Urdu Grammar

URDU:
AN ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR

Urdu: An Essential Grammar is a reference guide to the grammatical structures of modem Urdu.

The complexities of Urdu are set out in short. readable sections, which are conveniently grouped under major topical headings. Explanations contain minimal jargon and emphasis has been placed on the aspects of Urdu that pose a particular challenge for English-speaking students.

Features include:

• language examples throughout in both Urdu script and romanization

• user-friendly layout

network of cross-references between sections

• detailed contents list

• comprehensive index.

Urdu: An Essential Grammar presents a fresh and accessible description of the language. It will prove invaluable to students at all levels in schools. colleges, universities and adult classes. Its clear explanations make it ideal for independent learners too.

Ruth Laila Schmidt lectures in the Department of East European and Oriental Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway.

3 ADJECTIVES 32
Marking 32
Marked adjectives; unmarked adjectives
List of tables xiii Agreement 34
Preface by Gopi Chand Narang xiv Agreement in gender and number; agreement in case; agreement
Introduction XVI with noun sequences of different gender; attributive and predicate
Symbols and abbreviations used in the text xix adjectives
Pronouns used as adjectives 38
1 NOUNS 1 Interrogative pronouns; indefinite pronouns
Gender and marking Symmetrical y-v-k-j word sets 38
Gender; marking; marked nouns; unmarked nouns; natural gender; The categories NEAR - FAR - INTERROGATIVE - RELATIVE
some other clues to gender of nouns Adjective phrases formed with sa and vila 41
Noun plurals 5 The adjecti val particle sa (- se - si); the suffix viilii
Forms (nominative case); non-count (mass) nouns Repeated adjectives 45
Inflection of nouns 7 Simple repetition; repetition with an echo word
Nominative case; oblique case; oblique nouns resulting from Comparison of adjectives 46
dropping ofm; expressing totality; vocative case of nouns Comparison of adjectives with siS; comparison of adjectives with
Repetition of nouns 13 tar, tarin; zyida, 'more', 'most' and kiifi, 'quite', 'too'; superlatives
Simple repetition; repetition with an echo word with adjective + se + adjective
Nouns as units of measure 13 Adjectives with other grammatical functions 49
Other parts of speech used as nouns 14 Adjectives used as adverbs; adjectives used as nouns
Adjectives discussed in other chapters 50
2 PRONOUNS 15 Participles used as adjectives; possessive adjectives; the reflexive
Demonstrative pronouns 15 possessive adjective apni; numbers
ye, 'this' and vo, 'that'
Personal pronouns 17 4 ADVERBS 51
Forms; honorific levels in second person pronouns; ham used as a Symmetrical y-v-k-j adverb sets 51
first person singular pronoun; omission of personal pronouns; The categories NEAR - FAR - INTERROGATIVE - RELATIVE
log as a plural specifier; nominative pronouns; oblique (inflected) Adverbs of time 51
pronouns; the suffix e - (h) em replacing m; pronouns before the ab-ab-kab-jab; is vaqt-us vaqt-kis vaqt; calendar and clock time
postposition 00; possessive forms of personal pronouns Adverbs of place 55
Reflexive pronouns 24 yalWh-vahaJiJ. -kahiilil; idhar -udhar-kidhar; is jagah- us jagah-
The reflexive possessive adjective apna; xudand lip, 'self'; kis jagah; is taraf-us taraf-kis taraf; obliques as adverbs of place;
apne iip, xud baxud, iipas mem, 'among' adverbial phrase or compound postposition?
Interrogative pronouns 26 Adverbs of manner S9
kyii, 'what?'; kya marking questions and exclamations; kaun, yiiID-kyom-jiirll; aisii-vaisii-kaisi-jaisa; is tarah-us tarah-
'who?'; oblique forms of kya and kaun kis tarah-jis tarab; adverbial phrases of manner with the
Indefinite pronouns 28 postposition se; participles used adverbially
koi, 'some{one)', 'any{one)'; kuch, 'some(thing)', 'any(thing)' Adverbs of degree 61
Relative pronounjd 30 Modal adverbs 62
Repeated pronouns 30 The negative words nahhb, na, mat; hhi, 'also', 'too'; 'both ... and', Table of contents vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

kyii kyii; kaun bun; koi kOi, koi na koi; koch kuch, kuch na kuch

viii Table of contents Table of contents ix
'neither ... nor'; phir, 'again'. 'then' conjunctive participles; repeated roots in conjunctive participles;
Arabic adverbs ending in -an 65 continuous tenses; continuous present; continuous past; other
Repeated adverbs 65 continuous tenses; root + salmi (ability, possibility); root + pana
Simple repetition; idiomatic repetition (possibility); root + cukni(completion); compound verbs
Interrogatives and indefinites used with irony 66 Verb forms based on the imperfective participle 118
Interrogative adverbs used with irony; indefinite adverbs used Imperfective participles alone; habitual present; habitual past;
with irony; interrogative pronouns used with irony other habitual tenses; imperfective participle + rabni (iterative);
Order of multiple adverbs 67 imperfective participle + jiini (progression); imperfective
participle used as an adjective
5 POSTPOSmONS 68 Verb forms based on the perfective participle 124
Grammatical postpositions 68 Agreement in perfective tenses; simple past; immediate past; remote
ka - ke - ki expressing possession; ka marking objects; inflected past; other punctual tenses; derived passive; incapacity; perfective
ka in compound postpositions; kO and its alternate forms; kG marking participle + kami (habit or practice); perfective participle + rabni
objects; kO marking subjects; kG showing movement in a direction (continuation); perfective participle used as an adjective
or to a destination; kG after days and dates; kO following infinitives; Infinitives 132
ne marking subjects Infinitives as verbal nouns; infinitives as request forms
Spatial-temporal postpositions 73 Constructions with nominative case infinitives 134
sa with ablative function; se marking the instrument; se in comparison Impersonal constructions; infinitive + hai (necessity); infinitive +
of adjectives; sa in adverbial phrases; se marking objects; se forming cah.ie (advisability); infinitive + parni (obligation, lack of choice)
postpositional sequences; tak. showing extent or limit; tak. as an Constructions with oblique case infinitives 139
emphatic particle; mem with locative function; infinitives followed Oblique infinitive +vali; oblique infinitive + kO; oblique infinitive
by mem; par with locative function; par showing movement to a + lagni (commenced event); oblique infinitive + dena ('let');
destination; par following oblique infinitives; oblique infinitive + oblique infinitive + verb of motion (purpose); oblique infinitive
par bhi; par marking objects; collocations of verbs with + ka (negative assertion)
postpositions
Compound postpositions 81 7 COMPOUND VERBS 143
lei + oblique noun + postposition; ki + oblique noun; ki + oblique Compound verbs and simple verbs 143
adjective; ka + adverb; (ki) + Persian preposition + oblique noun; The structure of compound verb phrases; the difference between
noun +izMat compound and simple verbs
Postpositional sequences 85 Intransitive vector verbs 146
Spatial-temporal postpositions + se The vector verb jiini; the vector verb parni; the vector verb nikalni;
Expressing possession ('to have') 85 the vector verb upmi; the vector verb baipmi
Inalienable possession: kii (- ke - ki); alienable possession: ke pis; Transitive vector verbs 148
intangible possession: kG The vector verb dena; the vector verb lena; the vector verb ~ the
vector verb rakhni
6 VERBS 87 Mixed transitivity in compound verbs 151
Forms of the verb 87 Transitive main verbs with intransitive vectors; intransitive main
Root; infinitive; imperfective participle; perfective participle verbs with transitive vectors
The verb bOna, 'to be' 92 Restrictions on occurrence of compound verbs 152
The conjugation of bona; bona as an auxiliary verb Constructions based on the verb root or infinitive; participial
Denominative verbs 95 constructions; passive constructions; negative sentences
Verb forms based on the verb root 96 Perfective participles as main verbs 155
SUbjunctive; conditional sentences; request forms; future tense; Nominative perfective participles; oblique perfective participles x Table of contents

Denominative verbs in compound verb sequences 156

8 INTRANSmvE, TRANSmvE AND CAUSATIVE VERBS 157

Intransitive and transitive verbs 157

The difference between transitive and intransitive verbs; agreement

of verbs; the increment -i; transitives derived with the increment-a; double transitives derived with the increment -a; transitivity with compound verbs; transitivity with denominative verbs; verbs

which function both intransitively and transitively; exceptions:

transitives without nC, intransitives with DC

Causative verbs 168

Direct causatives derived with the increment -i; indirect causatives

formed with the increment-va; causative denominative verbs;

causative verbs in requests

9 PARTICIPLES AS QUALIFIERS 176

Imperfective participles 176

Adjectival use of imperfective participles; adverbial use of

imperfective participles; imperfective participle + vaqt, 'while

(vsnsj-ing"; imperfective participle + hi, 'as soon as (VERB)';

repeated imperfective participles; imperfective participles used

as nouns

Perfective participles 180

Adjectival use of perfective participles; adverbial use of perfecti ve participles; adverbial perfective participles in expressions oftime;

repeated perfective participles; perfective participles used as nouns; perfective participles in compound verbs

Conjunctive participles 186

Conjunctive participles used adverbially; repeated roots in

conjunctive participles

10 WORD ORDER AND AGREEMENT IN SENTENCES 187

Word order 187

Word order in sentences; objects; noun phrases; adverbs; negative sentences; interrogative sentences

A~ent 192

Subject-verb agreement; verb phrases; agreement with mixed

subjects; agreement with transitive verbs; agreement with

impersonal verbs; mixed transitivity; adjective-noun agreement

Table of contents xi

11 RELATIVE-CORRELATIVE SENTENCES 196

The structure of relative sentences 196

Relative words and their counterparts; deep structure of relativecorrelative sentences; order of clauses in relative-correlative

sentences; stipulative relative clauses; correlatives specified by hi

The relative pronounjo 199

Nominative form of jo; oblique and plural forms of jO

Relative adjectives 201

jaisi; jitni

Relative adverbs of place 202

jahiIb, jis jagah; jidhar, jis tarat

Relative adverbs of time 203

jab; jab &e, jab tak; jab tak+ negative, 'until', 'unless'; jab ke,

'while';jis vaqt

Relative adverbs of manner 205

jaise; jaise hi; jis tarah; jiirh

Indefinite compounds and repeated relatives 207

Relative words followed by indefinite words, '-ever'; relative words followed by bhi, '-ever'; repeated relative words

12 PARTICLES. INTERJECTIONS AND CONJUNCTIONS 210

Particles 210

The contrastive emphatic particle to; to introducing result clauses

in conditional sentences; nahirh to; to introducing correlative

clauses; the exclusive emphatic particle hi; sequences of nouns and pronouns + postpositions +hi; bioccurring as a suffix; k.ahiIiI

expressing improbability or apprehension; oblique imperfective

participle + hi. 'as soon as'; bhi as inclusive emphatic particle, 'even'; emphatic and concessive phrases ending in bhi; hi nahiIh ... bhi in

parallel clauses; oblique infinitive + par bhi, 'despite'; indefinite pronouns + hhi, 'at all'; relative words followed by bbl, '-ever';

the adjectival particle sa (siS - si)

