ڈولْفِن
ḍolfinmasculine
In Urdu, the word for dolphin is ڈولْفِن (ḍolfin). Wiktionary also lists ڈالْفِن (ḍālfin) and خُوکِ بَحْری (xūk-i bahrī).
Meaning: aquatic mammal (noun)
Ways to say it
| Urdu | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ڈولْفِن | ḍolfin | masculine |
| ڈالْفِن | ḍālfin | masculine |
| خُوکِ بَحْری | xūk-i bahrī | masculine |
| سُون٘س | sū̃s | feminine |
The word refers to the aquatic mammal known as a dolphin.
Which one should you use?
ڈولْفِن is a direct loanword from English, whereas خُوکِ بَحْری is a more descriptive, formal Persian-style construction.
How does it change in a sentence?
The forms ڈولْفِن, ڈالْفِن and خُوکِ بَحْری are masculine, while سُون٘س is feminine.
How do you pronounce it?
ḍolfin
Did you know?
- While ڈولْفِن is a common loanword, the term خُوکِ بَحْری uses the Persian word for 'pig' to describe the animal. It is a poetic way of saying 'sea pig'.
- While ڈولْفِن is the most common word in cities, the term سُون٘س is specifically used for the Indus river dolphin.
- The term خُوکِ بَحْری uses an 'izafat' construction, a grammatical feature inherited from Persian to link two nouns.
Examples in context
- سمندر میں ایک ڈولْفِن تیر رہی ہے۔samundar mein ek dolphin tair rahi hai.A dolphin is swimming in the sea.
- کیا آپ نے ڈولْفِن دیکھی ہے؟kya aap ne dolphin dekhi hai?Have you seen a dolphin?
- ڈولْفِن بہت ذہین جانور ہے۔dolphin bohat zaheen jaanwar hai.A dolphin is a very intelligent animal.
Example conversation
Zainab and Ahmed are visiting an aquarium.
- زینب Zainabاحمد، دیکھو! وہ ڈولْفِن کتنی پیاری ہے۔Ahmed, dekho! Woh dolphin kitni pyaari hai.Ahmed, look! That dolphin is so cute.
- احمد Ahmedہاں زینب، یہ بہت خوبصورت ہے۔Haan Zainab, yeh bohat khoobsurat hai.Yes Zainab, it is very beautiful.
- زینب Zainabمجھے ڈولْفِن بہت پسند ہیں۔Mujhe dolphin bohat pasand hain.I like dolphins very much.
- احمد Ahmedمجھے بھی یہ بہت پسند ہیں۔Mujhe bhi yeh bohat pasand hain.I like them very much too.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “dolphin” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
