Advanced Urdu Grammar: #1 Guide To Complex Urdu Sentences

Now that you’ve mastered the basic sentence structure of Urdu, it’s time to advance your learning and move to more complex sentences. It’s the very first topic that will officially mark your entrance into the realm of advanced Urdu grammar.

You’re moving away from the basics and about to enter a new stage, so get ready to embrace some new challenges. But don’t worry! The journey can be a bit overwhelming, but you’ve got this. It’s not enough to refrain you from mastering advanced Urdu grammar.

In this guide, we’ll focus on the rules of complex sentence structure in Urdu and give you a few tips to help you grasp them without getting confused. So, let’s start!

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Complex Sentence Structure – Your Introduction To Advanced Urdu Grammar

As you’re already familiar with basic Urdu grammar, it’s time to move forward and explore its more advanced aspects.

Considering this, today we’ll focus on complex sentences in Urdu to level up your writing and help you master a sentence structure different from the basic one. Let’s dive in!

An Introduction To Complex Sentence Structure In Urdu

Before delving into complex sentences, recall the basic Urdu sentence structure rules. As a reminder, we follow the Subject-Object-Verb (SVO) word order.

Now, let’s look at the complex sentence structure.

We make complex sentences – Murakab paicheeda jumlay (مرکب پیچیدہ جملے) – by combining one main clause and one subordinate clause.

The main clause is the sentence that gives complete meaning and doesn’t need any support.

On the other hand, the subordinate clause is the one that has all the elements that make a complete sentence (subject and verb), but it needs the support of the main clause to complete the sentence’s meaning.

Suppose you want to say, “If you work hard, you will succeed” – Agar tum mehnat karo ge tou kamiyaab hojao ge (اگر تم محنت کرو گے تو کامیاب ہو جاؤگے).

In this sentence,

• Subordinate clause: If you work hard – Agar tum mehnat karo ge (اگر تم محنت کرو گے)
• Main clause: you will succeed – kamiyab hojao ge (کامیاب ہو جاؤ گے)
  
  

We combine these two to make one complete, complex sentence. That is,

• If you work hard – agar tum mehnat karo ge (اگر تم محنت کرو گے)
  +
• you will succeed – kamiyab hojao ge (کامیاب ہو جاؤ گے)
  =
• If you work hard, you will succeed – Agar tum mehnat karo ge tou kamiyaab hojao ge (اگر تم محنت کرو گے تو کامیاب ہو جاؤگے).
  
  

If instead of saying it completely, you just say, “If you work hard” – Agar tum mehnat karo ge (اگر تم محنت کرو گے), it’s unclear what will happen afterward. Like, what if I work hard?

That’s why we need to add another sentence to answer what will happen after, to complete the meaning.

When we combine the subordinate and main clauses to clarify the meaning, we make complex Urdu sentences.

Here comes the best part. We combine the main and subordinate clauses with the help of conjunctions. These conjunctions are known as subordinate conjunctions.

Let’s have a quick breakdown of some of the most common subordinate Urdu conjunctions:   

Types Of Complex Sentences In Advanced Urdu Grammar

Now that you know the basics, below are the types of complex sentences that we often use in advanced Urdu grammar:

1. Cause And Effect

We use this type of complex sentence when we want to show that something happened because of something.

Even the title indicates this: there is a cause (an action/reason) that resulted in an effect (result).

Imagine saying,

• “I am crying because I fell” – Me ro raha hun kyun ke me me gir gaya (میں رو رہا ہوں کیونکہ میں گر گیا)
  
  

Here, the action of crying is the result or effect of the person’s falling.

