3.10.1 Articles

Understanding and Reading Simple Urdu Articles

In this chapter you will learn how to approach short Urdu articles such as news items, blog posts, and simple opinion pieces. You will not learn full media analysis here, but you will build the basic skills to understand structure, recognize common patterns, and read for main ideas.

What Counts as an “Article” in Urdu?

In everyday learning, “article” usually means a short, complete text on one topic that you might see:

• On a news website
• In a newspaper or magazine
• On a blog
• In a children’s magazine or textbook

These texts are usually:

• About one main topic
• Paragraph based, not in dialogue form
• Written in simple, neutral or formal Urdu
• Meant to inform, and sometimes to express an opinion

Typical types of simple articles you will see at this level:

Typical Structure of a Short Urdu Article

Most simple Urdu articles follow a predictable structure. Understanding this structure helps you guess meaning, even when some words are new.

1. Headline (سرخی)

The headline is short, often without full sentences, and uses:

• Simple present or past, often without the verb “to be”
• Key nouns and adjectives
• Sometimes numbers or place names

Example headlines:

• کراچی میں تیز بارش, سڑکیں زیرِ آب
  “Heavy rain in Karachi, roads under water”
• اسکولوں میں کتاب میلہ شروع
  “Book fair starts in schools”
• صاف پانی کی کمی, شہری پریشان
  “Lack of clean water, citizens worried”

The headline gives you the topic and often the main event or problem.

2. Lead sentence or lead paragraph

The first one or two sentences after the headline are called the lead. They usually answer some of these questions:

• What happened?
• Where?
• When?
• Who is involved?

For example:

کراچی میں پیر کی صبح تیز بارش ہوئی جس سے مختلف علاقوں کی سڑکیں پانی میں ڈوب گئیں۔

“On Monday morning there was heavy rain in Karachi, because of which the roads in various areas were flooded.”

Even if you do not know every word, you can find:

• Place: کراچی
• Time: پیر کی صبح
• Event: تیز بارش ہوئی
• Result: سڑکیں پانی میں ڈوب گئیں

3. Details and explanation

After the lead, the article gives supporting details:

• Numbers, facts, statistics
• Short quotes (reported speech)
• Reasons and explanations
• Background information

Paragraphs often start with linking words or phrases, such as:

4. Conclusion or final comment

Simple Urdu articles may finish with:

• A short summary of the situation
• A prediction or expectation
• A quote from an official or an expert
• A recommendation or warning

Example final lines:

• ماہرین نے شہریوں کو مشورہ دیا کہ غیر ضروری سفر سے گریز کریں۔
  “Experts advised citizens to avoid unnecessary travel.”
• انتظامیہ نے کہا کہ مسئلہ جلد حل کر لیا جائے گا۔
  “The administration said that the problem will be solved soon.”

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Common Language Features in Simple Articles

Neutral and formal word choice

Even simple articles often use slightly more formal words than daily speech, but at B1 level you will usually meet:

• Clear and direct sentences
• Familiar tenses (present, past, future)
• Repeated vocabulary about common topics

Common verbs in articles:

Passive-like structures

You will see structures where the doer is not important, for example:

• فیصلہ کیا گیا
  “It was decided”
• اعلان کیا گیا
  “It was announced”
• کام مکمل کر لیا گیا
  “The work was completed”

At this level, you only need to recognize that these forms talk about events where the actor is not named.

Numbers and quantities

Articles often include basic numbers and simple data:

• تین دن سے بارش ہو رہی ہے۔
  “It has been raining for three days.”
• دس سے زیادہ افراد زخمی ہوئے۔
  “More than ten people were injured.”
• تقریباً سو کتابیں نمائش میں رکھی گئیں۔
  “Approximately one hundred books were displayed.”

Notice common quantity words like:

• زیادہ “more”
• کم “less”
• تقریباً “approximately”
• سے زیادہ “more than”
• سے کم “less than”

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Strategies for Reading Simple Urdu Articles

Reading for the main idea

Your first goal is not to understand every word. Your first goal is:

1. Identify the topic.
2. Find the main idea of each paragraph.

You can follow this simple routine:

1. Read the headline carefully.
2. Read the first sentence slowly.
3. Circle or note:
• Place words (e.g. لاہور, اسکول میں)
• Time words (آج, کل, گزشتہ ہفتے)
• Main event verb (ہوئی, شروع ہوا, ختم ہوا)
4. Quickly look through the rest of the text and identify:
• Names
• Numbers
• Repeated words

Using structure and position

In a short article:

• The topic and main event usually appear in the headline and first line.
• Reasons often appear after words like کیونکہ “because” or اس لیے کہ “for this reason that”.
• Results often follow words like اس لیے “therefore,” نتیجے میں “as a result,” اسی وجہ سے “for this reason.”

