Hindi
Devanagari · हिंदीMore Sanskrit-derived vocabulary in many formal registers. Existing Hindi lessons remain a separate practice track.
LANGUAGE
From written signs to everyday conversation.
Mandarin Chinese / Taiwan
Bopomofo / Zhuyin
注音符號A set of phonetic symbols used to show Mandarin pronunciation. Syllables are assembled from an initial, a medial or final, and a tone.
The first version was created in 1913 and released in 1918. It remains a practical reading, dictionary, and keyboard tool in Taiwan.
- SYMBOLS
- 37
- TONES
- 5
- ALSO CALLED
- Zhuyin / Zhuyin Fuhao
Initials
21Medials
3Finals
13Tones
5Hindustani: Hindi and Urdu side by side
Hindi and Urdu share much everyday grammar and vocabulary within the Hindustani continuum. Standardization, script, cultural traditions and high-register vocabulary create important differences; mutual intelligibility depends on speaker, topic and register.
Urdu
Perso-Arabic Nastaliq · اُردُوPersian/Arabic-derived vocabulary is prominent in many formal registers. Letters and joining require their own study.
Shared everyday pattern
maĩ pānī pītā/pītī hū̃मैं पानी पीता/पीती हूँ। / میں پانی پیتا/پیتی ہوں۔ Both model I drink water, with masculine/feminine agreement.
Agreement
pītā / pītīThe choice here tracks the speaker’s grammatical gender; it is not a Hindi-versus-Urdu contrast.
Try it: What changes between the two scripts in the water example, and what grammatical contrast remains?
Show the answer
The script changes. Both retain the masculine/feminine pītā/pītī contrast and the auxiliary hū̃.
References: Hindi Urdu Flagship, University of Texas ↗
URDU / FOUNDATIONS
اردو
Start with the words you need.
Build your own sentences.
The words for everyday life.
Find a situation, read the phrase, or show the native text. Learn common replies as well as questions.
Pronunciation & how to use these phrases
Start with the writing charts, then listen to complete words. Device speech depends on installed voices and may use a different regional accent. Spelling and sound do not match one-to-one.
Urdu is written right to left, commonly in Nastaliq. Short vowels are often absent in ordinary writing. کل can mean yesterday or tomorrow; context resolves it. Learning path: recognise words and phrases → build simple sentences → practise questions and replies → expand tense and connected speech → read and discuss longer texts. These foundation lessons are available now; later stages will grow with the collection.
24 phrases
Basics
Communication
Bathrooms
Food & ordering
Shops & payment
Taxi & transport
Airport
Help
Listen for
Reply
Hotels
URDU / GRAMMAR REFERENCE
8 chaptersForms, rules & structure
Standard Urdu in Perso-Arabic script. The grammar shares much with Hindi, while vocabulary and register differ.
Grammar terminology
- Noun
- A word used to name or classify an entity: person, place, object, substance, idea.
- Adjective
- A word that describes a property; its form and position depend on the language.
- Pronoun
- A form used to refer to a participant or entity without repeating a full noun phrase.
- Determiner
- A word such as an article, demonstrative or possessive that helps specify a noun phrase.
- Verb
- A word heading a predicate, often describing an action, event or state.
- Conjugation
- A pattern of verb forms expressing grammatical distinctions such as person, tense or mood.
- Declension
- A pattern of noun, pronoun or adjective forms, often marking case, number and gender.
- Case
- A distinction marking a noun phrase’s grammatical role or its relationship to a governing word.
- Gender
- A grammatical classification of nouns; it need not match sex or have a transparent meaning.
- Agreement
- A form changes to match features of another expression, such as person, number, gender or case.
- Tense
- A grammatical way of locating a situation relative to a time of reference.
- Aspect
- How a situation is viewed: for example ongoing, habitual, completed or prior to a reference point.
- Mood
- A grammatical distinction associated with assertion, possibility, commands, wishes or other clause functions.
- Finite form
- A verb form that can serve as a clause’s main inflected verb, contrasting with infinitives and participles. The precise criteria vary by language.
- Participle
- A verb-derived form used in constructions such as modifiers, compound tenses or passives; its roles vary by language.
- Infinitive
- A nonfinite verb form in languages that have one; it is not automatically equivalent to English “to + verb”.
- Subject / object
- Grammatical relations in a clause, not universal synonyms for “doer” and “receiver”.
- Clitic
- A short grammatical form that depends phonologically on a neighboring word.
- Transitive
- Describes a verb construction that takes a direct object.
- Register
- A variety of expression associated with context, relationship or level of formality.
Noun gender & oblique forms
- Urdu has masculine and feminine nouns and no obligatory English-style article system. Noun gender must be learned with the word.
- Postpositions generally select an oblique noun phrase. Common masculine -ā nouns change before a postposition, and plural oblique forms often end in -õ.
| Class | Direct singular | Oblique singular | Direct plural | Oblique plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| boy | لڑکا | لڑکے | لڑکے | لڑکوں |
| girl | لڑکی | لڑکی | لڑکیاں | لڑکیوں |
| house | گھر | گھر | گھر | گھروں |
Worked examples
لڑکے کے پاس کتاب ہے۔
The boy has a book.
How it works: لڑکا takes the oblique form لڑکے before کے پاس.
Location
کہاں ہے means where is; Urdu normally places the verb late in the clause.
بیت الخلا کہاں ہے؟Where is the toilet?
Read the model, complete the gap, then change one word and explain what changes.
Try it yourself
1 / 1 · 0 correctComplete the model using the rule.
بیت الخلا کہاں ___؟
All words · vocabulary quiz
1 / 20 · 0 correctChoose the English meaning.
پانی
پانیwater
پانیwater
کھاناfood
کھاناfood
دودھmilk
دودھmilk
روٹیbread
روٹیbread
کافیcoffee
کافیcoffee
چائےtea
چائےtea
چاولrice
چاولrice
بیت الخلاbathroom
بیت الخلاbathroom
ہوائی اڈہairport
ہوائی اڈہairport
اسٹیشنstation
اسٹیشنstation
ٹکٹticket
ٹکٹticket
باہر جانے کا راستہexit
باہر جانے کا راستہexit
بائیںleft
بائیںleft
دائیںright
دائیںright
آجtoday
آجtoday
کلtomorrow
کلtomorrow
ایکone
ایکone
دوtwo
دوtwo
تینthree
تینthree
مددhelp
مددhelp
Between the words
آپ is respectful you. کر سکتا ہوں is a male-speaker form; a female speaker uses کر سکتی ہوں. Everyday English loans are common.
السلام علیکم۔
Respectful addressآپ is respectful you. کر سکتا ہوں is a male-speaker form; a female speaker uses کر سکتی ہوں. Everyday English loans are common.
السلام علیکم۔
Urdu is written right to left, commonly in Nastaliq. Short vowels are often absent in ordinary writing. کل can mean yesterday or tomorrow; context resolves it.
Read the situation
1 / 1 · 0 correctRecall the opening greeting from this collection.
Practice scores last for this visit.Urdu audio is unavailable on this device. All exercises work without audio.