So, “I am crying” – Me ro raha hun (میں رو رہا ہوں) is the effect, which is caused by “I fell”- Me gir gaya (میں گر گیا)

Similarly, if you want to say, ‘If you play, you will get tired,’ you say:

• Agar tum khelo ge, tum thak jao ge (اگر تم کھیلو گے، تم تھک جاؤ گے )
  
  

Here:

• If you play – Agar tum khelo ge (اگر تم کھیلو گے) is the cause
• You will get tired – Tum thak jao ge (تم تھک جاؤ گے) is the effect
  
  

We combined this cause and effect with the conjunction “if” – agar (اگر) to indicate that if this cause happens, it will result in this effect. This is the correct way to show the cause-and-effect relation in complex Urdu sentences.

So, when making cause-and-effect complex sentences, don’t say:

• I fell. I am crying. – Me gir gaya. me ro raha hun. (میں گر گیا. میں رو رہا ہوں)
  
  

Instead, say:

• I am crying because I fell. – Me ro raha hun kyun ke me me gir gaya (میں رو رہا ہوں کیونکہ میں گر گیا)
  
  

Or,

• I got tired because I was playing – Mein thak gaya kyun ke me khel raha tha (میں تھک گیا کیونکہ میں کھیل رہا تھا)
  
  

Don’t forget to use the right conjunctions! Otherwise, you’ll be making a major grammar mistake.

2. Sequential Sentences

Another type of complex sentence structure are time-related or sequential clauses. We use them to indicate the time of the action or, say, to show the sequence of actions.

For instance, you’re watching television while eating popcorn. These are two different actions that you’re performing at the same time.

Sequential complex sentences indicate how the actions are connected to each other in time. Let’s look at some examples:

• When I was eating food, the phone rang. – Jab me khana kha raha tha, tab phone baja (جب میں کھانا کھا رہا تھا، تب فون بجا)
  
  

Here, the action of eating and the phone ringing occurred at the same time.

Similarly,

• As soon as it started raining, the kids ran outside – Jese hi barish shuru hui, bachay bahar bhaag gaye (جیسے ہی بارش شروع ہوئی، بچے باہر بھاگ گئے)
  
  

Here, the action of rain is followed by the kids running outside. Can you see the time sequence here?

Basically, the conjunction “As soon as” – Jese hi (جیسے ہی) is indicating the time difference between the two actions.

As soon as one action happened: ‘It started raining – baarish shuru hui ( بارش شروع ہوئی),’ the other action occurred: ‘The kids ran outside – bachay bahar bhaag gaye (بچے باہر بھاگ گئے).’

So, to show the time of two actions, we use sequential complex sentences. And, you can see here that we connected the actions with time-related conjunctions like “when” – jab (جب), “then” – tab (تب), “as soon as” – jese hi (جیسے ہی), etc.

3. Purpose And Intent Sentences

We use this type of complex sentence when we want to indicate the purpose of an action. It’s like telling someone why you did something or what you wanted to achieve by doing something. For instance, you say,

• I went to school so I could study – Me school Gaya takay me parh sakun (میں اسکول گیا تاکہ میں پڑھ سکوں)
  
  

Here, “I went to school” – Me school gaya (میں اسکول گیا) is the action, which is done “so I could study” – me parh sakun (میں پڑھ سکوں). Therefore, the purpose of going to school was to study.

For making such complex sentences, we use conjunctions like “so” – takay (تاکہ), “so that” – is liye ke (اس لیے کے), “for this reason” – is wajah se (اس وجہ سے), “for this purpose” – ke liye (کے لئے), etc.

Suppose you have the sentence:

• The kids slept so they could wake up early in the morning. – Bachay so gaye takay wo subah jaldi uth sakain (بچے سو گئے تاکہ وہ صبح جلدی اٹھ سکیں).
  
  

Here, “The kids slept” – bachay so gaye (بچے سو گئے) is the action, which is done to meet the purpose of waking up early “they could wake up early in the morning” – Wo subah jaldi uth sakain (وہ صبح جلدی اٹھ سکیں)’.

You see, the action and the purpose in this sentence are connected with the conjunction “so” – takay (تاکہ). You can use the same conjunctions to practice purpose and intent complex sentences.