Interjections 217

Vocative interjections; free interjections

Leaders and tags 218

The leaders kyom and kyom na; acchi introducing sentences; the concessive tag sam; the rhetorical tag ni

Conjunctions 220

Coordinating conjunctions; correlative conjunctions; causal

conjunctions; concessive conjunctions; subordinating

conjunctions; ke introducing subordinate clauses; ke introducing coordinate clauses; Ire introducing quotations and reported facts

xii Table of contents

13 NUMBERS AND TIME

Numbers

Cardinal numbers; ordinal numbers; fractions; 'once', 'twice'. etc.; multiplicatives Ctwofold', 'double', etc.); repeated numbers;

numbers with the oblique plural

Calendar and clock time 237

Months; days; writing the date; telling the time

~oney 244

Contemporary currency; old currency

228 228

14 PERSIAN ELEMENTS IN URDU 246

The enclitic izifat 246

Word-forming affixes 248

Nominal suffixes; prefixes; prepositions; plural suffixes

Verb forms 253

Present and past verb stems

Compounds 253

Miscellaneous 256

Comparison of adjectives with tar, tarin; Persian numbers

15 ARABIC ELEMENTS IN URDU 258

Triliteral root structure of Arabic words 258

Arabic derived verb forms; Arabic verbal nouns and participles

Noun duals and plurals 265

Dual form of Arabic nouns; plural forms of Arabic nouns

Arabic prepositions and particles 267

Prepositions; negative particles

Miscellaneous 268

The definite article; nouns of place; nouns of instrument; elative;

suffixes

16 CEREMONIOUS AND PIOUS SPEECH 272

Greetings and introductions 272

Greetings; introductions and polite exchanges

Formal and ceremonious speech 276

Formal polite requests; thanking someone; congratulations

Pious phrases and exclamations 277

Mentioning holy prophets; phrases for planning or beginning

something; phrases invoking protection and short prayers;

phrases of repentance and requests for forgiveness; phrases for

sad occasions; phrases for happy occasions

Bibliography 284

uwex 286

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Plural of nouns 6

Table 2: Oblique case of nouns 10

Table 3: Vocative case of nouns 12

Table 4: Persons and cases of personal pronouns 17

Table 5: Oblique pronouns + alternate forms of m 21

Table 6: Forms of pronouns before DC 22

Table 7: Possessive forms of personal pronouns 24

Table 8: Oblique and plural forms of kya and kaun 27

Table 9: Gender and number suffixes of adjectives 34

Table 10: Case suffixes of adjectives 35

Table 11: Symmetrical y- v-k-j word sets 39

Table 12: Symmetrical y-v-k-j adverb sets 52

Table 13: Overview of aspect, tense and mood 89

Table 14: Irregular perfective participles 92

Table 15: The present. past, subjunctive and future forms of bOna 92

Table 16: Forms of the subjunctive 97

Table 17: Irregular request forms 105

Table 18: Forms of the future. 107

Table 19: Continuous present tense ofkami 112

Table 20: Continuous past tense ofkami 113

Table 21: Habitual present tense ofkami 119

Table 22: Habitual past tense of kami 121

Table 23: Immediate past ofjini 127

Table 24: Remote past ofjioi 128

Table 25: Relative 0) words and their 'far' (v-u) counterparts 197

Table 26: Oblique and plural forms of jO 200

Table 27: Personal pronouns + bound forms ofhi 213

Table 28: Adverbs + bound forms ofbL 214

Table 29: Cardinal numbers from 1 to 100 230

Table 30: Numerals from 1 to 100 232

Table 31: Forms I-VII and X of -j-d fa'ala 260

Table 32: Verbal nouns and participles of -JJ and its derived forms 261

PREFACE

by Gopi Chand Narang

Urdu is a major language of South Asia which has been gaining in popularity since the advent of independence of India and Pakistan. It is one of the eighteen national languages listed in the Constitution of India, as well as the national language of Pakistan. Unlike Arabic and Persian. Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language akin to Hindi. Both Urdu and Hindi share the same Indic base, and at the phonological and grammatical level they are so close that they appear to be one language. but at the lexical level they have borrowed so extensively from different sources (Urdu from Arabic and Persian, and Hindi from Sanskrit) that in actual practice and usage each has developed into an independent language. This distinction is further marked at the orthographic level. where Hindi uses Devanagari and Urdu uses the Arabo-Persian script indigenously modified to suit the requirements of an Indo-Aryan speech. With this context in view, although the grammars of these languages cover much common ground, nevertheless in order to do justice to the differing sociolinguistic paradigms, separate materials have to be developed for each of these languages. which taken together form the fourth largest speech community in the modern world.

The grammatical tradition of Urdu and Hindi is now almost three centuries old, beginning with Ketelaar in the seventeenth century and continuing through Schultze, Forbes, Fallon, Platts. Shakespear, Gilchrist and others down to the nineteenth century. While Platts' work has become a classic and is reprinted time and again, the others have fallen into disuse. Lately, with inputs from modern linguistics. and the fresh impetus given by Urdu's new status as a national language as well as a cultural vehicle of the Indo-Pakistani diaspora, the need for new teaching materials is ever on the increase. The work of scholars such as Barker, McGregor, Russell, Shackle, Glassman, Pray, Nairn and others has met some of the present need, however most of them have developed languageteaching books in which a discussion of the grammar is included as part of the pedagogical requirement. As far as I know, no reference grammar of Urdu (or Hindi) has so far been written, and it is precisely this gap which the present volume attempts to fill.

I have known Ruth Laila Schmidt for more than twenty years, since her study of Dakhini Urdu appeared. She is widely travelled in India and Pakistan, spending years in research and teaching. Her research in the Dardic language Shina, and her Practical Dictionary of Modem Nepali, have in particular been well received. She belongs to that brand of South Asian linguistic scholars who deserve attention for their sense of dedication and thoroughness. It has been my pleasure to interact with her on this grammar, and I found the work fulfilling. Though the volume is called a reference grammar, I am sure it can profitably be

Preface xv

read from cover to cover in a systematic way. As such it breaks fresh ground, and I do hope it will serve as a model for future intrepid scholars in the difficult terrain of South Asian grammatical studies.

New Delhi 14 June 1999

INTRODUCTION

What is Urdu?

Urdu is widely spoken not only in South Asia but also in the West. Worldwide, there are nearly 55 million Urdu speakers.'

In Pakistan it is the national language and is used in instruction in most government schools, at the lower levels of administration, and in the mass media? The number of Urdu speakers in Pakistan has been estimated at almost 11 million with the largest number in the province of Sindh, followed by Panjab,

Urdu is also one of the one of the 18 national languages of the Union of India. There are almost 44 million Urdu speakers in India, with the largest numbers found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Delhi is also a significant centre not only of Urdu speakers but of Urdu literature and publishing.

Urdu is also spoken in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal, and has become the culture language and lingua franca of the South Asian Muslim diaspora outside the subcontinent, particularly in the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Canada.

Historically, Urdu developed from the sub-regional language of the Delhi area, which became a literary language in the eighteenth century. Two quite similar standard forms of the language developed in Delhi, and in Lucknow in modern Uttar Pradesh. Since 1947, a third form, Karachi standard Urdu, has evolved.

What does this work cover?

Urdu: An Essential Grammar is intended to present as complete a description of the grammar of Delhi Standard Urdu as is possible in the space available. It does not cover Urdu phonology or the writing system. The inventory of grammatical structures has been compiled from existing textbooks as well as from texts typically read in second- and third-year Urdu classes.

This work is a reference grammar rather than a pedagogical grammar.

Grammatical constructions are grouped by topical headings: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, etc., with a network of cross references to other sections. It is intended to serve a resource to which to refer as one reads texts; to

I Sources: The Sununer Institute of Linguistics Ethnologue, Census of India 1991, Census of Pakistan 1981, Encyclopedia Bn'tannica (Britannica Online),

2 Tariq Rahman. Language and Politics in Pa1cistall, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Introduction xvii

look up complex grammatical constructions, or review more elementary constructions; and with the help of the table of contents, index and cross-references, to look up individual sentences and analyse them without reading the whole book. Ideally one should be able to start anywhere in Urdu: An Essential Grammar and find the information one needs.

Although one can certainly read this book from cover to cover, and the author has kept that kind of reader in mind, that is not its primary purpose. This means that some constructions must be looked up in several different places. If a person wishes to make a comprehensive review of the use of DC with perfective tense transitive verbs, he or she must consult all the following sections: §211, §51O, §629 and §809, because the DC construction involves a postposition, verb constructions, special forms of pronouns, and the notion of transitivity; and each of these is dealt with under its own heading. Cross references are provided to make the search easier.

Transcription system

. The primary purpose of the transcription system, which is adapted from that presented by RS. Mcflregor.' is to provide a guide for pronunciation. The two

main departures are: (a) the Arabic letters ..::... C. j' if if J, .1; t.: are not distinguished, and (b) long and short e and 0 are distinguished as: e e/o 0 (even though short e, 0 are allophones of / i a u I). The purpose for transcribing them in this way is that the environments of short e, 0 are many, complex and often require a knowledge of the spelling of the word, or its origin; thus this convention is expected to be helpful to the reader.

How should this book be used?

This work is most useful to students who already have a basic knowledge of Urdu. The reader may begin by skimming the table of contents to get an overview of what is covered and how it is organized. A reader who knows what he or she is looking for may find it here. Alternatively, one may look up key words in the index. For example, the uses of the adverb bill 'also' are listed in the index under 'bhi', 'emphatic particles', 'modal adverbs', 'both ... and', 'neither ... nor' and 'relative words followed by bhi'. Finally, look up any reference and follow the network of cross-references.

In the example sentences, the grammatical topic under discussion is highlighted by italicization of words in the Urdu transcription and the corresponding English translation. Occasionally, a literal translation holds the italicized equivalent. The following examples illustrate italicization.

3 R.S, McGregor, Urdu Study Materials, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992.

xviii Introduction

tL) rS?~ daftarikam official work

;

<a t~ ~ tU L) 1,)"1 us ki Dim mujhe maliim hai

I know his name (his name is known to me).

If there is no italicization in an example, it is because the structure of the Urdu original and the translation are too disparate to permit the technique, because the entire sentence would need to be italicized, or because the relevant Urdu word is not expressed in the translation. For example, kya in the sentence below merely introduces a question, and is not translated.

q a 1J.&5 I':! Y kya ye ghari hai?

Is this is a water pot?

