doing" would be میں کر رہی ہوں. |
| John: And the sentence "She is doing" would be |
| Afrah: وہ کر رہی ہے. |
| John: If the subject is a singular male or if the sentence is about another male, then you use… |
| Afrah: کر رہا. The sentence "I am doing" would be میں کر رہا ہوں and the sentence "He is doing" would be وہ کر رہا ہے |
| John: If the subject is a plural masculine, which means the speaker is a group of males, or when talking about a group of males, then you use… |
| Afrah: کر رہے. The sentence "We are doing" would be ہم کر رہے ہیں and the sentence "They are doing" would be وہ کر رہے ہیں |
| John: Let’s talk about the Urdu word for “watching.” |
| Afrah: The word دیکھ رہی in Urdu comes from the verb دیکھنا, which means "to see." |
| John: It also changes according to the gender and number of the subject. If the subject is a singular or a plural female, you use… |
| Afrah: دیکھ رہی |
| John: If the subject is a singular male, you use… |
| Afrah: دیکھ رہا |
| John: And finally, if the subject is a plural male, you would use… |
| Afrah:دیکھ رہے |
Lesson focus |
| John: Now the focus of this lesson is the verbs "was" and "were" in Urdu. Since Urdu is a verb final language, these also come at the end of a sentence. |
| Afrah: But unlike the verbs "is" and "are," for example, ہے and ہیں, they change according to the gender and the number of the subject. |
| John: For singular masculine subjects, the verb "was" in Urdu is |
| Afrah: تھا |
| John: For plural masculine subjects, the verb "were" in Urdu is |
| Afrah: تھے |
| John: For singular feminine subjects, the verb "was" in Urdu is |
| Afrah: تھی |
| John: And lastly, for plural feminine subjects, the verb "were" in Urdu is |
| Afrah: تھیں |
| John: Note that "was" and "were" for female subjects sound almost the same. The difference lies in their nasalization. |
| Afrah: Yes, "was" isتھی without the nasal tone and "were' is تھیں with the nasal tone. |
| John: And also remember that you have to change other supporting verbs and adjectives as well. |
| For example, "I was sitting in the bus," said by a male speaker is… |
| Afrah: میں بس میں بیٹھ رہا تھا |
| John: By a female speaker is… |
| Afrah: میں بس میں بیٹھ رہی تھی |
| John: Now, "we were sitting in the bus," said by a group of males is… |
| Afrah:ہم بس میں بیٹھ رہے تھے |
| John: And finally, by a group of females is… |
| Afrah: ہم بس میں بیٹھ رہی تھیں |
| John: Notice how not only the auxiliary verbs changed but also the verb "sitting" changed between male, plural male, female and plural female. |
| Afrah: One more thing before we end this lesson. The plural verbs "were," for example, تھے and تھیں, can also be used with singular subjects if we want to show respect. |
| John: Right. For example, if you want to say "My father was in Japan," and you want to address your father respectfully, you can say… |
| Afrah: میرے والد جاپان میں تھے. As you can see, in this sentence even though father is a singular case, you didn't use تھا for "was." |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Afrah: Shukriya aur phir milenge! |
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