Look at this sentence:

تیز بارش کے باعث شہر کے نچلے علاقوں میں پانی جمع ہو گیا۔

Even if you do not know نچلے, you can see the pattern:

• Cause phrase: تیز بارش کے باعث “because of heavy rain”
• Place: شہر کے … علاقوں میں “in the city’s … areas”
• Result: پانی جمع ہو گیا “water accumulated”

From this structure you can guess that نچلے علاقوں means “lower areas.”

Guessing word meaning from context

When you meet a new word, ask:

1. Is it likely a person, place, time, thing, or action?
2. Is it part of a fixed phrase?
3. Does the sentence show cause, result, or description?

Example:

حکومت نے شہریوں کو متنبہ کیا کہ وہ دریاؤں کے قریب نہ جائیں۔

Maybe you do not know متنبہ. But:

• حکومت نے شہریوں کو … کیا “the government did something to the citizens”
• کہ “that”
• وہ دریاؤں کے قریب نہ جائیں “they should not go near the rivers”

From the warning content “not go near rivers,” you can guess that متنبہ means “warned.”

You do not need the exact dictionary definition. A working meaning is enough to understand.

Recognizing Paragraph Functions

Each paragraph often has a main function. If you can label it, you will understand the text better.

Common paragraph types:

Example paragraph with function labels:

گزشتہ روز لاہور کے مختلف علاقوں میں شدید بارش ہوئی جس کے باعث سڑکوں پر پانی کھڑا ہو گیا۔
Function: Introduction and main event

شہریوں نے شکایت کی کہ صفائی کا نظام بہتر نہ ہونے کی وجہ سے تھوڑی سی بارش میں بھی سڑکیں بھر جاتی ہیں۔
Function: Reason and complaint

ماہرین کا کہنا ہے کہ اگر نکاسیِ آب کا نظام بہتر بنایا جائے تو ایسی صورتِ حال سے بچا جا سکتا ہے۔
Function: Expert opinion and possible solution

Practice: Sample Short Article with Guided Reading

Here is a small, simplified article. First read through slowly. Then we will look at the structure.

Headline:
لاہور میں کتاب میلہ, طلبہ کی بڑی تعداد میں شرکت

Text:
لاہور کے ایک سرکاری کالج میں تین روزہ کتاب میلہ شروع ہو گیا ہے۔ میلے میں مختلف ناشرین نے اپنی نئی اور پرانی کتابیں نمائش کے لیے رکھی ہیں۔

طلبہ اور اساتذہ کی بڑی تعداد میلے میں شرکت کر رہی ہے۔ بہت سے طلبہ نے بتایا کہ انہیں سستی قیمت پر اچھی کتابیں مل رہی ہیں۔ کچھ طلبہ نے یہ بھی کہا کہ ایسے میلوں سے مطالعے کا شوق بڑھتا ہے۔

کالج کے پرنسپل نے امید ظاہر کی کہ آئندہ سال مزید ناشرین اس میلے میں حصہ لیں گے تاکہ طلبہ کو زیادہ انتخاب مل سکے۔

Step 1: Headline

• لاہور میں کتاب میلہ
  “Book fair in Lahore”
• طلبہ کی بڑی تعداد میں شرکت
  “Large number of students participate”

Main topic: a book fair in Lahore, with many students taking part.

Step 2: Identify article parts

We can classify the parts:

Step 3: Reading strategy

You can now:

1. Summarize the article in one or two English sentences.
2. Underline or list any new words you see.
3. Guess their meaning based on position and context.

Possible one-sentence summary in English:

“There is a three-day book fair at a government college in Lahore, many students and teachers are attending, they are getting good books at low prices, and the principal hopes more publishers will join next year.”

Practical Tips for Working With Real Articles

Choose the right level

For practice at B1, choose articles that are:

• Short (about 150–250 words)
• On concrete topics like weather, school, transport, local events
• Without heavy political or technical language

Children’s news, educational websites, and simple blogs are good sources.

Use a reading cycle

You can follow this cycle for each article:

1. First quick read for topic, ignore details.
2. Second, slower read:
• Highlight unknown but frequent words.
• Mark connecting words like کیونکہ, لیکن, اس لیے.
3. Check a dictionary only for:
• Words that block understanding of the main point.
• Repeating words that seem important.
4. Write a short summary in English:
• 2–3 sentences.
5. Optionally, write 2 or 3 key sentences in Urdu from the article and translate them.

Recognize repetition as a help

Writers often repeat key words:

• If you see کتاب میلہ several times, you know the central topic is the book fair.
• If you see بارش and سڑک بہت often, the article is likely about rain and roads.

Use this repetition to build a mental map of the article, even with limited vocabulary.

Vocabulary List for this Chapter

The following list gathers important words and phrases that are especially useful for understanding simple Urdu articles. Meanings are approximate and context based.

Use this vocabulary to practice reading simple online or printed articles. Try to notice these words in context, and slowly build your own dictionary of article language.