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Professor Gopi Chand Narang of the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (formerly of Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia) for checking the example sentences and for providing guidance during the writing process. Without his sharp judgement and insight into Urdu, this would have been a much poorer work. The grammatical analysis based on the example sentences is my own, and only I am responsible for any errors.

Dr. Elena Bashir and Professor Christopher Shackle read the entire manuscript and offered criticisms and suggestions. I am grateful to them both, and solely responsible for any errors or omissions which may remain.

Numerous colleagues responded to my queries for information during the three years it has taken to produce this grammar; there is not room to mention them all by name, but they are remembered with gratitude. I also wish to thank the tutors and programme evaluators of the University of California's Berkeley Urdu Language Program in Pakistan for patiently answering my many questions.

The Department of East European and Oriental Studies of the University of Oslo provided sabbatical leave as well as resources for the production of the manuscript and funds for the visit of Professor Narang to the University of Oslo.

The roman text in this book is set in the Norman font, except for the examples in Chapter 15, which are set in Jerome Bauer's South Asia Times Bold. Urdu is set in the Jawhar font produced by Kamal Mansour of Monotype, U.S.A., which was provided by Monotype as a courtesy.

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

x--'ty x becomesy
x-c y x is deri ved from y
x+ y Y is added to x
x - y Y is a variant or inflected form of x
f. feminine
int. intransitive
lit. literally
m. masculine
pI. plural
sg. singular
tr. transitive
AP active participle
PP passive participle
VN verbal noun 1 NOUNS

Urdu has two grammatical genders: masculine (m.) and feminine (f.). Nouns may have special gender suffixes (marking), or be unmarked for gender. Nouns are inflected to show number (singular or plural) and case (nominative, oblique or vocative).

GENDER AND MARKING

101 Gender

All Urdu nouns belong to one of two noun genders, masculine and feminine.

MASCULINE

FEMININE

LSjJ lafU boy

~ bacca, (male) child

.f

.rtr ghar, house

~ larki, girl
u~ cipyi, bird
-J!:
f.:-"> mez, table 102 Marking

All Urdu nouns may be additionally divided into two groups: those which are marked for gender (marked nouns), and those which have no special gender suffix (unmarked nouns).

Plural nouns, excepting masculine unmarked nouns, have distinctive gender suffixes. See §107.

103 Marked nouns

Nouns ending in the masculine gender suffixes -a 1. -a G and -aya r-:! are masculine:

taro. boy muryi, rooster

bacca, (male) child rilpaya, rupee, rnoney

Extremely rarely, the suffix -a is nasalized.

2 Urdu: An Essential Grammar

Nouns ending in the feminine gender suffixes -I l5 or -iya ~. are feminine.

~ larki, girl

,,_f .r muryi, hen

bacci, (female) child cip.ya, bird

104 Unmarked nouns

Nouns which do not end in the above gender suffixes are unmarked, and their gender must be learned.

ghar, house (m.) kim, work (m.) kitib, book (f.)

Special attention should be paid to nouns that look like marked nouns, but are not. A number of common masculine nouns end in -i. They are either suffixless nouns that happen to end in -i, or nouns formed with the occupation suffix -1.

pini, water (suffixless)

jahlizi, sailor ( j ~ jahaz, ship + occupation suffix)

Some feminine nouns end in -a, -a or -iril. They are either suffixless words that happen to end in -a, -a, -am, or Arabic nouns in which the final -a (I results from an Arabic suffix -t ;; which derives a feminine noun from a masculine one:

IYo hava, wind, air (a suffixless Arabic noun)

~ jaga, place (colloquial pronunciation of $.- jagah)

oJJ I." vilida, mother (term of reference) « Arabic JJ IJ vilid, father)

uL.1 ammiril, mother (term of address)

Feminine nouns formed with the suffix -iya should not be confused with masculine nouns.

cifiya, bird ( I~ clfii, male sparrow + diminutive suffix)

105 Natural gender

The biological gender of people or animals denoted by a noun usually determines the gender of the noun.

uL.. mam, mother (term of address) (f.)

y~ blip, father (term of address) (m.)

Nouns 3

~, doctor (masculine if a man, feminine if a woman) dastkir, artisan (masculine if a man, feminine if a woman)

106 Some other clues to gender of nouns

Some other suffixes or noun patterns help to identify the gender of nouns.

Arabic loanwords

Arabic nouns ending in -at wi -iyat ~ and -li I are usually feminine.

~ qimat, price

~ haisiyat, status, capacity

~ haya, modesty

I." ~ dava, medicine

Verbal nouns of the pattern tafil ~ are feminine.

taklif, trouble tasvir, picture

Arabic nouns ending in -a 0 are usually masculine.

,l- hamla, attack

~ qissa, story

However, valida o..ul.", 'mother'; taIiba ~l.b , 'female student'; dafa ,..,.;~, 'time', are feminine. Note also that not all masculine nouns ending in -a are borrowed from Arabic, as there is an increasing tendency to write chop he (I in place of final alif I : ghanta ~ for ghanti ~, 'hour' (indigenous Urdu); pata ~ for pata l::;, 'address' (Persian); kamra o__,...)"for kamrli I__,...)", 'room' (Portuguese).

Persian loanwords

Nouns ending in the place suffixes -gab olf and -ae cdl are feminine. otS" w~w. iblidatgih, place of worship

cd L: ... fL.:.. xiknie, isthmus


Nouns ending in the noun-forming suffixes -i tS and -gi J are feminine.

dOsti, friendship zindagi, life

Nouns ending in the place suffix -istan or -stan 0L., are masculine:

pakistan, Pakistan registin, desert

Indigenous Urdu words

Most indigenous nouns ending in -u or -0 J are masculine.

bbaO, market price ilu, potato ~robber

However, personal names in rural areas are often formed by adding -ii for men and-o for women:

tijo(a woman's name)

. ramzinii (a man's name)

Nouns ending in the noun-forming suffixes -pan u-i and -pi 4 are masculine.

\.r-?!-!

~ l.!\..b~

bacpan.childhood

laraJcpan, boyhood; childishness burbapi, old age

Nouns ending in the diminutive suffix -i IS _ - -iya ~ and the noun-forming suffix -i tS are feminine.

pahap, small hill (from pahir 5 ~ , mountain) ciriyi, bird (from ci!i l..k.:- ' male sparrow)

silii, seam, sewing (from silni l:.L, to be sewn) lambii, length (from lambi ~,Iong)

Nouns 5

Nouns ending in the abstract noun-forming suffixes -ahat ~ T , -avat ~ J T and -yat ..::...:! are feminine.

~ IJ ghalrihat, confusion ~Jl5j rukivat obstacle

NOUN PLURALS

107 Forms (nominative case)

There are different plural suffixes for masculine marked, feminine marked and feminine unmarked nouns. Masculine unmarked nouns have no plural suffixes.

(a) The suffixes -a and -a (masculine marked) change to-e:

~f-lr}J

Cf!~~

larn ---7 larke, boys bacca -7 bacce, children

If the suffix -i is nasalized (-iiIh), the plural suffix is nasalized as well.

kiiaIh ---7 kiiCrll, well

(b) The suffix -aya (masculine marked) changes to -ae --e:

riipaya -7 riipae. riipe, rupees

(c) Masculine unmarked nouns have no plural suffix:

ghar ---7 ghar, houses

(d) The suffix i (feminine marked) changes to -iyam:

larki -7 larkiyiril, girls

(e) Indigenous feminine nouns ending in -iya take the plural in -iyiiIh.

ciriya ---7 cipyiril, birds

(f) Feminine unmarked nouns add the plural suffix -em:

I,.j.:"! L::.)" f- Y L::.)" ~lJ~ f- I.p

kitib -7ldtiberh, books clavi --} daviCril, medicines


Reduction of penultimate short vowel

When suffixes consisting of long vowels, including the nominative and oblique plural and the vocative. are added to roots containing two or more short vowels. the penultimate short vowel of the root is reduced or lost.

aural, woman + -em. ----7 aurrem, women

0r! bahen, sister + -em ----7 bahnem, sisters

Table 1: Plural of nouns

MASC. MARKED

SINGULAR PLURAL
L5jJ Iarki » Iarke
o.,.J kamra L..,.J kamrC
~.J) riipaya Ll..J) , ~W riipae. rope
ul~ kiiirb. ~_,;J kUetit
~ ghar ~ ghar
~ Iarki u~ Iarkiyam
u~ clfiya u! cjpyam
.. Y.; U .. J!;
yl::S' kitib ~l::S' kitibem MASC. UNMARKED

FEM. MARKED

FEM. UNMARKED

108 Non-count (mass) nouns

Non-count (mass) nouns do not have plural forms.

J4~ bahutpini

a lot of water

. .~ U L.....

-d~d '_"".,L.) ,

hamare pas kifi cIni hai

We have plenty of sugar.

If one has occasion to speak of more than one variety of non-count nouns, they may be pluralized. However plural amounts of non-count nouns are usually qualified by the measure or container used to hold them. See § 116.

Nouns 7

- t.FI ~I~ J c.f _9~ U"'4 L.)~ hamire pas dO tanh ki diJem hairll We have two kinds of lentils.

INFLECTION OF NOUNS

Nouns may occur in the nominative, oblique or vocative case.'

109 Nominative case

Nominative nouns most commonly occur as the subjects of verbs. (In perfective tenses, however, the subjects of transitive verbs take the postposition nC, and are in the oblique case. See §629.)

- a l:f) u~ L5jJ larkayaham rahti hai The boylives here.

tf 1';-

- e sr: r-::i,.J)

riipaya kat mile gi

The money will be available tomorrow.

A nominative noun may occur as the direct object of a sentence.

- uy, 1.:iW- ~.,.J) )JI uy, I.:i; rl.S'" ~ maim kim karti hiiIh aur riipaya kamiti hiiIb I work and I earn money.

11 0 Oblique case

Whenever a noun is followed by a postposition (for example, kO ~ , 'to'; ki LS:" 'of'; mem ~ , 'in'; se C' 'from', etc.), it occurs in the oblique case. The ergative postposition nC.2 also takes the oblique case of nouns. (See Chapter 5 for information about postpositions; see §211 for pronouns before nC.)

The term 'case' is used in this work to refer only to bound nominal suffixes (nominative, oblique and vocative) described below and in Chapter 2. Other grammarians treat grammatical postpositions (Chapter S) as case markers. According to this school of thought. a noun followed by the ergative postposition Ili! is in the ergative case; a noun followed by kO is in the dative case, and a noun with no postposition is in the nominative-accusative case.


Oblique singular

Only masculine marked nouns have a special oblique singular suffix. (a) The suffixes -a and -a (masculine marked) change to-e:

larJci ~ lark! ki kamra ~ kamre ki

If the suffix -a is nasalized (-iril), the oblique suffix is nasalized as well.

