Diana Bessie

In Pakistan, “happy new year” is نیا سال مبارک (naya saal mubarak). With the verb it becomes نیا سال مبارک ہو (naya saal mubarak ho).

The standard Urdu word for “mother” is ماں (māñ). In formal speech Pakistanis say والدہ (vālida), and at home children say امی (ammī).

In Pakistan, where Urdu is the national language, “peace” in the sense of no conflict is امن (aman).

To say “no problem” in Pakistan use کوئی مسئلہ نہیں (koʾī masʾala nahīñ) or کوئی بات نہیں (koʾī bāt nahīñ).

In Urdu, شام بخیر (shaam bakhair) means “good evening”.

The plain Urdu word for “thanks” in Pakistan is شکریہ (shukriya).

In Pakistan “sick” is بیمار (bīmār) in Urdu. In daily talk people also say میری طبیعت خراب ہے (merī tabīʿat kharāb hai), “I am not feeling well”.

In Pakistan you ask a man آپ کیسے ہیں؟ (āp kaise haiñ?) and a woman آپ کیسی ہیں؟ (āp kaisī haiñ?). Friends say تم کیسے ہو؟ (tum kaise ho?).

In Pakistan “wife” in Urdu is بیوی (bīvī) in daily talk. When speaking respectfully of another person’s wife, people say اہلیہ (ahlīya).

The standard Urdu word for “king” is بادشاہ (bādshāh). شاہ (shāh) is a shorter Persian word, and راجہ (rājā) is an Indic word for a ruler.