How to Learn Urdu Numbers

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and is grammatically the same as Hindi, the national language of India. Both languages used to be called Hindustani, which was a vernacular "lingua franca" of India before the two countries became separate. Urdu is written in the Arabic script and uses Arabic numerals for writing numbers. Learning the numbers of a language is one of the primary steps in grasping any language.

Things You'll Need

  • Urdu reference material
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Learn the numbers 1 through to 10 in writing and pronunciation. Use your Urdu reference material to familiarize yourself with the scripted way of writing Urdu numbers. Learn to pronounce the numbers. One is "ek" with the "e" sound as in "elf", two is "do" with the "o" sound as in "orange." Three is "teen" pronounced the same as the English word of the same spelling. Four is "char" pronounced as you would say "charming." Five is "panch" with the "a" sound as in the British pronunciation (rather than the US) of "aunt." Six is "chay" pronounced like "may," seven is "saath" with the "h" sound silent but aspirated. Eight is "aath" with the same aspirated "h," nine is "no" as in "nose" and ten is "das" as in "dusting."

    • 2

      Learn the numbers 11 through to 20 in writing and pronunciation. Eleven is "geyarah," twelve is "barah" as in "bar." Thirteen is "tereh" as in "terrace," fourteen is "chodah" as in "chosen" and fifteen is "panderah" as in "panda bear." Sixteen is "soela" pronounced like "solar" with less emphasis on the "r." Seventeen is "seterah," and eighteen is "atehrah." Nineteen is "onees" with the "o" as in "on" and twenty is "bees" as in "beast."

    • 3

      Learn the numbers up to the 90s in writing and translation, using your reference material. These numbers need to be learned by heart, as there is not a convenient pattern to the cardinal numbers. Learn hundred, which is "soh" and thousand, which is "hazar." One hundred thousand has its own word, "lakh." One million is "mil" or "das lakh." Ten million is "crore."

    • 4

      Learn the ordinal numbers. Ordinal numbers denote order in a set, for example "first" and "second." First is "pehleh," and second is "doosra." Third is "teesra," fourth is "cheotah" and fifth is "pancheon" with a nasalated, semi-silent "n" on the end. If you want to say "once" or "twice" this uses the term "dafeh" which means "time" or "occurrence" with the appropriate number: "ek dafeh" is "once" or "one time," "do dafeh" is twice and so on.

Learnify Hub © www.0685.com All Rights Reserved