(b) The suffix -aya (masculine marked) changes to -ae --e:

riipaya ~ riipae ki, riipe ki

(c) Feminine nouns and unmarked masculine nouns do not change.

is"~f-~ is" u-8J f- u-8J is" y l;:)" f- Y l;:)"

ghar ~ ghar kii

Iarki ~ larD ki

kitiib ~ kitiib kii

Examples

- a ~ ~I~ J~ is" » larkekii bhiii kariici mem hai

The boy's brother is in Karachi (lit. the brother of the boy is in Karachi).

I"·" 'LiS" ' . ..- I <a ~.s., I..f.? J-' .r:

is kii&iJ ki pini tban4i hai The water of this welJ is cold.

:..J. ,. ···,..JI"-lS" f - .d ~.:J) ) JI i.J.:J -.r' *

ghar ki Idriya tin hazir riipae hai

The rent of the house is three thousand rupees.

, ~ .. .. \' '-...ll;:)"

- .d .d..J) J-".J ~ IS' .

kitib ki qimat dO sau riipae hai

The price of the book is two hundred rupees.

Nouns 9

Oblique plural

All plural nouns have oblique suffixes (except Perso-Arabic nouns with borr0:-ved Persian or Arabic plural, or dual, suffixes; §1405; §1503-§1504). The obhque plural forms are derived from the nominative plural forms as shown below.

(a) The plural suffixes -e and -em. change to ~Ih:

is" u"sJ.l f-V Iafke~ 18fkolhki
is"W.J~f- L~ kaJnre~ kamrOmki
lS" wJ"s f- _;"s kUelh~ kiiOlhki
lS" WY.,.J) f- .d.J) riipe~ riipfilhki
lS" w y.1.:S' f- 1.:S' kitiiberil ~ kitibOlhki
,_pi (b) The plural suffix -iyiril changes to -iyom:

Iarkiyiiril ~ larkiyom ki

(c) The suffix -Om is added to the suffixless masculine unmarked forms:

gharOmki

Examples

-.d 1-41 d4 is" uj_,.s- 01 in JruoIiJ ki piini than4i hai

The water of these wells is cold.

-If.:{ ~ dl;- ~ U.J~ gharOIiJ k! kiriie muxtalif ha.iIh

The houses have various rents (lit. rents of the houses are various).

- a ~ ifl' 1;- J ~ lS" wy.:5J.J larkiyoIiJki bhii karici mem hai

The girls' brother is in Karachi (lit. the brother of the girls is in Karachi).

~ .. \' 1.:S'

- ..r-t .. ~ IS' wy."

kitaoom ki qimarem muxtalif haiIh

The books have various prices (lit. prices of the books are various).


Tabla 2: Oblique case of nouns

SINGULAR NOMINATIVE OBLIQUE
MAse. MARKED lS}J larki V Iarke
t..rJ kamra L...rJ kamre
~J) riipaya .dJ) i c.,J) riipae. riipe
ul_,.:.) kiiiIit ~_,.:.) kiieril
MASC. UNMARKED ftf ghar ~ ghar
FEM.MARKED ~ JarId ~ Iar.ki
L~ cjp.ya L~ cip.yli
.. J!;" " J!;"
FEM. UNMARKED yl;:.) kitib yl;:.) kitib
PLURAL NOMINATIVE OBLIQUE
MASC. MARKED V Iarke u__,s}.J larkorh
L...rJ kamre u.J.rJ kamrOm
,dJ) I c.,JJ riipse, riipe uY,J) riipfim
~_,.:.) kUeIiI uJ_,.:.) kiifim
MAse. UNMARKED ~ ghar u.J~ gbarOm
FEM. MARKED u~ Iarkiyam W0 Illfkiyom
u~ cipyiirll ~ cipyom
W .. J!;" W_t!J!;"
FEM.UNMARKED -..r.:-!l;:.) kitiberb. WJ-!W kitiioom
111 Oblique nouns resulting from dropping of kO The postposition ki), 'to', 'at' is often dropped in expressions describing movement to a destination. The noun remains in the oblique case. See §507.

Nouns in time expressions also appear in the oblique case. See §1309, §1311.

112 Expressing totality

Numbers. time words and the pronoun sab may occur in the oblique plural to express totality or an indefinitely large amount. In numbers 20 or lower. it tends to express totality; in higher numbers it expresses an indefinitely large amount.

Nouns 11

The following words have special stems before ~m.

BASIC FORM

STEM BEFORE -fuh

STEM PLUS -Om

.J~ dO, two

Y"'" sau, hundred '-;-""""" sab, all

0.J~ dOn-

~ saiIhka!-

u _,.j .J ~ oonfim u.J~ saiJDka.rOrh W~ sabhom

Totality

-£T0~w~4

pidu:6m mehmin i gaS All five guests came .

- 4"'A!~ W~ d w~i unbom ne sabhOIiJ kO bulliyli

He called every single one of them.

Indefinitely large amounts ~)~W.J~ saiIiJkar6m daraxt hundreds of trees

-1Jf) '_;J) WM OJ vo gbantDm ron rahi.

She went on crying for hours.

Totality may also be expressed by a phrase in the pattern: X ki X, where X is a repeated noun, noun phrase or the pronoun sab. In this expression. the oblique plural is not used.

-£T 0L.r ~ J ~

eM ke ehe mehmin i gse All six guests came.

W' ~. L.)"~. ST

- .. ~~ ~~

ag memjangal kajangaljal gayli. The entire forestburned in the fire.

- if ~ ~).) L.:JL J L..JL sire ke sam daraxt jal ga.e

Every last tree burned.

,1' '

_~..!:.J'-;-"""""l..f"'~

sab ka sab Iu! gayli

Every last thing was looted.

113 Vocative case of nouns

The vocative singular suffix is identical with the oblique suffix. The vocative plural suffix is -O.J .

The vocative is used only towards persons or objects identified with persons, and does not occur very often. Vocatives may be introduced by the vocative interjections.fi ,,1 ,ai L1. '0' or are L..) 1, 'hey' (§1217).

2 This stem is actually derived from sab hi (sab, 'all' + hi, emphatic particle).


The nominative form ofbe1i, 'son' is sometimes used in place of the vocative, addressing both boys and girls.

Table 3: Vocative case of nouns

SINGULAR

NOMINATIVE VOCATIVE
l5}l larD .!1J larlre
J~ bhii J~ bhii
fl Iarki ~ larki
01-! bahen 01-! bahen
NOMINATIVE VOCATIVE
a larlre _,5}J larko
J~ bhii ~~ bhiiyo
fl larki r.DJ larkiyo
01-! bahen ~ bahno MASC. MARKED MASC. UNMARKED

FEM. MARKED FEM. UNMARKED

PLURAL

MASC. MARKED MASC. UNMARKED

FEM. MARKED

F EM. UNMARKED

Examples

_jl _r.~1 i b bet£. idhar iO Son, come here.

! ~IJ CSJJI e rikJe vile!

o ricksha w dri ver!

_..,:- i Y!r! bacco. sunG Listen, children.

,. I 'I •.

. ~)J >::-' '1:H

bhiiyo aur bahnO! 3 Brothers and sisters!

3 See 'Reduction of penultimate short vowels' under § I 07 for loss of penultimate -e- in bah(e)Jo,

Nouns 13

REPETITION OF NOUNS

114 Simple repetition

The doubling of nouns expresses variety or multiplicity.

_ ofi ~ ~~ J if if ..r. 0~ ifl

is dukin mem tarah tarah Ire masilS mille haim Various kinds of spices are available in this shop,

_ 11 yt,s J3 J3 y- _d.j d rt ham ne faqir k6 galI galI cptiiIil4i

We searched for the faqir in lane after lane.

115 Repetition with an echo word

Nouns (and other parts of speech) are sometimes repeated with a rhyming echo word, often one beginning with v- J. Echo words beginning with v- have no meaning of their own; their function is to generalize the meaning of the first word. Sometimes an echo word has a meaning of its own, but its independent occurrence is much less frequent than its occurrence in the compound.

.,1-1 J .,I- 4:cibivibi

something like a key «caDi, key)

il..t.~ iY'~ dhiimdhim

pomp and show « dhiim, pomp; dham, splendour)

NOUNS AS UNITS OF MEASURE (116)

Nouns describing measure, quantity and price may behave like adjectives and precede the nouns they qualify, Used in this way, they are not followed by the possessive ki. Marked masculine measure nouns (camca, riipaya) take plural suffixes when they denote a plural number. Feminine measure nouns (piyili, bilp) do not.

~ • Go...!

r:"" c..J) if -r »

pacas rij~ mitar fifty rupees (a) metre

~~J~ dO camce cini

two spoons (of) sugar


.d4:- J~J4:car piyiJI cae four cups (of) tea

J4 ~4J:l dO balD -. pam

two buckets (of) water

However, if the noun is not used like an adjective, it inflects in the usual way:

- ~4- ut:;J4 J:l J J4 ~

mujhe pam ki dO balpyiIb c8hiCrll . .

1 need two buckets of water (two different buckets, both contammg water).

When nouns showing units of measure, time or money are preceded by numbers, they do not take the oblique plural suffix.

<I:ll:!j C ,...j:l .J-"

sau dafa se zyiida

more than one hundred times

"'" - ~

. ~. ~

- J UJI ,_;::A J ~

mairi1 dO ghan¢ mem iiiIb. gi I will come in two hours.

.u ~J0:lJ:l dO din kC bad ina Come after two days.

But:

.cr ~Juy:l~ kuch dinOIil ke bad ioi Come after a few days.

OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH USED AS NOUNS (117)

Many adjectives can also be used as nouns. See §319.

A few Perso-Arabic loanwords, including naujavin 01y, y , 'young man'; yairmulki,,_fL.r-f. ' 'foreigner'; numiinda ~~LC , 'representative', and nouns denoting nationality, are classified as both nouns and adje~tives. See §319.

Participles are essentially verbal adjectives. Both Imperfect and perfect participles may be used as nouns (though it is infrequent). See §906, §911.

The infinitive is a verbal noun and is used as a noun III sentences. See §639.

2

PRONOUNS

There is no distinction between the masculine and feminine genders in Urdu pronouns. The same pronoun is used for both 'he' and 'she' (the verb phrase often provides the information, however). There is on the other hand a distinction between proximate and distant in the third person: Urdu distinguishes between a 'he/she/it' which is close at hand, and a 'he/she/it' which is at a distance.

Urdu pronouns may refer to singular or plural people or things. Plural pronouns referring to people may refer to two or more people (grammatical plural), or to a single person respectfully (polite plural).

Like nouns, pronouns may occur in the nominative case (for example as subjects of sentences) or in the oblique case (followed by postpositions: §208).1

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

201 ye, 'this' and VO, 'that'

The demonstrative pronoun ye, 'this' refers to something or someone close at hand. The demonstrative pronoun vo, 'that' refers to something or someone further away. The demonstrative pronouns ye and vo are identical in form to the personal pronounsye and vo (meaning 'he', 'she', 'it').

