We have looked at some Plural Urdu words in the past, but a step before that is the Urdu nouns. Nouns are more or less the backbone and gist of what you are talking about. It also dictates what the rest of the parts of speech will be in sentences.
This rule is especially for the Urdu language. The type of Urdu nouns you use in your sentence will help you to know which adjective, verb, or even possessive adjective to use. The relationship between it all starts with Urdu nouns.
In the Urdu language, there are two types of nouns that are formed by the two genders – masculine and feminine nouns. They are an integral and fundamental part of your daily conversations in Urdu. Nouns are the most common words you use in conversation, even as new Urdu speakers. This is even true for the English language and many other languages.
As we go deeper into Urdu vocabulary, you will notice more than just the two genders; like the category of nouns under each gender, and the most important part will be to start learning how to differentiate them which is helpful. By the end of this page, you will learn the pronunciation of Urdu nouns too in each gender and will get familiarized with how they are spoken in Urdu.
Classification Of Urdu Nouns
Just like the English grammar, Urdu grammar also requires sentences to have a noun. As the name of a person, place, object, or animal, nouns can be masculine or feminine. Let’s talk about the ladies first! In the Urdu language, feminine nouns can be identified easily as they end with the sound “ee” or in Roman Urdu, you finish with an “i”.
Some examples are مرگی murgi (chicken), لڑکی larki (girl), کرسی kursi (chair), بکچی bacchi (female child), سری sari (saree), and لسسی lassi (yogurt drink).
The feminine nouns that are shown fall under the category of “marked feminine nouns”. This is because they are well identifiable. Now, looking at “unmarked feminine nouns” we will see that they have a variety of endings.
Notice the following nouns and their endings: دکان dukan (shop), سارک sarak (street), تصویر tasweer (picture), چیز cheez (object or thing), مکان makan (house). They certainly have no specific or marked ending. The solution? PRACTICE! You must try to listen and familiarize yourself with the word. As a beginner, it will be tricky. Later, the rules won’t matter. You will master it all!
For the masculine nouns, they end with “aa” or “ah”. Take a look at these: لڑکا larka (boy), بکچھا baccha (male child), گھوڑا ghora (horse), کتا kutta (dog), and راستہ rasta (road). They fall under marked masculine nouns as you can see a pattern and can identify them well.
Moving to the unmarked masculine nouns that end with different letters or sounds, learn the vocabulary and practice pronunciation for fluency. Here are some: نام nam (name), آسمان asman (sky), ملک mulk (country), شہر sheher (city), شوھور shohor (husband).
Urdu Nouns – Vocabulary & Sentences
The best way to understand if an Urdu noun is feminine or masculine is to repeat the sentence and note the other words in them too. For feminine nouns, often there will be more words ending in “ee”.
Likewise for masculine nouns, other words besides the Urdu noun will have “aa” sound. To save time, look at the words below:
- یہ بکچی بوہوت پیاری ہے Ye bacchi bohot pyaari hai meaning “this girl is very pretty”. You can see the word پیاری pyari is ending with “ee” in the same way as بکچی bacchi. You can conclude that it is a feminine noun.
- وہ گھوڑا کافی برا ہے Woh ghora kafi bara hai which means “the horse is quite big”. The word بڑا bara ends with “ah” sound similar to گھوڑا ghora. Therefore, this is a masculine noun.
How about the following nouns? Can you identify if they are masculine or feminine?
| English Noun | Urdu Noun | Pronunciation |
| Mother | ماں | Maa |
| Father | باپ | Baap |
| Teacher | استاد | Ustaad |
| Minister | وزیر | Vazeer |
| Lion | شیر | Sher |
| Tiger | چیتا | Cheetah |
| Bear | ریچھ | Reej |
| Wolf | بھیڑیا | Bheriya |
| Bird | پرندہ | Parinda |
| Zoo | چڑیا گھر | Chiriya Ghar |
| Restaurant | ریستوراں | Restauraan |
| State | علقه | Elekka |
| Table | ٹیبل | Tebel |
| Truck | ٹرک | Tarak |
| Pencil | پینسل | Pensil |
| Boot | بوٹ | Buut |
| Book | کتاب | Kitaab |
Learn Urdu With Ling
Urdu words are beautiful. Speaking Urdu is best done if you have people from Pakistan around you. It helps you to forget all hesitation and dive right into the language. But you are probably trying for more than just Urdu nouns. There is a host of wonderful things to know about the Urdu language.
There is a connection between Urdu-speaking people to Punjabis, Urdu romance, movies, and music are enigmatic and don’t get me started on their delicacies. Pakistanis have a way to your heart through their hospitality and food.
So if you are interested in learning Urdu, it needs to be done with a friend and community that can guide you through it. One such friend I refer to is the Ling app! It’s not just about vocabulary, phrases, and languages, it is about helping you to speak Urdu like a local and having fun while learning.
With awesome features like voice recognition, speaking to a native, creating and personalizing your interests, and cruising your way through games that are essentially Urdu lessons, this app is the sure way to learn Urdu in a matter of two weeks!
Try the app today – download it from the Apple Store or Google Play Store. Make sure to look at the blog as well to gain a cultural understanding of Pakistanis. Once you are done, there are 61 other languages that you can choose next. Remember, learning languages open new worlds for you to explore! So why wait?
