Table of Contents
Talking about Family and People in Urdu
In this chapter you will learn how to talk about people in your life in simple Urdu. We will focus on family members and very basic ways to mention them in short sentences. Detailed grammar about possession will come later, so here we will mostly give you useful ready‑made patterns and vocabulary.
Basic Word for Family
The most common word for “family” in Urdu is:
- خاندان khaan‑daan
- Also used: فیملی family (borrowed from English and used in speech)
Examples:
- یہ میرا خاندان ہے۔
ye mera khaan‑daan hai.
“This is my family.” - میری فیملی پاکستان میں ہے۔
meri family Pakistan mein hai.
“My family is in Pakistan.”
Close Family Members
Here are the most important close family words with pronunciation and gender. Gender will be used more deeply in later chapters, but here it is good to notice which words are grammatically masculine or feminine.
Parents
| English | Urdu (script) | Transliteration | Grammatical gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| father / dad | باپ | baap | masculine |
| father (polite, very common) | والد | waalid | masculine |
| mother / mom | ماں | maan | feminine |
| mother (polite, very common) | والدہ | waalida | feminine |
| parents | والدین | waalidayn | plural (mixed) |
Example sentences:
- یہ میرے والد ہیں۔
ye mere waalid hain.
“This is my father.” - یہ میری والدہ ہیں۔
ye meri waalida hain.
“This is my mother.” - میرے والدین پاکستان میں ہیں۔
mere waalidayn Pakistan mein hain.
“My parents are in Pakistan.”
Brothers and Sisters
| English | Urdu (script) | Transliteration | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| brother | بھائی | bhaai | masculine |
| elder brother (respectful) | بڑے بھائی | baday bhaai | masculine |
| younger brother | چھوٹے بھائی | chhotay bhaai | masculine |
| sister | بہن | behan | feminine |
| elder sister (respectful) | بڑی بہن | bari behan | feminine |
| younger sister | چھوٹی بہن | chhoti behan | feminine |
Examples:
- یہ میرا بھائی ہے۔
ye mera bhaai hai.
“This is my brother.” - یہ میری بہن ہے۔
ye meri behan hai.
“This is my sister.” - میرے دو بھائی ہیں۔
mere do bhaai hain.
“I have two brothers.” - میری ایک بہن ہے۔
meri aik behan hai.
“I have one sister.”
Extended Family: Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts
Urdu has very specific words for relatives from the father’s side and mother’s side. Here you will meet the most common ones. You do not need to memorize all at once, but start recognizing them.
Grandparents
| English | Urdu | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| grandfather (father’s father) | دادا | daada |
| grandmother (father’s mother) | دادی | daadi |
| grandfather (mother’s father) | نانا | naana |
| grandmother (mother’s mother) | نانی | naani |
| grandparents (general) | دادا دادی / نانا نانی | daada daadi / naana naani |
Examples:
- یہ میرے دادا ہیں۔
ye mere daada hain.
“This is my grandfather (paternal).” - یہ میری نانی ہیں۔
ye meri naani hain.
“This is my grandmother (maternal).”
Uncles and Aunts
These words tell you clearly whether the person is from the father’s side or the mother’s side.
| Relationship | English | Urdu | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|
| father’s brother | uncle | چچا | chacha |
| father’s brother’s wife | aunt | چچی | chachi |
| mother’s brother | uncle | ماموں | maamu(n) |
| mother’s brother’s wife | aunt | ممانی | mumani |
| father’s sister | aunt | پھوپھی | phuphi |
| father’s sister’s husband | uncle | پھوپھا | phupha |
| mother’s sister | aunt | خالہ | khaala |
| mother’s sister’s husband | uncle | خالو | khaalu |
Examples:
- یہ میرے چچا ہیں۔
ye mere chacha hain.
“This is my (paternal) uncle.” - یہ میری خالہ ہیں۔
ye meri khaala hain.
“This is my (maternal) aunt.” - میری دو خالائیں ہیں۔
meri do khaalain hain.
“I have two aunts (mother’s sisters).”
Spouse and Children
Spouse
| English | Urdu | Transliteration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| husband | شوہر | shoher | formal and common |
| wife | بیوی | beevi | everyday word |
| husband (polite) | خاوند | khaawind | more formal, less common in speech |
Examples:
- یہ میرے شوہر ہیں۔
ye mere shoher hain.
“This is my husband.” - یہ میری بیوی ہیں۔
ye meri beevi hain.
“This is my wife.”
Children
| English | Urdu | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| son | بیٹا | beta |
| daughter | بیٹی | beti |
| child (general, respectful) | بچہ / بچی | bachcha / bachchi |
| children | بچے | bachche |
Examples:
- میرا ایک بیٹا ہے۔
mera aik beta hai.
“I have one son.” - میری دو بیٹیاں ہیں۔
meri do betiyan hain.
“I have two daughters.” - میرے تین بچے ہیں۔
mere teen bachche hain.
“I have three children.”
Talking About People in General
Here are some basic words for “people” and simple descriptions. Detailed adjectives and grammar will come later, so we keep sentences very simple.