In the nominative case, the plural forms of ye and vo are identical to their singular forms. Only the verb shows whether the pronoun refers to a singular or plural noun.

Examples

ye Icyi hai? What is this?

ye ghari hai This is a water pot.

ye Icyi hairi:J.? What are these?

ye ghare haim These are water pots.

In the oblique case, however, ye and vo have distinct singular and plural forms.

See Chapter 1, footnote 3 for a definition of the term 'case' as used in this work.


Nominative and oblique demonstratives

NOMINATIVE

SINGULAR

OJ vo

PLURAL

OJ vo

Examples

q a ~ ru l.,) U"'l is ki Dim kyi hai?

What is the name of this?

q o« ~~ y- 01 unkO kyi kahte haim? What do you call those?

ye

OBLIaUE
U"'l is
~
U"'I us
. I in
u,
. ~
ul un ye

q .d ~ r u lS' U"" us ki Dim kyi hai?

What is the name of that?

.. \ L,_Lt' \"01

- If.f cr- ~.J-' ' rt

ham in kij ghare kahte hairh We call these water pots.

The demonstrative pronouns also function as adjectives.

_ I!J ILt' ,..., .d ..r. ~ -

... huri bali hai

ye~ .

This water pot is big.

<a l.,rf ~ UlpoJ va kuirll bahut gahri hai That well is very deep.

I b, b 'w lS' ' .. , I

-.d ~...5., ~.r- U"',

is kuerl:l ki pam ~4i hai The water of this well is cold.

Pronouns 17
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
202 Forms
Table 4: Persons and cases of personal pronouns
NOMINATIVE OBLIaUE
SINGULAR
1st person ~ maiIil, I ~ mujh
2nd person y tii, you ~ tujh
~
3rd person OJ YO, he, she. it U"'I us
~ yeo he, she, it U"'l is
PLURAL
1st person r-r ham. we r-r ham
2nd person ~ tum. you ~ tum
..... 1 ip,you ..... 1 ip
',' .,
3rd person ' ~
OJ YO, they ul un
~ yeo they , I in
U,
203 Honorific levels in second person pronouns There are three second person pronouns: tii, tum and ip, The use of tii is very intimate, tum is non-honorific, and ip is honorific,

tii is used only when addressing a small child in one's own family, one's

y beloved, God, as an insult, or as a reproof to a servant or subordinate, It occurs commonly in poetry (where according to convention. the poet addresses his beloved).

tum is used when addressing one or more persons of lower status, children,

~ or close family members younger than oneself. Persons of equal status may address each other as tum in informal social situations. When addressing small children in another person's family, one should use tum, not tii.

ip is used when addressing one or more persons of higher status, persons

yT to whom respect is due, or family members elder than onself, It is also used by young persons to elderly persons (even if the elder is a servant), to skilled persons (of all socio-economic ranks), and by parents to children. to teach them good manners. Finally, persons of equal status generally address each other as ip in formal social situations. such as an office or a formal event.


8p

,-,1

.,

is also used as a third person polite plural pronoun meaning 'he', 'she', This is even more honorific than vo + plural verb, so is used to refer to persons to whom a high degree of respect is due (including revered religious personages, especially the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH».

Examples

J ." ~ L I. --W" .. _ ~,..;.... '.d. i)'+-' .. Y

Iii Icyi khii rahii hai? mumh khot .

What are you eating? Open (your) mouth (to a very small child).

~ ( ") _~ ~

(tum) baitho

(You) please sit down.

q _J1 (.51') ~ u4S' .c! .::..1) ~! r..:i tum itni rat saC kahiiril ji rahi ho?

Where are you going so late at night (to a younger family member)?

~~I lipbai!hle

You please sit down (to an elder).

'I ' .'. 1 ,.J" 1 . ~ ,-,I

_.J.) Y C 0' C. ~ .d. ............ Y'") C .,

lip se darxist hai ke ham.Crh apne fann se navazem. .

He (an honoured poet) is requested to favour us WIth hIS art.

204 ham used as a first person singular pronoun

The first personal plural ham is sometimes colloquially used in place of the singular, maiIil. By referring to himself as a member of a group, the speaker makes himself slightly more anonymous. The use of ham may also reflect a person's assumption of social superiority or superior status, bam is also used in place ofmairll in poetry.

~i d Jt;., c: 0i"J r-:

w- lj _'l,_ ,

d·· "c' ~r. ham ko un se vafi ki hai ummid

jo nahltil jante vafi kyii hai Ihope for loyalty from the one

Who does not know what loyalty is ~Iib)

Pronouns 19

205 Omission of personal pronouns

Personal pronouns, especially tii and tum, are often omitted in sentences, since the verb provides information about person, number, gender and level of respect.

q l";~ kyi karO ge?

What will you (tum) do?

q! .J.;~ kyii karCIil ge?

What will you (iip) do?

q d~);Y kyi kar rahii hai?

What are you (tii) doing? (reproof)

_If uj~ j.) kal jiiiIil gil

I (maiIb.) will go tomorrow.

206 109 as a plural specifier

The noun log. 'people' may be added to plural personal pronouns to specify or emphasize plurality, The resulting phrase is masculine plural.

ham. log (haitil) We ( are)

tum log (bO) You (are)

ip log (hairh) You (are)

vo log (haiIh) They (are)

207 Nominative pronouns

Nominative pronouns most commonly occur as the subjects of verbs (except for transitive verbs in perfect tenses, where the subject takes DC (§51O, §629).

u l::..., ul,

_ 'J1 , ') "'f'":: o.r-'

maiIb yahiIh rahti hiiIi:l Ilive here.

q Yf Co) uLy.) r..:i tum kahiirll rahte hO? Where do you live?

l::..., u ¢.

_ d ,,) o.r-' u"., 'J

YO pis mem rahti hai He lives nearby.

- U o.

_ i.Ft d) o.r-' u"., J

vopis mem rahtS bairil They live nearby.

A nominative third person pronoun very occasionally occurs as the direct object of a sentence, referring to a thing.

lot. J,' lot. ). ,

_ .x ~ OJ i d ):) I":! c: o.r-'

maira ne ye parhii hai, vo nahiJ:iI parhii I have read this, not that.


208 Oblique (nflectsd) pronouns

Whenever a pronoun is followed by a postposition (for example, 100 _,s-, 'to'

ka lJ, 'of, mem I.P'" 'in'. se C. 'from' ,etc.), it occurs in the oblique case, as shown in the following examples.

The functions of location and direction, as well as many grammatical functions,

are shown in Urdu by postpositions, described in Chapter 5.

The oblique case of the pronouns ham, tum and ip is identical to the nominative

case.

(' '~ '\.:.. -- T t- ...s:L -L~"L"'YY~

malik sahib ip ko cae pilaem ge

Mr. Malik will give you tea to drink.

- d L5)I~ ""~..r.l r'f bam par zimmedari hai

The responsibility is ours (lit. on us).

The pronouns maiIh, tii, ye and yo, however, have distinct oblique case forms. See Table 5, p. 21.

(' '"'h '\.:.. -- t- JJ...

-L~ "L"'Y~~

malik sihib mujh k02 cae pilaem ge

Mr. Malik will give me tea to drink.

C{ - 'T' -- .. ·d-"d;,.l 4y~

tujh kG ni:rild it hai, munni'?

Are you sleepy, child (lit. is sleep coming to you)?

,

- d ~)'~ ,......~ ..r.l 01 un par zimmed8ri bai

The responsibility is his/theirs (lit. on him/them).

'..52:. ,-- ,

- ~ ;,.I Y I.P" rJ",

is mem koi gak: nabirll

There is no doubt about (lit. in) this.

2 An alternate form, IDJljbS ~. is however more common than mujh k5 y- ~. The pronouns tn, tum, ham, YO and ye also have alternate forms. See §21O.

209 Exception to §208

Pronouns 21

First and second person pronouns occur in the nominative case before the postposition DC d . See §211, Table 6.

210 The suffix e - (h)em. replacing kO

The postposition ko ~, 'to', 'at' shows (a) animate or specified direct objects and (b) indirect objects (§505). Following pronouns (including personal, demonstrative, interrogative and relative pronouns, except ip) it may be replaced by the suffix e - (h) em. This usage is more common than the usage with 1m, especially in the spoken language. Both usages are shown below in Table 5.

NOTE: the spelling with c (cbop he) shown below is more common than spelling with .Jl, (do casml he), except in mujh, tujb. But all the alternate forms can also be spelled with .I;;. •

Table 5: Oblique pronouns + alternate forms of kO

PRONOUN + 1m PRONOUN + e - (b)eJ:h

SINGULAR

1st person 2nd person 3rd person

y-~ _,s-~ y- rJ"! _,s- rJ"1

PLURAL

1st person 2nd person

3rd person

Examples

mujbkG tujhko usko isko

mujhe tujhe use isC

hamkO tumkO ipkO un 1m inko

hameri1 tumhem

";N .~ l..,., ~ •

- <fi L 'f L .,' ~ ~ .. 'Jj-""

xurfid sahib mujhe cae pilate bairll

Mr. Khurshid gives me tea to drink (lit. gives tea to me).


.ct ~1y. ~ 'Wl.)w ~.) dil-e-nidirll, tujhe hiii kyi hai

Foolish heart, what has happened to you (GhiIib)

~ • I- -- \" .. W . Co' ,. "'!T?? ~ ..

kyi tumhCIb Jwch cihie?

Do you need anything (is anything needed to you)?

~ I.Jb W 01 0 uT

-'" ~ e: v

ip nC unhem. kyi batiyi? What did you tell them?

211 Pronouns before the postposition oS

When pronouns occur as the subjects of sentences, the sentence verbs agree with them in gender, number and person. There is an exception to this rule: the subjects of transitive verbs in perfect tenses agree with the direct object, and the subject is followed by the postposition ne (see §51O, §629). When followed by nC, first and second person pronouns occur in the nominative case. Third person singular pronouns occur in the oblique case. Third person plural pronouns have special forms which occur only before ne.

Table 6: Forms of pronouns before ne
NOMINATIVE PRONOUN +00
SINGULAR
lst person LF'" maiIh, I ~~ mairlJ. ne
2nd person y tii., you d_y tUne
•
3rd person o_, YO, he, she. it .2lfl usne
I":! yeo he. she. it .2 If! isne
PLURAL
1st person ~ ham. we ~~ hamne
2nd person ~ tum., you o _ tumne
~~
~I ip.you .2 "'1' ipoe
, unhOmne)
3rd person OJ vo, they .2W~1
I":! ye, they .dW~! inhomne 3 ~ u-*i unhOIh nli, etc. is also correct, and reflects the phonology more accurately. But the spellings given here are the ones in common use.

