1.6.1 Subject–Object–Verb order

Understanding Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) Order in Urdu

In this chapter you will meet one of the most important features of Urdu grammar, the typical sentence word order. If you understand this pattern early, everything else will be easier.

Basic idea of SOV in Urdu

In English, a normal sentence uses Subject – Verb – Object:

• “Sara eats apples.”
• Subject: Sara
• Verb: eats
• Object: apples

In Urdu, the normal and most neutral order is:

Subject – Object – Verb

We often write this as SOV.

So “Sara eats apples” in Urdu will follow this pattern:

• سارہ سیب کھاتی ہے۔
  Saara seb khaati hai.
• Subject: سارہ (Saara)
• Object: سیب (seb, apple)
• Verb: کھاتی ہے (khaati hai, eats)

The verb comes at the end of the sentence.

Identifying subject, object, and verb

Before you can control word order, you must recognize the three basic parts.

The subject is often a person or thing that does something.
The object is usually something that is affected by the action.
The verb expresses the action or the state and comes at the end in Urdu.

Simple SOV examples

Study these pairs of English and Urdu sentences:

• English: Ali eats bread.
• Urdu: علی روٹی کھاتا ہے۔
  Ali roti khaata hai.
• S: علی (Ali)
• O: روٹی (roti, bread)
• V: کھاتا ہے (khaata hai, eats)
• English: Nadia drinks tea.
• Urdu: نادیہ چائے پیتی ہے۔
  Naadia chaay peeti hai.
• S: نادیہ (Naadia)
• O: چائے (chaay, tea)
• V: پیتی ہے (peeti hai, drinks)
• English: The child opens the door.
• Urdu: بچہ دروازہ کھولتا ہے۔
  بچہ دروازہ kholta hai.
• S: بچہ (bachcha, child)
• O: دروازہ (darwaaza, door)
• V: کھولتا ہے (kholta hai, opens)

In each sentence, notice that the final group of words contains the verb.

SOV with “to be” (ہے / ہیں) in simple statements

You will study the verbs ہے and ہیں in detail later. For word order, treat them as verbs that also usually come at the end.

Look at these very simple patterns:

• English: Ali is a student.
• Urdu: علی طالب علم ہے۔
  Ali taalib ilm hai.
• S: علی (Ali)
• “Object” / complement: طالب علم (student)
• V: ہے (hai, is)
• English: We are friends.
• Urdu: ہم دوست ہیں۔
  Hum dost hain.
• S: ہم (hum, we)
• “Object” / complement: دوست (friends)
• V: ہیں (hain, are)
• English: She is my sister.
• Urdu: وہ میری بہن ہے۔
  Woh meri behen hai.
• S: وہ (woh, she)
• “Object” / complement: میری بہن (my sister)
• V: ہے (hai, is)

Even when there is no “real” object, the last word (or words) belong to the verb part of the sentence.

Comparing English SVO and Urdu SOV

Let us compare patterns directly. This will help you “flip” English sentences into Urdu word order.

Example 1

• English order (SVO):
  I read Urdu.
• Urdu order (SOV):
  میں اردو پڑھتا ہوں۔ (spoken by a male)
  Main Urdu parhta hoon.
• S: میں (main, I)
• O: اردو (Urdu)
• V: پڑھتا ہوں (parhta hoon, read)

Example 2

• English order (SVO):
  They watch TV.
• Urdu order (SOV):
  وہ ٹی وی دیکھتے ہیں۔
  Woh TV dekhte hain.
• S: وہ (woh, they)
• O: ٹی وی (TV)
• V: دیکھتے ہیں (dekhte hain, watch)

Example 3

• English order (SVO):
  The girl likes music.
• Urdu order (SOV):
  لڑکی موسیقی پسند کرتی ہے۔
  Larki moseeqi pasand karti hai.
• S: لڑکی (larki, girl)
• O: موسیقی (moseeqi, music)
• V: پسند کرتی ہے (pasand karti hai, likes)

Even with compound verbs such as پسند کرنا (to like), the whole verb idea stays at the end.

SOV with multiple elements before the verb

Often you will have more than just subject and object. You can have time words, place words, and other details. In Urdu, almost all of these come before the final verb part.

The final block is still the verb.

Common sentence parts before the verb

Here are some common elements that can appear before the verb:

The verb still comes at the end. Everything else appears somewhere before the verb.

Example patterns

1. Time + Object + Verb
• English: Today I drink tea.
• Urdu: آج میں چائے پیتا ہوں۔ (male)
  Aaj main chaay peeta hoon.
• Time: آج (today)
• Subject: میں (I)
• Object: چائے (tea)
• Verb: پیتا ہوں (drink)

You can also say:

• میں آج چائے پیتا ہوں۔
  The order of “آج” and “میں” can change, but the verb پیتا ہوں stays at the end.

2. Place + Object + Verb
• English: Ali reads a book at home.
• Urdu: علی گھر میں کتاب پڑھتا ہے۔
  Ali ghar mein kitaab parhta hai.
• Place: گھر میں (at home)
• Object: کتاب (book)
• Verb: پڑھتا ہے (reads)
3. Subject + Place + Verb
• English: We live in Karachi.
• Urdu: ہم کراچی میں رہتے ہیں۔
  Hum Karachi mein rehte hain.
• S: ہم (we)
• Place: کراچی میں (in Karachi)
• V: رہتے ہیں (live)
4. Time + Place + Object + Verb
• English: Tomorrow I will buy a book in the market.
• Urdu (simple word order):
  کل میں بازار میں کتاب خریدوں گا۔ (male speaker)
  Kal main bazaar mein kitaab khareedoon ga.
• Time: کل (tomorrow)
• Place: بازار میں (in the market)
• Object: کتاب (book)
• Verb: خریدوں گا (will buy)

In all these sentences, the very last part is always the verb.

