Table of Contents
Overview of the Simple Present Tense in Urdu
In Urdu, the simple present tense is used to talk about habits, facts, routines, and things that are generally true. In this chapter, you will see how very basic present tense sentences work, using easy patterns and a small, useful set of verbs.
You already know that Urdu normally follows a Subject–Object–Verb order, so we will keep that order in all our examples, without explaining it in detail again.
We will focus on:
- Simple present with the verb “to be”
- Simple present with a few very common action verbs
- Very basic positive and negative sentences
More detailed treatment of specific verbs like ہے, ہیں, کرنا, جانا, آنا will follow in their own subchapters.
Using the Simple Present to Talk About Facts and Identities
In English, you say:
- “I am a student.”
- “She is at home.”
- “They are happy.”
In Urdu, these ideas in the present tense usually use special forms of the verb “to be,” and the verb appears at the end of the sentence.
Basic pattern:
- Subject + description / noun / place + [form of “to be”]
For now, just look at the pattern without worrying about all forms. You will study the details of ہے and ہیں later.
Examples:
| English | Urdu (Roman) | Urdu (Nastaliq) |
|---|---|---|
| I am a student. | main student hoon | میں اسٹوڈنٹ ہوں |
| You are a teacher. | tum teacher ho | تم ٹیچر ہو |
| He is at home. | woh ghar mein hai | وہ گھر میں ہے |
| She is in Lahore. | woh Lahore mein hai | وہ لاہور میں ہے |
| We are friends. | hum dost hain | ہم دوست ہیں |
| They are happy. | woh khush hain | وہ خوش ہیں |
Notice:
- The verb comes at the end.
- The English “am / is / are” is expressed with forms like ہوں, ہو, ہے, ہیں.
You will learn the system of these forms in the subchapter “The verbs ہے and ہیں”.
Simple Present for Habits and Daily Routines
The simple present tense in Urdu is also used to talk about what you do regularly, just like in English:
- I work.
- She studies.
- We eat breakfast.
The basic pattern is:
- Subject + object (if any) + verb (present form)
In many daily sentences, Urdu uses a combination of:
- A main verb (like eat, go, come)
- A helping structure that shows tense, which you will later see with ہے, ہیں, etc.
In this chapter, we will focus only on the idea that the simple present describes:
- Habits
- Repeated actions
- General routines
Examples:
| English | Urdu (Roman) | Urdu (Nastaliq) |
|---|---|---|
| I wake up early. | main jaldi uthta hoon / uthti hoon | میں جلدی اٹھتا ہوں / اٹھتی ہوں |
| She goes to school. | woh school jaati hai | وہ اسکول جاتی ہے |
| He comes home at six. | woh chay baje ghar aata hai | وہ چھے بجے گھر آتا ہے |
| We eat breakfast at eight. | hum aath baje nashta karte hain | ہم آٹھ بجے ناشتہ کرتے ہیں |
| They play football every day. | woh har roz football khelte hain | وہ ہر روز فٹبال کھیلتے ہیں |
You will see exactly how verbs like جانا “to go” and آنا “to come” form the present tense in the subchapter about basic verbs.
Simple Present for General Truths and Facts
The simple present in Urdu also expresses things that are always true or generally true:
- Water boils at 100°C.
- The sun rises in the east.
- Lahore is in Pakistan.
Examples:
| English | Urdu (Roman) | Urdu (Nastaliq) |
|---|---|---|
| Lahore is in Pakistan. | Lahore Pakistan mein hai | لاہور پاکستان میں ہے |
| The sun rises in the east. | sooraj mashriq se nikalta hai | سورج مشرق سے نکلتا ہے |
| Water is cold. | paani thanda hai | پانی ٹھنڈا ہے |
| Urdu is a beautiful language. | Urdu khoobsurat zaban hai | اردو خوبصورت زبان ہے |
| Cats like milk. | billiyan doodh pasand karti hain | بلیاں دودھ پسند کرتی ہیں |
Again, we see that:
- The verb is at the end.