Pronouns 23

Examples

- J~ cd4=-; "-;-'"' L- .si, d LF'" mairb. nC malik sahib kO cae pUii

I gave Mr. Malik tea to drink.

~ I~.r ~ C)lj~.2 ~ tum nC bizir sa kyi xaridi?

What did you buy in (from) the market?

~ ~.) ~.r4 SJo_,..... d_ y.T ap nC sarak par kyi dekhi'l What did you see on the road?

- ~.) wi.J)L)l) u_,.!:j_,1 d_ ~ ham nC iirllt6m. ki kirviIiJ. deW We saw a caravan of camels.

- J tS; I_,...,...; ..!..i_,1 d U"'I us neiirlll par saviri lei

He rode on a camel.

- J tS) I".... .r4 '!"')Jl .2 u~i uMom DC iirllt par sayan ki They rode on a camel.

212 Possessive forms of personal pronouns

The possessive forms of pronouns are grammatically adjectives, and agree with the nouns they qualify. The possessives are shown in Table 7 on p. 24.

The possessives are marked (§301): they have suffixes that inflect to show gender and number.

., ,. I I..s-'~~

01-i tS~ U:! ,.I .. JI_, Lr,

J4-l L) lfl 0HJ lfl

0:! JJ I_, .tF lfl

mCri bhai, my brother men bahen, my sister mere vilidain, my parents

us ki bbii, his/her brother us ki bahen, hislher sister

us Ire vilidain, his/her parents


tumhiiri bhiii, your brother tumhIri bahen, your sister tumhirC vilidain, your parents

Table 7: Possessive forms of personal pronouns

NOMINATIVE

POSSESSIVE

SINGULAR
lst person I..P" mai.dl, I IF"' mCri
2nd person y Iii, you 1 " teri
r.
3rd person OJ YO, he, she, it l) -rl uski
I':! ye, he, she, it l) (,)"1 iski
PLURAL
lst person r-t ham, we I)l....r hamiri
2nd person ~ tum, you I}ti tumhiri
ul &p, you l)uT apki
',' .,
3rd person OJ YO, they l)01 unki
I':! ye, they l)'1 inki
u_ REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

213 The reflexive possessive adjective apni

The possessive adjective apni, 'one's own' is substituted for the possessive forms of personal pronouns when the subject of the sentence possesses the object. apni agrees with the noun it qualifies.

-d~) ~~!.S~ ~I..I....>.I ahmad - .. J. .. ..i dekh rahi hai spm~.

Ahmad is looking at his (own) watch.

- a ~) ~.cp !.S~ J (,)"1..1....>.1 ahmad us ki ghap de1c.h raha hai

Ahmad is looking at his (someone else's) watch.

_ .t" ~I

- ...r.t Co) I..P" * ,-" r-t ham. apne ghar mem rahle haitb.

We live in our (own) house.

Pronouns 25

,I L;,I;.; ul.;:.) ...:...JI

- to,,}.J1 /) .J1i. 1,.:1'/ I..P"

mairll apnI kitib parh rahi hfuil I am reading my (own) book.

WRONG WRONG

mairil men kitib parh raha hfuil ham. ham.ire ghar mem rahle haim

apni can also be used after possessives for emphasis:

lolf . I

- Li.!.S) ~!.Sf.:" I':!

ye men apni gip hai This is my own car.

214 xud and ap, 'self'

Both xud and ip mean X-self(myself, yourself, himself, ourselves, themselves, etc.). xud is the commoner of the two.

-'-'-'1 L;.~ Li;..::..4 C}Sf5 ~y.1..P" maim xud c;taktar se bit kami cihti hfuil I want to speak to the doctor myself.

- tf '-'~J Io:tl LJ.'!'" :maiIb ip vabitit gayi I went there myself.

215 apne ap, xud, xud baxud

To express something that someone does by himself, without help from others, or something that happens spontaneously. apnC ip or xud may be used.

- ~~.r' J.? I':! yT ,cil .2 r-t

ham. ne apne ip ye pol marammat kiyii We repaired this bridge by ourselves,

w-- .. . l, ,...l.! • j

- .. "_".r' IJ'l! - :r '- r-t

ham. ne xud ye pul marammat kiyii We repaired this bridge by ourselves.

_~i ~~T.dl~ bijlI apne ip jal u!hi

The electric bulb suddenly lit up by itself.


xud baxud, 'of one's own accord' may be used with intransitive verbs to express 'by himself. 'by itself, etc.

_~i~~~~y.~ bijli xud baxud jal uthl

The electric bulb suddenly lit up by itself.

216 ipas mem, 'among'

Something people do 'among' themselves (reciprocally) is expressed by ipas

mCtb:

- "f"

- \"u .......)1 w.I

- ~ LtJ.r' u. I.F"' v\' Y

log ipaS mem bit kar rahe the

The people were talking among themselves.

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

217 kya. 'what?'

kyi means 'what' (referring to things), It is also used as an adjective qualifying a noun, especially before oblique case nouns, where it means 'which' (§220),

kyi shares its oblique case with bun. See §220, Table 8, Interrogative words usually come right before the verb. See § 1006.

c,> L.)

, a .. I":!

yekyahai? Whatis this?

q U

, ,fi .. I":!

ye kya baiIb.? What are these?

~ a ~u ~Lf' .;;.....,_p ~ yT iip kC dOst kit kya Dim hai? What is your friend's name?

218 kyi marking questions and exclamations

kyi may also be used as a question marker, turning a statement into a yes-or-no question. It is not translated,

~ .tt 1j,J' I":! ~ kyi ye gbafi hai?

Is this is a water pot?

Pronouns 27

kyi may introduce an exclamatory sentence.

t a uL.sS'J 1-4.7- ~ kyimazbJir khini hai! What delicious food (it is)!

219 bun, 'who?'

bun means 'who?'. It is occasionally also used as an adjective, qualifying a noun. The singular and plural froms of bun are distinguished only in the oblique case. In the nominative case, 109, 'people' maybe added to specify the plural, or bun may be doubled (§225).

~ a 0Y-..rl L.jl_')~ darvizC par kaun hai? Who is at the door?

<,' '\

, .tt Uy I":!

yekaun hai? Who is he/she?

<,' ',\...5

. o« Uy Yl":!

ye log hun baiIb.?

Who are they (these people)?

q J L.., ',_\ , ,fi.tt) 'Y. ~ Uy

bun sihib bOl rahS hairlJ.? Who is speaking (sir)?

220 Oblique forms of kyi and bun

The oblique and plural forms of the interrogative pronouns are shown in Table 8. Like YO and ye, kyi and bun have special oblique plural forms which occur only before nCo kyi and bun may take the alternate suffixal forms ofkO (§21O):

~ kisS (=kiskO), ~ kinhem(= kinkO),

Table 8: Oblique and plural forms of kyi and bun
NOMINATIVE OBLIQUE +ne
SINGULAR
~ kyi, what? ~ kis ~~ moe
0_,.) kaun, who? ~ Ids ~~ Idsne
PLURAL
~ kyi, what? J kin
0_,.) kaun, who? J kin ~ u_,.,...s- kinhom DC 28 Urdu: An Essential Grammar

Examples

~ a IS" ~ 0~L.. I":! ye siman Ids ki bai?

Whose baggage is this (lit. of whom is this baggage)?

~ !J.:t J J .lSJ I":! ye libt kinkS haim?

Whose tickets are these (lit. of whom are these tickets)?

~ IJ~ d ~ ulr! 0~L.. simin yahirlJ. kis DC chOri? Who left the luggage here?

The oblique forms ofkyi occur mainly as adjectives, meaning • which , .

(,' " 'IS" .:,:j~ , uT

. !J.:t L.r i ...r.".r i..J'"'""' ':

ap kis daftar mem kim karte haiIh? Which office do you work in?

~ !J.:t uy.4,- J UJ/ J r-!

yc kin kamrOril ki cihiyiIil hairh? (For) which rooms are these the keys?

However 'which' (of a finite number of possibilities) is usually expressed by adding the adjectival particle sa ( - si - se) to nun (§31O).

~ a JL.:. e/L.. 0Ybun sikamra xiIi hai? Which room is vacant?

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

221 mi, 'some(one)', 'any(one)'

kOiis used both as a pronoun and an adjective. As a pronoun, it means 'someone', 'anyone'. If the sentence is negative. it means 'no one' .

- .d. J; .x L.j IJJ ~ darviizC par kOi bai

There is someone at the door.

.• " .t"

- u::r' I..I.J-' .x fi"

ghar par koi nahUb No one is at home.

Pronouns 29

As an adjective. kOi means 'some', 'any' and qualifies only count nouns. If the sentence is negative, it means 'no', 'not any'.

(,' ( l ,(" ~ • . , LS" . 15 C ,,_r-~ I..I.J-' ulr! "

kya yahiIil kOi taiksi mile gi?

Is any taxi available here?

.( ") "', u

- ~ ~..r.!~ ..r.!~ I..I.J-' -r ,. <L_r.

mere pas kOitasvir (tasvirSril) nabiril

I have no picture(s).

The oblique form of kai is kisi kisi is also the form used before ne.

- a ~ ~ ~ -r4 J ~, a cJJ~ -r4. J ~ \I kisi kc pas daulat bai, kisi ke pis kuch bhi nahiril bai

Some have wealth, (and) some have nothing at all.

-LJI~d~~

paisa ldsI DC cwi liya. Someone stole the money.

222 lruch, 'some(thing)', 'any(thing)'

kuch, 'some/thing)', 'any(thing)' is used both as a pronoun and an adjective. As a pronoun, it means 'something'. If there is a negative word in the sentence, it means 'nothing', 'not anything'. kuch does not have an oblique form.

!J~ 'J;-~ lruch karQ, yic!

Do something, pall

As an adjective it means 'some', 'any' and qualifies both non-count nouns and plural count nouns. With count nouns, kuch + NEGATIVE means 'not some of (something), .

_If <L;- ~ ~"J vo kuch nahiri1 kale ga He won't do anything.

.... , ·u·_o:-.JJd· .. ~

kuch piini laO Bring some water.


- di J.A.}.r. ~ ~ Jwch dec bid liyt

Please come after some time (a little later).

-1Pt .x :r.- i..T-_r._y.tij ~ Jwch tasvirCIb. mSz par hairb.

There are some pictures on the table/some of the pictures are on the table.

- ~ 'Yo ~ ~4 ~ if4 .:F ifl us ke pis Jwch pini baci hUi thi

He had saved some of the water (he had some water which had been saved).

kuch does not qualify uncount nouns in negative sentences.

WRONG CORRECT

kuch pini nahiriJ.

pini nahiril. There's no water

RELATIVE PRONOUN

223 jo

The relative pronoun corresponding to YO and ye is jo Yo' 'who', 'which'. See §1l06-§1107.

