Boy Names Girl Names Learn Urdu Urdu Keyboard

Learn Urdu اردو سیکھیں

41 word lists, each giving the Urdu script, the English word and how to say it. Built for people who can already speak some Urdu but want to read and write it, and for anyone learning from scratch.

If you are starting from zero

Learn the script first — it is only 39 letters and it repays the effort within a few days. Begin with the Urdu alphabet, then the vowels and consonants. Once you can sound out words, work through family relations and numbers, which are the two lists that come up most in real conversation. The Urdu keyboard lets you type what you are learning.

The Urdu Script اردو رسم الخط

Start here if you cannot yet read Urdu. The alphabet, the vowels and consonants that make it up, and a keyboard for typing it.

People and the Body لوگ اور جسم

The words for family, the parts of the body, feelings, work and illness — the vocabulary of everyday conversation about people.

→ Muslim names built from these words — Abid, Hamid, Karim

The Natural World قدرتی دنیا

Animals, birds, insects, plants and flowers, plus the weather and the seasons. A great many Urdu names come straight from this list.

→ Girl names from flowers and nature — Nilofar, Gul, Zarghuna

Food and Drink کھانے پینے کی چیزیں

Fruit, vegetables, dry fruit, spices, sweets and drinks — the vocabulary of a Pakistani kitchen and dinner table.

Days, Months and Time دن، مہینے اور وقت

The days of the week, both the Gregorian and the Islamic months, dates and the words for telling time.

→ Names taken from the Islamic calendar — Ramzan, Shaban, Rajab

Colours, Shapes and Things رنگ، شکلیں اور اشیاء

Colours, shapes, directions, vehicles and musical instruments — the concrete nouns and descriptors of daily life.

Greetings and Expressions سلام اور محاورے

How to greet people, and the proverbs, idioms and riddles that carry most of the character of spoken Urdu.

Islamic Vocabulary اسلامی الفاظ

The 99 Names of Allah and the Islamic calendar — the vocabulary behind a large share of Muslim given names.

→ Every Abd-ul- name comes from the 99 Names — Abdul Rahman, Abdul Kareem

Names and the words behind them

Most Urdu and Muslim names are ordinary words. Once you know that گل is a flower and شیر is a lion, names like Gulnaz and Sherzad stop being arbitrary sounds. The other half of this site covers them: