2.9.1 More and less expressions

Understanding “More” and “Less” in Urdu

In this chapter you will learn how to say “more,” “less,” “a little,” “a lot,” and similar ideas in Urdu. These expressions are very common in daily speech and are also the base for comparative and superlative forms, which you will study in the next subchapter.

We will focus here on short, practical patterns that you can start using immediately.

Core words for “more” and “less”

The two main words you need are:

You will see that زیادہ (zyaada) and کم (kam) are very flexible. They can go with nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Some simple examples:

• زیادہ پانی
  zyaada paani
  “more water”
• کم چینی
  kam cheeni
  “less sugar”
• زیادہ لوگ
  zyaada log
  “more people”
• کم کام
  kam kaam
  “less work”

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Asking for more and less of something

When you want more or less of something, you usually put زیادہ or کم before the noun.

Basic patterns

1. More + noun
• زیادہ + noun

Examples:

• مجھے زیادہ پانی چاہیے۔
  mujhe zyaada paani chahiye.
  “I want more water.”
• ہمیں زیادہ وقت چاہیے۔
  hamein zyaada waqt chahiye.
  “We need more time.”
• کیا آپ کے پاس زیادہ پیسے ہیں؟
  kya aap ke paas zyaada paise hain?
  “Do you have more money?”

2. Less + noun
• کم + noun

Examples:

• مجھے کم نمک چاہیے۔
  mujhe kam namak chahiye.
  “I want less salt.”
• وہ کم دوستوں سے ملتا ہے۔
  woh kam doston se milta hai.
  “He meets fewer friends.”
• کم پانی پیو۔
  kam paani piyo.
  “Drink less water.”

Polite requests with “more” and “less”

To sound polite, combine زیادہ / کم with “please”:

• ذرا زیادہ پانی دیجیے، پلیز۔
  zara zyaada paani dijiye, pleez.
  “Please give (me) a little more water.”
• چینی کم رکھیے، پلیز۔
  cheeni kam rakhiye, pleez.
  “Please put less sugar.”

“ذرا (zara)” softens the request and often means “just a little / kindly.”

More and less with adjectives

You can also use زیادہ and کم before adjectives to say “more X” or “less X,” where X is an adjective like “beautiful,” “expensive,” “difficult,” etc.

Basic pattern:

• زیادہ + adjective
• کم + adjective

Some useful adjectives:

Examples with “more”

• یہ کتاب زیادہ دلچسپ ہے۔
  ye kitaab zyaada dilchasp hai.
  “This book is more interesting.”
• آج وہ زیادہ خوش ہے۔
  aaj woh zyaada khush hai.
  “Today she/he is happier / more happy.”
• یہ کمرہ زیادہ صاف ہے۔
  ye kamra zyaada saaf hai.
  “This room is cleaner / more clean.”

Examples with “less”

• یہ سوال کم مشکل ہے۔
  ye sawaal kam mushkil hai.
  “This question is less difficult.”
• وہ آج کم مصروف ہے۔
  woh aaj kam masroof hai.
  “He/She is less busy today.”
• آج موسم کم گرم ہے۔
  aaj mausam kam garam hai.
  “Today the weather is less hot.”

More and less with verbs (how much you do something)

You can use زیادہ and کم to talk about how often or how much someone does an action.

Common verb roots:

Pattern 1: adverb between subject and verb

Very often, زیادہ or کم comes just before the verb or just before the verb phrase.

Examples:

• میں زیادہ پڑھتا ہوں۔ / میں زیادہ پڑھتی ہوں۔
  main zyaada parhta hoon. / main zyaada parhti hoon.
  “I study more / a lot.”
• وہ کم سوتا ہے۔ / وہ کم سوتی ہے۔
  woh kam sota hai. / woh kam soti hai.
  “He/She sleeps less.”
• ہمیں زیادہ کام کرنا ہے۔
  hamein zyaada kaam karna hai.
  “We have to work more.”
• تم کم کھاتے ہو۔
  tum kam khaate ho.
  “You eat less.”

Pattern 2: quantity adverbs with verbs

When you talk about “eating more,” “drinking less,” etc., you can also say:

• زیادہ + verb
• کم + verb

Examples:

• میں زیادہ کھانا چاہتا ہوں۔ / چاہتی ہوں۔
  main zyaada khaana chahta hoon / chahti hoon.
  “I want to eat more.”
• وہ کم بولتا ہے۔ / وہ کم بولتی ہے۔
  woh kam bolta hai / woh kam bolti hai.
  “He/She speaks less.”
• ہمیں زیادہ سونا چاہیے۔
  hamein zyaada sona chahiye.
  “We should sleep more.”

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“A little,” “a bit,” “a lot”

To fine-tune how much, Urdu uses very common small words along with زیادہ and کم.

1. تھوڑا / تھوڑی / تھوڑے (a little / a bit / some)

These words agree with gender and number of the noun, but at beginner level you can focus on the idea of “a little” or “some.”

Examples:

• مجھے تھوڑا پانی دیں۔
  mujhe thora paani dein.
  “Give me a little water.”
• وہ تھوڑا تھکا ہوا ہے۔
  woh thora thaka hua hai.
  “He is a little tired.”
• میں تھوڑا کم چینی لیتا ہوں۔ / لیتی ہوں۔
  main thora kam cheeni leta hoon / leti hoon.
  “I take a little less sugar.”

You can also say:

• تھوڑا زیادہ
  thora zyaada = “a little more”
• تھوڑا کم
  thora kam = “a little less”

Examples:

• چائے میں تھوڑی زیادہ چینی ڈالیں۔
  chai mein thori zyaada cheeni daalein.
  “Put a little more sugar in the tea.”
• آواز تھوڑی کم کریں۔
  aawaaz thori kam karein.
  “Turn the volume a little down.”

2. بہت (a lot / very / many)

بہت (bohot) is extremely common. It often means “very,” “much,” or “a lot.”

• بہت + noun
• بہت + adjective
• بہت + verb

Examples:

• میں بہت پانی پیتا ہوں۔ / پیتی ہوں۔
  main bohot paani peeta hoon / peeti hoon.
  “I drink a lot of water.”
• وہ بہت تھکی ہوئی ہے۔
  woh bohot thaki hui hai.
  “She is very tired.”
• ہمارے پاس بہت وقت ہے۔
  hamare paas bohot waqt hai.
  “We have a lot of time.”

You can also compare softly with بہت زیادہ (bohot zyaada):

• یہ بہت زیادہ ہے۔
  ye bohot zyaada hai.
  “This is too much / very much.”
• وہ بہت زیادہ بولتا ہے۔
  woh bohot zyaada bolta hai.
  “He talks too much.”

3. تھوڑا سا (a little bit)

To sound natural, add سا (sa) after تھوڑا:

• تھوڑا سا
  thora sa = “a little bit,” “just a bit”

Examples:

• مجھے تھوڑا سا پانی دیجیے۔
  mujhe thora sa paani dijiye.
  “Give me a little bit of water.”
• وہ تھوڑا سا مصروف ہے۔
  woh thora sa masroof hai.
  “He/She is a little bit busy.”
• میں تھوڑا سا زیادہ پڑھنا چاہتا ہوں۔ / چاہتی ہوں۔
  main thora sa zyaada parhna chahta hoon / chahti hoon.
  “I want to study a little more.”

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Saying “too much” and “too little”

When something is more than good or more than needed, you can say بہت زیادہ (bohot zyaada) or زیادہ (zyaada) by itself in context. For too little, you often use بہت کم (bohot kam).

“Too much”

Common patterns:

• بہت زیادہ + noun
• بہت زیادہ + adjective
• بہت زیادہ + verb

Examples:

• کھانا بہت زیادہ ہے۔
  khaana bohot zyaada hai.
  “There is too much food.”
• وہ بہت زیادہ تھکا ہوا ہے۔
  woh bohot zyaada thaka hua hai.
  “He is too tired.”
• وہ بہت زیادہ کام کرتی ہے۔
  woh bohot zyaada kaam karti hai.
  “She works too much.”

You can also say simply:

• یہ زیادہ ہے۔
  ye zyaada hai.
  “This is too much.”

“Too little / not enough”

Use بہت کم (bohot kam) or sometimes کم ہے / کم ہیں (kam hai / kam hain).

Examples:

• پیسے بہت کم ہیں۔
  paise bohot kam hain.
  “The money is too little / not enough.”
• پانی کم ہے۔
  paani kam hai.
  “There is too little water.”
• وہ بہت کم پڑھتا ہے۔
  woh bohot kam parhta hai.
  “He studies very little.”
• تم بہت کم سوتی ہو۔
  tum bohot kam soti ho.
  “You sleep too little.”

Comparing two things with “more” / “less” (without full comparative grammar)

In the next subchapter you will study formal comparative and superlative forms. Here, you can already compare in a simple way using زیادہ and کم with context.

Simple comparison pattern

Thing A + زیادہ / کم + adjective + ہے
then mention Thing B in a second sentence or with a simple phrase.

Examples:

• یہ کتاب زیادہ دلچسپ ہے۔ وہ کتاب کم دلچسپ ہے۔
  ye kitaab zyaada dilchasp hai. woh kitaab kam dilchasp hai.
  “This book is more interesting. That book is less interesting.”
• آج موسم کم گرم ہے۔ کل زیادہ گرم تھا۔
  aaj mausam kam garam hai. kal zyaada garam tha.
  “Today the weather is less hot. Yesterday it was hotter / more hot.”
• میرا گھر زیادہ بڑا ہے۔ آپ کا گھر کم بڑا ہے۔
  mera ghar zyaada bara hai. aap ka ghar kam bara hai.
  “My house is bigger. Your house is less big / smaller.”

Even without formal “than” structure, speakers understand from context which two things you compare.

Everyday mini dialogues

In a restaurant

A:

• چینی کم رکھیں، پلیز۔
  cheeni kam rakhein, pleez.
  “Keep the sugar less, please.”

B:

• تھوڑا سا زیادہ نمک ٹھیک ہے؟
  thora sa zyaada namak theek hai?
  “Is a little more salt okay?”

A:

• ہاں، تھوڑا سا زیادہ۔
  haan, thora sa zyaada.
  “Yes, a little more.”

Talking about study

A:

• تم روز کتنا پڑھتے ہو؟
  tum roz kitna parhte ho?
  “How much do you study every day?”

B:

• میں کم پڑھتا ہوں، بس ایک گھنٹہ۔
  main kam parhta hoon, bas aik ghanta.
  “I study little, just one hour.”

A:

• تمہیں زیادہ پڑھنا چاہیے۔
  tumhein zyaada parhna chahiye.
  “You should study more.”

B:

• ٹھیک ہے، میں بہت زیادہ پڑھنے کی کوشش کروں گا۔
  theek hai, main bohot zyaada parhne ki koshish karoon ga.
  “Okay, I will try to study a lot / very much.”

Talking about time

A:

• ہمارے پاس کتنا وقت ہے؟
  hamare paas kitna waqt hai?
  “How much time do we have?”

B:

• بہت کم وقت ہے۔
  bohot kam waqt hai.
  “There is very little time.”

A:

• پھر ہمیں کم بات کرنی چاہیے، زیادہ کام کرنا چاہیے۔
  phir hamein kam baat karni chahiye, zyaada kaam karna chahiye.
  “Then we should talk less and work more.”

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Vocabulary list for this chapter

Use these patterns and words to describe “how much,” “how often,” and “how strong” something is in Urdu. In the next subchapter you will see how these same ideas connect to full comparative and superlative forms.