- Urdu uses the simple present to express general truths.
Positive and Negative Sentences in the Simple Present
To make negative sentences in the simple present, Urdu normally uses the word نہیں nahin which means “not”.
Key rule:
Place نہیں (nahin) before the final verb form in the sentence.
Basic pattern:
- Subject + object (if any) + نہیں + verb
Compare positive and negative:
| Type | English | Urdu (Roman) | Urdu (Nastaliq) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | I work. | main kaam karta hoon / karti hoon | میں کام کرتا ہوں / کرتی ہوں |
| Negative | I do not work. | main kaam nahi karta hoon / karti hoon | میں کام نہیں کرتا ہوں / کرتی ہوں |
| Positive | She goes to school. | woh school jaati hai | وہ اسکول جاتی ہے |
| Negative | She does not go to school. | woh school nahi jaati | وہ اسکول نہیں جاتی |
| Positive | They are happy. | woh khush hain | وہ خوش ہیں |
| Negative | They are not happy. | woh khush nahi hain | وہ خوش نہیں ہیں |
More examples:
| English | Urdu (Roman) |
|---|---|
| We do not eat meat. | hum gosht nahi khate |
| He does not drink tea. | woh chai nahi peeta |
| I am not a doctor. | main doctor nahi hoon |
| You are not at home. | tum ghar par nahi ho |
| The shop is not open. | dukaan khuli hui nahi hai |
You will later connect this rule to the detailed forms of “to be” in the subchapter about ہے and ہیں.
Simple Present with Time Expressions
Urdu often combines the simple present with adverbs of frequency and time expressions, similar to English:
- always, usually, often, sometimes, never
- every day, in the morning, at night
Some useful time words:
| English | Urdu (Roman) | Urdu (Nastaliq) |
|---|---|---|
| always | hamesha | ہمیشہ |
| usually | aam tor par | عام طور پر |
| often | aksar | اکثر |
| sometimes | kabhi kabhi | کبھی کبھی |
| never | kabhi nahi | کبھی نہیں |
| every day | har roz | ہر روز |
| in the morning | subah | صبح |
| at night | raat ko | رات کو |
Sentence pattern:
- Time word + subject + object + verb
or
- Subject + time word + object + verb
Both are common.
Examples:
| English | Urdu (Roman) |
|---|---|
| I always wake up early. | main hamesha jaldi uthta hoon / uthti hoon |
| We usually eat at home. | hum aam tor par ghar par khana khate hain |
| He often reads books at night. | woh aksar raat ko kitabain parta hai |
| She sometimes drinks coffee. | woh kabhi kabhi coffee peeti hai |
| They never play cricket. | woh kabhi nahi cricket khelte |
| Every day we go to school. | har roz hum school jaate hain |
Notice where hamesha, aksar, etc. can appear. They will not normally come after the final verb.
Short Questions and Answers in the Simple Present
In English, you say:
- Do you work?
- Do they study?
- Are you a doctor?
In Urdu, question structure is more about intonation and question words, not about changing the position of words as much. For yes/no questions, often the sentence looks like a normal statement, but your voice goes up at the end, and sometimes a question mark is written.
Basic yes/no patterns:
- Subject + object + verb?
Examples:
| English | Urdu (Roman) | Urdu (Nastaliq) |
|---|---|---|
| Do you work? | kya tum kaam karte ho? | کیا تم کام کرتے ہو؟ |
| Do they play? | kya woh khelte hain? | کیا وہ کھیلتے ہیں؟ |
| Are you a student? | kya tum student ho? | کیا تم اسٹوڈنٹ ہو؟ |
| Is he at home? | kya woh ghar par hai? | کیا وہ گھر پر ہے؟ |
Note the use of کیا (kya) for yes/no questions. You will study “Yes and no responses” and more question types under other titles, so here we only show the idea:
Simple answers in the present:
| English Question | Short Answer (English) | Urdu (Roman) |
|---|---|---|
| Do you work? | Yes, I work. | haan, main kaam karta hoon / karti hoon |
| Do you work? | No, I do not work. | nahi, main kaam nahi karta hoon / karti hoon |
| Are you a student? | Yes, I am a student. | haan, main student hoon |
| Are you a student? | No, I am not a student. | nahi, main student nahi hoon |
The details of “Yes and no responses” and question words like کیا, کب, کہاں, کیوں will be covered in the A2 “Asking Questions” chapter and in “Yes and no responses”. Here the goal is only to show that these questions can be in the simple present.
