Ways to say it
| Urdu | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| مُحَبَّت | muhabbat | feminine |
| عِشْق | 'iśq | masculine |
| پْیار | pyār | masculine |
| پْریم | prem | masculine |
The term for love in Urdu varies depending on the intensity and context of the affection being described. پْیار is a widely used term for love in Urdu. مُحَبَّت is used to refer to deep love or admiration. For a much more intense, passionate or even divine level of love, use عِشْق. Additionally, the term Jaan, which translates to "life", can be used as an endearing term for love.
Which one should you use?
مُحَبَّت is a formal term for love in Urdu and implies deep love or admiration. عِشْق refers to a much more intense, passionate or even divine level of love compared to the standard terms. In terms of grammatical gender, مُحَبَّت is feminine, whereas عِشْق and پْیار are masculine.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun مُحَبَّت is grammatically feminine and requires feminine verb agreements or adjectives in a sentence. To express the action of loving, you use the noun followed by the auxiliary verb کرنا (to do), such as in the phrases پیار کرنا, محبت کرنا or عشق کرنا.
How do you pronounce it?
muhabbat
Did you know?
- In Urdu, پْیار is a loanword from the Hindi and Sanskrit traditions, while مُحَبَّت is derived from Arabic, reflecting the hybrid nature of the language.
- The intensity of عِشْق is so high that in classical literature, it is often portrayed as a 'madness' or a consuming fire that destroys the lover's ego.
- If you are talking about the concept of 'love' in a formal poem, you might use پْریم, a word that shares roots with Sanskrit and is more common in Hindi-influenced poetic traditions.
Examples in context
- میری ماں کی مُحَبَّت بے مثال ہے۔meri maa ki muhabbat bemisaal hai.My mother's love is incomparable.
- اس نے اپنی مُحَبَّت کا ثبوت دیا۔us ne apni muhabbat ka saboot diya.He proved his love.
- ہماری مُحَبَّت بہت پرانی ہے۔hamari muhabbat bahut purani hai.Our love is very old.
Example conversation
Hamza and Zainab are discussing their deep connection.
- حمزہ Hamzaزینب، تمہاری مُحَبَّت میرے لیے سب کچھ ہے۔Zainab, tumhari muhabbat mere liye sab kuch hai.Zainab, your love is everything to me.
- زینب Zainabحمزہ، میں بھی آپ سے بہت محبت کرتی ہوں۔Hamza, mein bhi aap se bahut muhabbat karti hoon.Hamza, I love you very much too.
- حمزہ Hamzaکیا ہماری مُحَبَّت ہمیشہ قائم رہے گی؟kya hamari muhabbat hamesha qaim rahe gi?Will our love last forever?
- زینب Zainabجی ہاں، ہمیشہ۔Ji haan, hamesha.Yes, always.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “love” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
