1.8 Numbers, Time, and Dates

Overview

In this chapter you will learn how Urdu handles three very practical topics: numbers, telling time, and basic dates. You will see how digits look and sound, how to tell someone what time it is, and how to say simple calendar expressions such as “today,” “tomorrow,” and “on Monday.” This chapter stays at a simple, everyday level, but gives you enough detail to start using these expressions right away.

Urdu Numbers from 0 to 20

Urdu has its own number words and its own written digits. In daily life in Pakistan and India, you will see both Urdu digits and “Western” digits (0, 1, 2, 3,...). As a learner, you should first focus on the spoken forms.

0 to 10

11 to 20

These are irregular, so you must memorize them.

Example phrases with small numbers

Use these to get used to hearing the numbers inside real phrases:

• ek din ایک دن, “one day”
• do baje دو بجے, “two o’clock”
• teen kitabیں تین کتابیں, “three books”
• paanch log پانچ لوگ, “five people”
• das rupay دس روپے, “ten rupees”
• gyarah bache گیارہ بچے, “eleven children”
• bīs saal بیس سال, “twenty years”

---

Tens from 20 to 100

From 20 upward, Urdu numbers become more irregular and often must be learned one by one. At A1 level, focus on main “tens” and a few common numbers that you are likely to need.

Main tens

Some useful “in between” numbers

At this stage, use tens plus context. For example, if someone says “pachas,” you know it is about “fifty.” Exact details for every number will become important later.

Example phrases with bigger numbers

• bīs rupay بیس روپے, “twenty rupees”
• tīs din تیس دن, “thirty days”
• chālīs saal چالیس سال, “forty years”
• pachas students پچاس اسٹوڈنٹس, “fifty students”
• sau log سو لوگ, “one hundred people”
• assī percent اسی فیصد, “eighty percent”

---

Urdu Digits

You already know the spoken forms. Here is how to write the digits from 0 to 9 in Urdu.

Reading simple written numbers

• ۱۰ = 10 = das
• ۱۵ = 15 = pandrah
• ۲۰ = 20 = bīs
• ۴۵ = 45 = paitālīs (you only need to recognize general size at A1)
• ۱۰۰ = 100 = sau

Practice by matching prices or phone numbers written both in Western digits and Urdu digits.

Asking and Saying “How many?”

To connect numbers to real-life objects, you need a simple “how many” pattern.

The question word is kitne / kitni / kitna. The exact form depends on gender and grammar, which you will study in detail elsewhere. For now, focus on typical question patterns.

Basic question patterns

Sample questions and short answers

• Q: kitne din? کتنے دن؟
  A: teen din. تین دن.
  “Three days.”
• Q: kitne rupay? کتنے روپے؟
  A: pachas rupay. پچاس روپے.
  “Fifty rupees.”
• Q: kitni kitabیں? کتنی کتابیں؟
  A: do kitabیں. دو کتابیں.
  “Two books.”

Even one-word answers with just the number are common, for example:

• Q: kitne baje? کتنے بجے؟
  A: teen. تین.
  “At three.”

---

Time: The Hour

Urdu usually asks “What time is it?” with a pattern using “kitne baje.”

Asking for the time

Saying whole hours

Use the number plus baje. For now focus on 1 to 12.

Urdu commonly uses the 12-hour clock. The words “morning,” “evening,” etc., help specify the part of the day.

Times of Day

You can add a word like “in the morning” to make the time clearer.

Place the time + “baje” together with one of these:

• subah chay baje صبح چھے بجے, “at 6 in the morning”
• dupair do baje دوپہر دو بجے, “at 2 in the afternoon”
• shaam saat baje شام سات بجے, “at 7 in the evening”
• raat nau baje رات نو بجے, “at 9 at night”

Example sentences with everyday times

• class subah nau baje hai.
  کلاس صبح نو بجے ہے۔
  “The class is at 9 in the morning.”
• main shaam chay baje ghar جاتا ہوں / جاتی ہوں.
  میں شام چھے بجے گھر جاتا ہوں / جاتی ہوں۔
  “I go home at 6 in the evening.”

(جاتا ہوں for males, جاتی ہوں for females.)

• meeting dupair ek baje hai.
  میٹنگ دوپہر ایک بجے ہے۔
  “The meeting is at 1 in the afternoon.”

---

Minutes: Half, Quarter, and “Past”

For A1, you can begin with a few very common patterns instead of every possible time.

“And a half” and “quarter past”

In everyday speech, many people also simply use “3:30” etc., but it is good to know these traditional words.