REPEATED PRONOUNS

224 kyikyi

When kyi is doubled, it means 'what (various) things?', and takes a singular verb.

q 45:p ~y- W~J d y,1 ip DC vahiIh kyi kyi dekhi? What things did you see there?

225 bun bun

When bun is doubled, it means 'which (various) people?', and takes a singular verb.

4 One would normally expect kudl di!r kC bid. but afterdi!r, omission OfR is idiomatic.

Pronouns 31

q 41 0,.,.s- 4,),.,.s- If.' ~ Y ~ divat merit bUD bun iyi?

Which various people came to the party?

226 koi kO~ koi na koi

koikOimeans 'a few'.

- 41 J~ J_,s- ~r If.' ~ jalse merit sirf kOi kOi iya

Only a few came to the meeting.

troi na k6i means 'someone (or the other)'.

t5 .e ,,, .• "

- y. .r. -* .,f.Y ,-I .,f ~

koi na km ghar par hO gi Someone must be at home.

- t5 y. i_,L-._,s- ~ ~ ~

kisi DB kisi kO miliim ho gi Someone must know it.

227 kuch kuch, kuch na kuch

lruch lruch means 'somewhat'.

-d~~~OJ vo kucb kucb !hik hai He is somewhat better.

koch na lruch means 'something (or the other),.

t5 . -- r' -- r \' "I 1

- y.)Jr~,-I ~ ~c. r»Jif_

is vaqea ke piche kocb na kocb zariir ho sa

Something is certainly at the bottom of (behind) this event.

3

ADJECTIVES

MARKING

Adjectives qualify nouns, as modifiers, or as predicate complements. Like nouns, adjectives are divided into two groups: those which have suffixes that change to show gender and number (marked adjectives), and those which do not (unmarked adjectives).

301 Marked adjectives

Adjectives which may take the masculine singular suffixes-a marked.

or -am u I are

iL)~1 acchikim (m.) a good job

-e.:i~ u~b dByiirb. hath (m.) the right hand

These suffixes change to agree with the noun which the adjective qualifies (§303-§304).

.::..~~I acchibit (f.) a good thing

.c"'~T 'I.) ~~

d.Wb iIbkh (f.) the right eye

302 Unmarked adjectives

Unmarked adjectives have no special suffixes and do not change to show agreement.

iL)~.) dilcaspkim interesting work

dilcaspbit

an interesting thing

Some adjectives look like marked adjectives. but are not. In the examples which follow, tiza oj \.j and zinda oJ..i j are Persian adjectives which end in -a 0 (chop he). Whereas nouns ending in -a 0 are treated as marked nouns, and change to show number and case (§ 103), adjectives ending in -a 0 do not change.

Adjectives 33

~o·\.j .. ')

mza keli (m.) a fresh banana

~~y:. ojl:i

tiza khiibini (f.) a fresh apricot

Persian past participles ending in -a 0 are unmarked adjectives in Urdu.

l.l"1...:. .. ·w . l.·;

~ ~ .. ~

tilim y.ifta xitiin (f.) an educated lady

Many adjectives are formed from nouns, or from other adjectives, by adding the adjectival suffix -i tS , which may be of Persian origin, or an indigenous Urdu suffix. In either case, the suffix does not change.

~~.:l ~gbi(m.)

indigenous clarified butter, 'desi ghee' « des if':!.), country)

'w' .)

~.'Y" ~

d&Ikhiibiini (f.)

an indigenous apricot

iL)tS?.) daJtarikam (m.)

official work « daftar ?.:l, office)

.::..4I,f'j':1 lizimibit (f.)

essential thing « lizim. 6':1 , necessary)

Arabic adjecti~es which happen to end in i ( ItS. t: i I ) or i ( s) are unmarked:i1i ~I 'high'; muttali ~,'informed';mubtali, ~ 'afflicted'; haqi ~4 , 'remaining';jiri tSJ ~ 'continuing'.

J~I~1 iJimeyir (m.) a high standard

ek-I~I iii satah (f.) a high level

"w ~...I.

biqipaisa (m.)

the rest of the money (remaining money)


- J .c1.J ISJ ~ ~ 2-t 2f1 ~L( n~a~e~bhljAnnhe~

The exhibition is continuing next week too.

AGREEMENT

303 Agreement in gender and number

Marked adjectives change to agree with nouns in gender and number.

Table 9: Gender and number suffixes of adjectives

MASCULINE

FEMININE

SINGULAR

PLURAL

151 ba!i L.~ bare
ulll.) dayam ~b d8eril
ISJ.i ba!i ($51 ba!i
~b diilD. ~I.) diilD. (a) The suffix -a I (m. sg.) changes to -e ~ (m, pl.) or -i ($ (f. sg., f. pl.):

ba!'a ghOfi, a big horse bare ghore. big horses hap gbOp, a big mare

gahri pini, deep water (m.) gahri nilbd, deep sleep (f.)

(b) There is only one feminine suffix for both singular and plural.

bop gh0!1yam, big mares

(c) The suffix -am wi (m.) changes to -w u:! I (0. This adjective group comprises mainly the words diyiIil, 'right', and biyam, 'left'; and the ordinal numbers. Note the -y- in day-, biy- disappears when the adjective is feminine or masculine plural.

Adjectives 35

pirllcvirll baD, the fifth chapter pidlcvili1jild, the fifth volume diyidl hith, the right hand diiIb. taraf, the right side

304 Agreement in case I

An adjective qualifying an oblique noun also becomes oblique.

Table 10: Case suffixes of adjectives
NOMINATIVE OBLIQUE VOCATIVE
MASCULINE I~ bafi L.J.t bare L.J.i bafC
u~l~ diyidl ~I~ diem ~I~ dierlt
FEMININE SJ.t hap: 1S5-1 ba!i ISJ.t hap:
~b diirll ~I.) diitil ~b diiIb. (a) The suffix -i I (m. sg.) changes to -e L., and the suffix -idl iJi changes to u:! I -em. Note that the -y- in day-, biy- disappears when the adjecti ve is masculine oblique, vocative or feminine.

ba¢ ghore ki, of a big horse

diem hith par, on the right hand

ba¢ zulm &C, with great cruelty pi.d1cvem bib mem, in the fifth chapter

(b) Feminine adjectives do not change (they have no special oblique suffix).

hap gho!i ki, of a big mare

diitil iJbkh mem, in the right eye pi.d1cviIb. manzil par, on the fifth floor

See Chapter 1, footnote 3, for a definition of the term 'case' as used in this work.


(c) There are no special oblique plural suffixes for masculine or feminine adjectives.

bafe ghorom ki, of big horses hap ghop,yom ki, of big mares

(d) An adjective modifying a vocative noun is in the oblique case.

1 •

. c-1 L.r.

!hL.r.

1 •

. e= rSr.

! a _;'I; L,) 1

merebete! merebelO! menbep!

are die.tb.lafke!

My son! My sons!

My daughter!

Hey, you (boy) on the right!

305 Agreement with noun sequences of different gender

If two or more nouns of different genders or numbers are qualified by one adjective (or the adjectival postposition ki), the adjective agrees with the noun nearest to it.

ylr, )JI 2".Y': ' 0_,.l.; rSr.

menpatliin (f.), jute (rn, pl.) aur jurrib (m. pl.) my trousers, shoes and socks

u11J.))JI ~ I~

bari patilil (m.) aur kafiihi (f.) a big saucepan and frying pan

u_,....L. u_':';; jJI oJJIJ J ~T ip lei vilida aut tioom mimiiIil

your mother and all three maternal uncles

306 Attributive and predicative adjectives

Some adjectives can both precede the noun they qualify (attributive use of adjectives), or follow it in a predicate phrase. When adjectives are used attributively they modify or restrict the meaning of the noun.

,.;:...., I) • .sIj _.,k;. xatarnak rasta

a dangerous road (more than usually hazardous)

Adjectives 37

lj~))"y'..r-

mS7Wr khiinii

delicious food (which satisfies taste as well as hunger)

When adjectives are used predicatively, they introduce new information about the noun or pronoun they qualify.

- ~ , .. SC _rb. ,..::....1) OJ vo rista xatarnak thi That road was dangerous.

_If y, jl..lJ..r- lj~ khiinii mazCdir hO gil

The food will be delicious.

Some Persian and Arabic adjectives can only be used predicatively, not attributively. These adjectives occur in phrases with the verb boni, 'to be' (see §607. 'Denominative verbs'). Some examples are:

WJ1 i _,.L-

W J.:.........l

'J1 '.'

W "'j.:,;_., mubtalii hOni, to be afflicted, to be embroiled

'J1 .

~.{" '" J - d t_,h-. ~ Ml ft".::=: ifl

us ke ghar ki pata mujbe miliim hai

I know his horne address (his home address is known to me).

miiliim hOni, to be known

pasand hOni, to be liked. pleasing

- a ..l.:.....,) J4_r.; ,-:-"",,"L.,., ~J vahid sahah kO biryiini pasand hai

Vahid likes the rice cooked in broth (the biryiini is pleasing to Vahid),

-._I' .r;- y, ~ ~ .d'-.:t ~

bacci baize mem mubtali bo Dr mar gai

The baby girl caught (became afflicted with) cholera and died.

WRONG WRONG WRONG

maIiimpata pasand biryiini mubtali bacci


Other Perso-Arabic adjectives may be used attributively:

basin aural, the beautiful woman mu§k:jJ nukte, the difficult points

Some predicative adjectives occur in a construction with kii (- kC - ki):

G Jt' J 1_,(}2; (L5) (ki) ~ukr guzir hani, to be grateful (to)

EXAMPLE - 0y. J If ~ ~ "",T I..F'" maiJh ip ki lukr guzirhWil I am grateful to you.

G)1 ~ 4 (L5) (ki) piband hOni, to be bound by, abide by

EXAMPLE - 0)1 J.:.,>4 ~ L,...A.£;_j DI I..F" maiIi:l apnc vide ki paDand hiirll

I keep (am bound by) my promise.

PRONOUNS USED AS ADJECTIVES

307 Interrogative pronouns

The interrogative pronouns kyi, 'what' (§217) and kaun, 'who?' (§219) are also used as adjectives.

308 Indefinite pronouns

The indefinite pronouns kin, 'some', 'any' (§221) and kuch 'some', 'any' (§222) are also used as adjectives.

SYMMETRICAL y-v-k-j WORD SETS

309 The categories: NEAR - FAR - INTERROGATIVE - RELATIVE

Urdu distinguishes systematically between the categories 'near', 'far', 'interrogative' and 'relative'.