Basic People Words
| English | Urdu | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| man | آدمی | aadmi |
| woman | عورت | aurat |
| boy | لڑکا | larka |
| girl | لڑکی | larki |
| person | شخص / آدمی | shakhs / aadmi |
| people | لوگ | log |
| friend (male) | دوست | dost |
| friend (female) | دوست | dost (same word) |
Examples:
- وہ آدمی میرا دوست ہے۔
wo aadmi mera dost hai.
“That man is my friend.” - وہ لڑکی میری بہن ہے۔
wo larki meri behan hai.
“That girl is my sister.” - یہ لوگ میرے رشتے دار ہیں۔
ye log mere rishtedaar hain.
“These people are my relatives.”
Simple Patterns to Introduce Family Members
Detailed sentence structure is handled in a later unit, so here you can use these simple “ready patterns” to speak about your family and people.
Pattern 1: “This is my …”
Use this pattern when you show a photo or introduce a person.
Pattern:
یہ میرا / میری … ہے۔
ye mera / meri … hai.
Use میرا mera before many masculine words, and میری meri before many feminine words.
Some useful examples:
- یہ میرا بھائی ہے۔
ye mera bhaai hai.
“This is my brother.” - یہ میری بہن ہے۔
ye meri behan hai.
“This is my sister.” - یہ میرا دوست ہے۔
ye mera dost hai.
“This is my (male) friend.” - یہ میری دوست ہے۔
ye meri dost hai.
“This is my (female) friend.” - یہ میرا بیٹا ہے۔
ye mera beta hai.
“This is my son.” - یہ میری بیٹی ہے۔
ye meri beti hai.
“This is my daughter.”
Pattern 2: “He / She is my …”
To point to someone already known in the context:
Pattern (masculine subject):
وہ میرا … ہے۔
wo mera … hai.
Pattern (feminine subject):
وہ میری … ہے۔
wo meri … hai.
Examples:
- وہ میرا باپ ہے۔
wo mera baap hai.
“He is my father.” - وہ میری ماں ہے۔
wo meri maan hai.
“She is my mother.” - وہ میرا بیٹا ہے۔
wo mera beta hai.
“He is my son.” - وہ میری بیٹی ہے۔
wo meri beti hai.
“She is my daughter.”
Short Practice Dialogues
These mini dialogues use only very simple structures, so you can focus on family vocab and people words.
Dialogue 1: Asking about Siblings
A: کیا آپ کے بھائی ہیں؟
kya aap ke bhaai hain?
“Do you have brothers?”
B: ہاں، میرے دو بھائی ہیں۔
haan, mere do bhaai hain.
“Yes, I have two brothers.”
A: کیا آپ کی بہنیں ہیں؟
kya aap ki behnen hain?
“Do you have sisters?”
B: نہیں، میری کوئی بہن نہیں ہے۔
nahin, meri koi behn nahin hai.
“No, I do not have any sister.”
Dialogue 2: Talking about Parents
A: یہ کون ہیں؟
ye kaun hain?
“Who is this?”
B: یہ میری والدہ ہیں۔
ye meri waalida hain.
“This is my mother.”
A: اور یہ کون ہیں؟
aur ye kaun hain?
“And who is this?”
B: یہ میرے والد ہیں۔
ye mere waalid hain.
“This is my father.”
Dialogue 3: Simple Family Description
A: آپ کی فیملی کہاں ہے؟
aap ki family kahan hai?
“Where is your family?”
B: میری فیملی لاہور میں ہے۔
meri family Lahore mein hai.
“My family is in Lahore.”
A: کیا آپ کے بچے ہیں؟
kya aap ke bachche hain?
“Do you have children?”
B: جی ہاں، میرا ایک بیٹا اور ایک بیٹی ہے۔
ji haan, mera aik beta aur aik beti hai.
“Yes, I have one son and one daughter.”
New Vocabulary from This Chapter
| English | Urdu (script) | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| family | خاندان / فیملی | khaan‑daan / family |
| father | باپ / والد | baap / waalid |
| mother | ماں / والدہ | maan / waalida |
| parents | والدین | waalidayn |
| brother | بھائی | bhaai |
| sister | بہن | behan |
| grandfather (father’s father) | دادا | daada |
| grandmother (father’s mother) | دادی | daadi |
| grandfather (mother’s father) | نانا | naana |
| grandmother (mother’s mother) | نانی | naani |
| paternal uncle | چچا | chacha |
| paternal aunt (uncle’s wife) | چچی | chachi |
| maternal uncle | ماموں | maamu(n) |
| maternal aunt (uncle’s wife) | ممانی | mumani |
| paternal aunt (father’s sister) | پھوپھی | phuphi |
| paternal aunt’s husband | پھوپھا | phupha |
| maternal aunt (mother’s sister) | خالہ | khaala |
| maternal aunt’s husband | خالو | khaalu |
| husband | شوہر | shoher |
| wife | بیوی | beevi |
| son | بیٹا | beta |
| daughter | بیٹی | beti |
| child | بچہ / بچی | bachcha / bachchi |
| children | بچے | bachche |
| man | آدمی | aadmi |
| woman | عورت | aurat |
| boy | لڑکا | larka |
| girl | لڑکی | larki |
| person | شخص / آدمی | shakhs / aadmi |
| people | لوگ | log |
| friend | دوست | dost |
| relative | رشتے دار | rishtedaar |