4. Contrasting Clauses

If you want to show a contrast between two actions, you can use contrasting clauses. It’s like saying that something opposite happened, like eating ice cream despite being ill.

Eating ice cream and being ill are two opposite actions that shouldn’t be happening together, but let’s be honest, they happen.

You say this as,

• “Although I was ill, I ate ice cream” – Halanke main beemar tha, me ne ice cream khai (حالانکہ میں بیمار تھا، میں نے آئس کریم کھائی).
  
  

Here, both the actions are opposite to each other, that is, ‘I ate ice cream- ice cream khai (آئس کریم کھائی)’ and ‘I was ill – me beemar tha (میں بیمار تھا).’

Not a good combination, though. My mother would have killed me if I did this (lol).

Nonetheless, we use this type of complex sentence to indicate such contrasting or opposite actions. You can also think of contrasting clauses as ‘although this happened, we did this anyway.’

And, to connect these opposing clauses, we use conjunctions like “although” – halanke (حالانکہ), “but” – magar (مگر), and “despite” – bawajood is ke (باوجود اس کے), to name some.

Let’s look at other examples.

• Despite being tired, he went to play – bawajood is ke ke wo thaka hua tha, who khelne Gaya (باوجود اس کے کہ وہ تھکا ہوا تھا، وہ کھیلنے گیا)

• I ate the food despite it being hot – me ne khana khalia bawajood is ke ke wo garam tha (میں نے کھانا کھا لیا باوجود اس کے کہ وہ گرم تھا)
  
  

You see, in both these examples, we have shown actions that are opposite to each other.

So, you can easily show two contrasting actions in one sentence now, right?

5. Relative Clauses

This is another type of complex sentence. We use it to provide additional details about the subject. It’s like adding more details to clarify who the subject is or what we are talking about.

Let’s look at an example.

Suppose you have a sentence,

• “This is the cat that drinks milk” – Yeh wo billi hai jo doodh peeti hai (یہ وہ بلی ہے جو دودھ پیتی ہے)
  
  

In this sentence, you can see that the main subject is the cat- billi (بلی), but we add an extra detail “that drinks milk” – jo doodh peeti hai (جو دودھ پیتی ہے) to show that we are talking about that specific cat.

Look at another example.

• The girl who sang the song is my friend – woh larki jis ne gana gaya wo meri dost hai (وہ لڑکی جس نے گانا گایا، وہ میری دوست ہے)
  
  

Here, we’re talking about that friend who sang the song.

So, you see, we use relative clauses to show the relation with the subject or add details about it for additional specification.

We use conjunctions like “that” – jo (جو), “whom”- jisy (جسے), or “who” – jis (جس) to connect the two clauses.

For instance, we used the conjunction “that” – jo (جو) to connect the above two clauses: “This is the cat” – yeh wo billi hai (یہ وہ بلی ہے) and “drinks milk” – doodh peeti hai (دودھ پیتی ہے). That way, we made the relative clause “This is the cat that drinks milk” – yeh wo billi hai jo doodh peeti hai (یہ وہ بلی ہے جو دودھ پیتی ہے).

Quick Tips To Ace Advanced Urdu Grammar & Complex Sentences

Below are a few quick tips to make learning complex sentences, one of the advanced Urdu grammar topics, a little easier for you!

1. Revise the basic Urdu sentence structure to recall the correct word order. Remind yourself how to make a simple sentence, as you will need it the most.
   
   
2. Break down complex Urdu sentences into smaller parts for better understanding. Try to identify the main clause and the subordinate clause.
   
   
3. Start reading more advanced texts, such as Urdu books and newspapers like Jang. You can also watch Urdu movies with subtitles. Note down any new word or sentence you see and try to understand its context. This will help you pick vocabulary and sentences that native Urdu speakers commonly use.
   