In practice, you will often hear:

• sawa tin baje ساڑھے تین بجے or سوا تین بجے depending on region, used around “quarter past three” or “half past three.” Exact traditional distinctions can be complex. At A1 level, you may:
• Use digital-style expressions, such as “three thirty”:
• teen baje, tees minute تین بجے، تیس منٹ
• Or keep to whole hours and general words like “about.”

Simple “hour + minutes” pattern

To say “three twenty,” you can use:

• teen baje, bees minute
  تین بجے، بیس منٹ
  “3:20.”

A few examples:

• paanch baje, das minute
  پانچ بجے، دس منٹ.
  “5:10.”
• chay baje, paanch minute
  چھے بجے، پانچ منٹ.
  “6:05.”
• gyarah baje, tees minute
  گیارہ بجے، تیس منٹ.
  “11:30.”

---

Basic Date Words

Dates in Urdu use numbers together with words like “today,” “tomorrow,” and names of days and months.

Today, yesterday, tomorrow

The same word kal means “yesterday” or “tomorrow.” Context and sometimes verb tense tell you which one.

Examples:

• aaj Monday hai.
  آج منڈے ہے۔
  “Today is Monday.”
• kal class nahi hai.
  کل کلاس نہیں ہے۔
  “There is no class tomorrow / yesterday.”
  Context decides.
• aaj kitna tareekh hai?
  آج کتنی تاریخ ہے؟
  “What is the date today?”

Days of the week

At beginner level, you should at least recognize them. Both Urdu and English weekday names are used in speech, but here are the Urdu ones.

Saying “on Monday,” “on Friday,” etc.

To say “on + day,” Urdu simply uses the day word, often with ko. At A1, you can use either, with or without “ko.”

• peer ko پیر کو, “on Monday”
• jumma ko جمعہ کو, “on Friday”

Example sentences:

• meeting peer ko hai.
  میٹنگ پیر کو ہے۔
  “The meeting is on Monday.”
• main jumma ko mosque جاتا ہوں / جاتی ہوں.
  میں جمعہ کو مسجد جاتا ہوں / جاتی ہوں۔
  “I go to the mosque on Friday.”
• class haftay ko nahi hai.
  کلاس ہفتے کو نہیں ہے۔
  “There is no class on Saturday.”

---

Talking about Dates with Numbers

A full formal date system in Urdu uses “tareekh” and month names, which will be treated in more detail later. Here you will see a simple, everyday pattern.

The key word is tareekh تاریخ which means “date” (calendar date).

Asking the date

Answering with numbers

Use a number plus tareekh. For example:

• aaj panch tareekh hai.
  آج پانچ تاریخ ہے۔
  “Today is the 5th.”
• aaj das tareekh hai.
  آج دس تاریخ ہے۔
  “Today is the 10th.”
• aaj bīs tareekh hai.
  آج بیس تاریخ ہے۔
  “Today is the 20th.”

You can add a day of the week:

• aaj das tareekh hai, peer hai.
  آج دس تاریخ ہے، پیر ہے۔
  “Today is the 10th, it is Monday.”

Or:

• class bees tareekh ko hai.
  کلاس بیس تاریخ کو ہے۔
  “The class is on the 20th.”

---

Putting Numbers, Time, and Dates Together

Here are some short practical dialogues and sentences that combine everything in this chapter.

Dialogue 1: Asking the time

A: maaf kijiye, kitne baje hain?
معاف کیجئے، کتنے بجے ہیں؟
“Excuse me, what time is it?”

B: subah nau baje hain.
صبح نو بجے ہیں۔
“It is 9 in the morning.”

Dialogue 2: Class time

A: class kitne baje hai?
کلاس کتنے بجے ہے؟
“What time is the class?”

B: class shaam saat baje hai.
کلاس شام سات بجے ہے۔
“The class is at 7 in the evening.”

Dialogue 3: Dates and days

A: aaj kya tareekh hai?
آج کیا تاریخ ہے؟
“What is the date today?”

B: aaj gyarah tareekh hai, budh hai.
آج گیارہ تاریخ ہے، بدھ ہے۔
“Today is the 11th, it is Wednesday.”

Dialogue 4: How many and when

A: kitne din ki chhutti hai?
کتنے دن کی چھٹی ہے؟
“How many days off are there?”

B: teen din, jumma, hafta aur itwaar.
تین دن، جمعہ، ہفتہ اور اتوار۔
“Three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

Dialogue 5: Appointments

A: appointment kab hai?
اپائٹمنٹ کب ہے؟
“When is the appointment?”

B: kal dupair do baje.
کل دوپہر دو بجے۔
“Tomorrow at 2 in the afternoon.”

New Vocabulary from This Chapter