Simple Present with a Few Very Common Verbs
In everyday Urdu, some verbs appear again and again. You will learn their full patterns in the subchapters, but in this chapter you should become comfortable seeing them in simple sentences.
Three very common verbs are:
| English | Urdu infinitive (Roman) | Urdu infinitive (Nastaliq) |
|---|---|---|
| to do | karna | کرنا |
| to go | jana | جانا |
| to come | aana | آنا |
Examples in simple present (just observe for now):
| English | Urdu (Roman) |
|---|---|
| I do homework. | main homework karta hoon / karti hoon |
| She does housework. | woh ghar ka kaam karti hai |
| We go to the market. | hum bazaar jaate hain |
| He goes to office. | woh office jata hai |
| They come every day. | woh har roz aate hain |
| My friend comes late. | mera dost der se aata hai |
You will later learn how these verbs change according to gender and number. At this point, focus on recognizing that:
- The verb is at the end.
- The simple present describes regular, repeated actions.
Practice: Matching English and Urdu Sentences
Try to mentally match these sentences. Do not worry if you cannot produce everything perfectly yet. The goal is to see and recognize simple present structures.
| English | Urdu (Roman) |
|---|---|
| I drink tea every morning. | main har subah chai peeta hoon / peeti hoon |
| She reads Urdu. | woh Urdu parti hai |
| We live in Karachi. | hum Karachi mein rehte hain |
| He does not go to the gym. | woh gym nahi jata |
| They study English. | woh English parte hain |
| You are my friend. | tum mere dost ho |
| The shop opens at nine. | dukaan nau baje khulti hai |
| The children play in the park. | bachay park mein khelte hain |
| I never eat meat. | main kabhi gosht nahi khata / khati |
| We are not at home. | hum ghar par nahi hain |
If you can read these slowly and understand the basic idea, you already have a good first feel for the simple present in Urdu.
New Vocabulary from This Chapter
| English | Urdu (Roman) | Urdu (Nastaliq) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| to do | karna | کرنا | verb (infinitive) |
| to go | jana | جانا | verb (infinitive) |
| to come | aana | آنا | verb (infinitive) |
| to eat | khana | کھانا | verb (infinitive) |
| to drink | peena | پینا | verb (infinitive) |
| to read / to study | parhna | پڑھنا | verb (infinitive) |
| to play | khelna | کھیلنا | verb (infinitive) |
| to live | rehna | رہنا | verb (infinitive) |
| to wake up | uthna | اٹھنا | verb (infinitive) |
| work (noun) | kaam | کام | also used as verb “to work” with karna |
| house / home | ghar | گھر | noun |
| school | school | اسکول | noun, English loan |
| office | office | آفس / آفس | noun, English loan |
| market | bazaar | بازار | noun |
| friend | dost | دوست | noun |
| student | student | اسٹوڈنٹ | noun, English loan |
| tea | chai | چائے | noun |
| water | paani | پانی | noun |
| always | hamesha | ہمیشہ | adverb of frequency |
| usually | aam tor par | عام طور پر | adverb phrase |
| often | aksar | اکثر | adverb of frequency |
| sometimes | kabhi kabhi | کبھی کبھی | adverb of frequency |
| never | kabhi nahi | کبھی نہیں | adverb of frequency |
| every day | har roz | ہر روز | time expression |
| morning | subah | صبح | noun |
| night | raat | رات | noun |
| not | nahi | نہیں | negation marker |
| yes | haan | ہاں | affirmative response |
| no | nahi | نہیں | negative response |
| what (for yes/no “do/are…?”) | kya | کیا | question particle |