   
4. Write about your daily life or real-life situations using complex sentence structure. You can do this by combining two sentences. For instance, think how you will write, “when I woke up in the morning, I first had my breakfast”- Jab me subah utha, me ne pehle nashta kia (جب میں صبح اٹھا، میں نے پہلے ناشتہ کیا). In this way, you can also improve your everyday communication.
   
   
5. Take frequent breaks to avoid being overwhelmed. Otherwise, you might lose your motivation.
   
   
6. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when it comes to Urdu grammar. Even most Pakistanis do. So, practice and communicate in Urdu without fear until you reach proficiency!

Frequently Asked Questions Related To Advanced Urdu Grammar 

1. What Is The Complex Sentence Structure In Advanced Urdu Grammar?

In complex Urdu sentences, we combine one main clause and at least one subordinate clause. We do this with subordinating conjunctions like “that” – ke (کہ), “when” – jab (جب), “because” – kyunke (کیونکہ), etc.

A main clause has a complete meaning and can stand alone. On the other hand, subordinate clauses are sentences that are dependent on the main clause to give a complete meaning.  

For example, in the sentence:

• When I went outside, it was raining – Jab me bahar gaya, baarish horahi thi (جب میں باہر گیا بارش ہو رہی تھی)
  
  

The first part, “When I went outside” – Jab me bahar gaya (جب میں باہر گیا) is the subordinate clause, which is dependent on the main clause “it was raining” – barish horahi thi (بارش ہو رہی تھی).

2. Can I Omit The Subject In Complex Urdu Sentences?

Yes, but only if the subject is the same in both the main and subordinate clauses. In complex Urdu sentences, we often omit the subject in the subordinate clause to avoid repetition. For example,

If we have a complex sentence, “I said that I would come tomorrow,” we can write it in two ways:

• Me ne kaha ke me kal aonga (میں نے کہا کے میں کل آؤں گا)
  
  

This sentence has the subject “I” – me (میں) in both clauses: me ne kaha (میں نے کہا) and me kal aonga (میں کل آؤں گا).

The other option is:

• Me ne kaha ke kal aonga (میں نے کہا کے کل آؤں گا)
  
  

Here, we have omitted the subject in the subordinate clause without changing the meaning. Now it simply becomes kal aonga (کل آؤں گا) instead of me kal aonga (میں کل آؤں گا).

Note that we don’t omit the subject if it’s different, as it would make the sentence confusing. Like in “I said that Ali would come tomorrow” – Me ne kaha ke Ali kal ayega (میں نے کہا کے علی کل آۓ گا). One subject is “I” – me (میں), and the other one is “Ali” – ali (علی).

3. How Do Result Clauses Work In Advanced Urdu Grammar?

In advanced Urdu grammar, we use result clauses when we want to show the outcome of an action. Suppose you want to say,

• He was ill, therefore he didn’t come to school – wo beemar tha, isliye wo school nahi aya (وہ بیمار تھا، اس لیے اسکول نہیں آیا)
  
  

Here, you can see that the subject was ill – wo beemar tha (وہ بیمار تھا), which resulted in his absence from school – is liye school nahi aya (اس لیے اسکول نہیں آیا).

Note: we connect the cause and result together with conjunctions like “therefore” – is liye (اس لیے), “this is why” – yehi wajah hai ke (یہی وجہ ہے کہ), “so” – tou (تو), etc.

Take The First Step Toward Advanced Urdu Grammar

Hurray! You have officially unlocked a new level of Urdu learning. Congratulations on your recent progress.

As you enter this stage of advanced Urdu grammar, remember that nothing is too difficult. You just need consistent effort and patience to pass through it.

In this article, we covered our first advanced Urdu grammar topic: complex sentence structures. We went through the most prominent rules for making complex Urdu sentences, with some practical examples to help you retain what you learned.

This article also contains a few handy tips to make it easier for you to master complex sentences.

Just remember, the basic sentence structure in the complex sentences remains the same. We only add elements like subordinate clauses and conjunctions to make simple sentences complex.

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