Diana Bessie

In Pakistan a heartfelt “good luck” is اللہ آپ کو کامیابی عطا کرے (Allah aap ko kaamyabi ata kare), “may God grant you success”.

The Urdu word for dog is کتا (kutta). A female dog is کتیا (kutiya) and a puppy is پلا (pilla). The plural is کتے (kutte).

The Urdu word for “mango” is آم (ām). It is short, and everyone in Pakistan uses it.

In Urdu you say “I like you” as مجھے تم پسند ہو (mujhe tum pasand ho).

The standard Urdu word for “husband” is شوہر (shauhar). You will also hear خاوند (khāvand) in formal speech and میاں (miyāñ) in everyday talk.

The Urdu word for “good” is اچھا (achha) for masculine nouns and اچھی (achhi) for feminine ones. For “very good”, say بہت اچھا (bohat achha).

In Pakistan you introduce yourself with میرا نام … ہے (merā nām … hai). Put your name in the gap, for example میرا نام علی ہے (merā nām ʿalī hai).

For “daddy”, Pakistani children most often say پاپا (papa).

In Pakistan “well done” in Urdu is شاباش (shābāsh). It is what a parent, teacher or boss says to praise good work.

In Pakistan “ugly” in Urdu is بدصورت (badsūrat). It is used for people, places and things, and calling a person this is plainly hurtful.