Flexible order before the verb

Unlike English, Urdu allows some flexibility in the order of subject, object, and other elements before the verb, especially in spoken language. However, for you as a beginner, it is best to start with the clear SOV pattern.

Common safe pattern

A very safe and clear pattern for you is:

1. Subject
2. Time / Place / Other details
3. Object
4. Verb (at the end)

For example:

• Subject: میں (I)
• Time: آج (today)
• Place: گھر میں (at home)
• Object: اردو (Urdu)
• Verb: پڑھتا ہوں (study / read)

Sentence:

• میں آج گھر میں اردو پڑھتا ہوں۔
  Main aaj ghar mein Urdu parhta hoon.
  “Today I study Urdu at home.”

You might also hear:

• آج میں گھر میں اردو پڑھتا ہوں۔
• میں گھر میں آج اردو پڑھتا ہوں۔

In all versions, پڑھتا ہوں is at the end.

More example variations

Look at these sets of variations. The meaning stays almost the same, and the verb always ends the sentence.

• میں آج چائے پیتا ہوں۔
  Main aaj chaay peeta hoon.
• آج میں چائے پیتا ہوں۔
  Aaj main chaay peeta hoon.
• ہم سکول میں اردو بولتے ہیں۔
  Hum school mein Urdu bolte hain.
• ہم اردو سکول میں بولتے ہیں۔
  Hum Urdu school mein bolte hain.
• بچہ پارک میں گیند کھیلتا ہے۔
  Bachcha park mein gend khelta hai.
• بچہ گیند پارک میں کھیلتا ہے۔
  Bachcha gend park mein khelta hai.

In every case, the verb phrase (پیتا ہوں، بولتے ہیں، کھیلتا ہے) is the last element.

SOV in yes / no statements

At this level, we focus on simple positive statements. Later you will learn questions and negatives. For now, remember that even when we add “not” (نہیں) or make a question with a rising tone, the verb ending rule keeps working.

You will study full question patterns later. For now, see just the word order:

1. Statement:
• علی چائے پیتا ہے۔
  Ali chaay peeta hai.
  “Ali drinks tea.”
2. With “not”:
• علی چائے نہیں پیتا۔
  Ali chaay nahi peeta.
  “Ali does not drink tea.”

Here, the negative word نہیں stands before the verb, and the verb part still comes at the end.

3. Statement:
• وہ سکول جاتا ہے۔
  Woh school jaata hai.
  “He goes to school.”
4. With “not”:
• وہ سکول نہیں جاتا۔
  Woh school nahi jaata.
  “He does not go to school.”

Again, the verb is at the end.

You will learn the full rules for negatives and questions later. Here the important point is: the verb still remains final.

Practice: building SOV sentences

Practice changing English SVO sentences into Urdu SOV order. Focus only on the order, not on perfect verb forms.

Below are some examples and step-by-step breakdowns.

Example 1

• English: I eat rice.
• SVO pattern: I (S) eat (V) rice (O).
• Urdu SOV pattern: Subject + Object + Verb
• Urdu: میں چاول کھاتا ہوں۔ (male)
  Main chaawal khaata hoon.

Or for a female speaker:

• میں چاول کھاتی ہوں۔
  Main chaawal khaati hoon.

Order:

• S: میں
• O: چاول
• V: کھاتا ہوں / کھاتی ہوں

Example 2

• English: She writes a letter.
• English SVO: She (S) writes (V) a letter (O).
• Urdu SOV: Subject + Object + Verb
• Urdu: وہ خط لکھتی ہے۔
  Woh khat likhti hai.

Order:

• S: وہ
• O: خط
• V: لکھتی ہے

Example 3

• English: They play football.
• English SVO: They (S) play (V) football (O).
• Urdu SOV: Subject + Object + Verb
• Urdu: وہ فٹبال کھیلتے ہیں۔
  Woh football khelte hain.

Order:

• S: وہ
• O: فٹبال
• V: کھیلتے ہیں

Example 4

• English: We watch a movie at night.
• English SVO: We (S) watch (V) a movie (O) at night (time).
• Urdu SOV: Subject + Time + Object + Verb

A natural Urdu sentence:

• ہم رات کو فلم دیکھتے ہیں۔
  Hum raat ko film dekhte hain.

Order:

• S: ہم
• Time: رات کو (at night)
• O: فلم (movie)
• V: دیکھتے ہیں

Summary: what to remember

To use Urdu sentences correctly from the start, remember these simple points:

1. Urdu prefers Subject – Object – Verb order.
2. The verb or verb phrase almost always comes at the end of the sentence.
3. Time, place, and other details appear before the final verb.
4. There is some flexibility before the verb, but for a beginner, it is safest to use:
• Subject + (Time / Place) + Object + Verb
5. Even with “to be” (ہے / ہیں) and with “not” (نہیں), the verb part stays at the end.

Vocabulary list for this chapter

Here are useful words that appeared in this chapter. You will see them often in simple sentences.

Use these words to build your own SOV sentences, always keeping the verb at the end.