In §20I, it is shown that the demonstrative pronoun ye refers to something or someone close at hand. The demonstrative pronoun vo refers to something or someone further away. This distinction is also maintained in personal pronouns, and in certain adjectives and adverbs describing the quantity, manner, location, direction, or time of something. When interrogatives and relatives are taken into account, there are four categories, expressed in symmetrical sets of words

Adjectives 39

beginning with y-i-a (near), v-u (far), k (interrogative), and j (relative). These sets are shown below in Table 11.

The adjective members of this set (excludingjaisiand jitni) are described in detail in this chapter. jaisi and jitni, along with other relative words (the j-set), are discussed in Chapter 11.

Table 11: Symmetrical y-v-k-j word sets
y-i-a II.S v-u IJ k S C
NEAR FAR INTERROGATIVE RELATIVE
PRONOUNS
~ oJ 0~ ~
ye, he/she/it YO, he/she/it bun, who jO, who, which
~
kyi, what
ADJECTIVES
, ~
I.:.:i! L:.:il L:.::....
itni, this much utni, that much kitni, how much jitni, as much
~I ~_j ~ 4
aisi, like this vaisi, like that kaisi, how jaisi, such as
ADVERBS
Ll~ 0~J Ll~ 0~
yahim, here vahirll, there kahitb, where jaharh, where
, ~.J.J
.r'> ,) 1 .r'> ,) I f'~
idbar, hither udhar, thither kidbar, whither jidbar, whither
Ll.J:! 0_,;i 0~ 0~
yiiIh. thus (tyfuh) so, thus kyom, why? jiiril., as
yl ~ ~ ~
ab, now (tab, then') kab, when jab, when
2 tyfuh and lab are not members of the 'far' category, but surviving members of a nearly vanished
category, the t-set, or correlati ve set. 40 Urdu: An Essential Grammar

Pronouns, except for jO, are handled in Chapter 2, including demonstrative pronouns (§201), personal pronouns (§202-§212) and interrogative pronouns (§217, §219).jO is discussed in §1106-§ 1107.

The adverb members of the set are discussed in Chapter 4 (Adverbs).

itni - utni -kitni

itni means 'this much', 'so much'. utoi means 'that much', 'so much'. The plurals, ime and ume mean 'this many', 'that many', 'so many'. kitni means 'how much'; the plural kime means 'how many'. They are all regularly behaving marked adjectives.

All these words may also be used as adverbs (§318), and ifni is used idiomatically as a noun (§319).

- d d'0 S~ ifil itni baldi Wi hai

This much turmeric is enough.

() . ."l>d" \"' ('.1 ... \

_ .a '-'*" ~. if' uY.r C'

itnelogom ki gunjii§ nahim (hai) There isn't room for so many people.

~ a ~ '0L:.:) ;.)"'4 J ..".,T ap ke pas kima kim. hai?

How much work do you have?

~ . ..l • ...lJL...~ ._\" U \" ....

...r.:t V"fi- ss": cr ,. c: ~

munfi Ire pas kitni dastivezem haim?

How many documents/deeds does the clerk have?

aisi _ vaisi _ kaisi

aisa means 'such', 'like this', 'of this kind'. vaisi means 'such', 'like that', 'of that kind'. kaisa means 'what kind?', 'how?' They are all regularly behaving marked adjectives.

The masculine oblique singular cases of aisi, vaisi and b.isa can also be used as adverbs of manner, meaning 'like this/that', 'how', 'such as' (§412).

_l.;:,.,L... Li '" . L)LJI

, v r~~ _~

maim aisi kim na.hiril kama cihti

I don't want to do such a thing (a deed like this).

Adjectives 41

u.. . d·' U l......J

- ~ r. iJ"'. ..J

vaisi libis yaham na.hiril milti You can't get such clothing here.

~ d i5'~T W-oJ vo bisi idmi hai?

What kind of person is he?

~d~~J..".,1 ip ki tabiat kaisi hai?

Howdo you feel (lit. how is your disposition)?

ADJECTIVE PHRASES FORMED WITH sa AND vili

310 The adjectival particle sa (- se - si)

sa is added to an adjective, noun or pronoun to form an adjectival phrase. sa agrees with the noun which the phrase qualifies.

si added to adjectives

When sa follows an adjective, it expresses approximation or diminution.

'I .5. I ~,_j 1 -1ft. Lye --r" C

aj bahut Be 109 Be hairll

Rather a lot of people have come today.

Compare

- r -

'lu·I,·'____j I -IFL .r-..C

ij bahut log Be hai.dt

A lot of people have come today.

. ~.~ ...

- ~ L '.' I.f'"' iSJ*

th6p siciC dijie

Please give me a little tea (thop: cae is not idiomatic).

. . I

r.-- I.f'"' ~

seem sf xabar

rather good news, goodish news

Compare

. . I

~~

acchixabar goodnews


J.)~ L ~IJ kilisibidal

a blackish cloud (not completely black)

Compare

J.)~ 'iLJ kilibidal

a black cloud

However if sa is added to an adjective of size, such as bafi, 'big', or chota, 'small'; or to itni, 'this much', 'this many', the adjective is intensified. sa also intensifies zari, '(a) little'.

.. __ 'L.aii e . ~.

-.ct~.r' ~ W r: a ~ If"' J~ ~

macchar chOp si ciz hai, magar nuqsin bahut karti hai

A mosquito is a very small thing, but it does a lot of harm,

, l::JIS' o.)u' ... , '6. '''10 •

. .ct ~ -) ...r- rJ.:"' e: '.' 1...5"'" ~ ~ "J

vo ittJi sicie mem kitni zyida cini 4ilti hail

What a lot of sugar he puts in such a small amount of tea!

_2}J.r...)I...5""'IJ~ zarj si der kC lie

for a very little while

sa: may be added to participles.

- Y. T _)i; L 1.J1 ~ ~ uyJ vahiriJ. kuch hiltS hiii sa nazar iyi

I could make out something moving there.

sa added to nouns and pronouns

Following a noun or personal pronoun, sa is similar to jaisi, 'like'. Personal pronouns will be in the oblique case. Nouns may be in the nominative or oblique case, with different nuances in the meaning of sa.

! ( d~ .;;..__,..::;) .._r.)T L Lll un siidmi ruvat khae gil

Would a man like him accept a bribe!

Adjectives 43

LlW! L.~) fariJta si insin

a person like an angel

Also

LlW! L., C) fari§~ sa insin an angelic person

LlL..j 1 L....-. - .'. j

... ··."'_""E

[rita jaisi ins8n

a person like an angel

sa may be added to nominative case demonstrative pronouns (not personal pronouns), to direct attention to a particular object.

\;.J.) ·,llb II

- .. .... .. Jft. 1...5"'" 'J

vo si clifiyirll deni Give me those bangles.

Hsa + noun

ki sa specifies a following noun, similarly to (ki) tarah ki + NOUN.

-,J' 2-- ~ ~ Jy. ~ .Y"\;X ~ .s: J Ifl us ki si aioak ip ko lihaur mem nahiIil mile gi

You won't find glasses like those in Lahore.

Compare

- J 2-- ~ ~ J.J1 ~ ;- yT ~ J uk If' us tarab ldainak ip kO lihaur mem nahiIil mile gi You won't find glasses like those in Lahore.

kaun+sa

nun sa expresses 'which' (out of a finite number of possibilities).

q .ct __"";6. pi. r.h ~11 L. Ll_,.) bun sa tilib ilm yair hizir hai?

Which student is absent (in a particular class)?

Compare

q .ct__....;~~~~U,0; bun tilib ilm yair hizir hai?

Is any student absent? (rhetorical question)


311 The suffix vili

The suffix vili forms adjective and noun phrases. vili may follow an oblique infinitive. oblique noun or an adjective or adverb.

Oblique infinitive + vili

The construction OBUQUE INFINITIVB + viii has a range of meanings. and is discussed in detail in §645. vili agrees with the noun it qualifies.

q .d 0_,) ~ JIJ dLf .::..f gil gane viIi larki bun hai 1 Who is the girl singing the song?

Oblique noun + vili

When viii follows an oblique noun, it makes an adjective phrase. which agrees with the noun it qualifies.

q .d 0§' IF~T )'1,., 2;- ~ nile kurtC vili idmi: bun hai1

Who is the man with the blue kurta (loose shirt)?

-..r.:t ~ i: 4 d IJ u~ 'I.P" I.:::-')Yyiirap mem. mujassam6ID vile biy bahut haiJh In Europe there are many parks with statues.

In some cases. the noun may be omitted, leaving the NOUN + viii phrase to function as a noun.

q a 0;"11,., 2;- ~ nile kurtC vjJj bun bai?

Who is the one with the blue kurte (loose shirt)?

Occupational nouns with vilii

Occupational nouns formed with viii are very common.

"11,., _jo~"'~ )'1,., ..515 )'1,., 04 "1IJ ~y.)

diidh viii. milkman « diidh ~~J~. milk) 4ik viii, postman « 4ik .sf 5 • post)

pin viii, seller of betel-leaf « pin 04 ' betel-leaf) pOlis viii, policeman « pOlis ~.J-:l ' police)

Adjectives 45

Adjective + vilii

In the spoken idiom (but not in standard written Urdu). viii sometimes follows an adjective. making an adjective phrase that focuses on an aspect of the noun which is qualified. and excludes nouns which do not possess that aspect. Both the adjective and viii agree with the noun.

- a 'I.P" U) ~ J IJ ~JI ?~ I) l...r hamiri daftar iitbci viH imirat mem hai

Our office is in the tall building (not one of the low ones).

In the written language. this would be:

-.d 'I.P" U)~ ~JI?~ I)l...r hamara daftar iitbci imirat mem hai Our office is in the tall building.

Adverb + vilii

viii also makes adjective phrases from adverbs. (See §409 for the use of oblique adjectives like nice and sinlnC as adverbs.)

- J~ ~ y- u,.,..G.r.l uWJ) JIJ ~ kaJ vaJi ro!iyam parindom ko khili dO Feed yesterday's bread to the birds.

- .d J L.:. orS')' I,., ~ nice vii/i kamra xaIi hai

The downstairs room is vacant.

REPEATED ADJECTIVES


The doubling of adjectives usually intensifies them, but may also express distributiveness. (For doubledkyi see §224.)

~41~1~ thandi thandi - -

• ., • pa.Dl

ice-cold water


-Ifi 2'1 j l_jl~ ~I C JJ') JJ') 0W- ~ t.SL U"'1

is IIUUI4i mem kisin dar dar se apoi paidivir lite baiIb. Farmers bring their produce from far and wide to this market.

Sometimes distributiveness is the dominant sense.

- 2 ~ ,i:ll ,i:ll '-:-'

sab apne apne ghar pC Everyone went to his own home.

- U:!.) uWJj J') J') ~ u.}:!.iJ J. k jelar ne qaidiyom kO dO dO ropyiIh di:rit

The jailer gave two pieces of bread to each prisoner.

313 Repetition with an echo word

Sometimes the repetition is made with an echo word. The resulting compound is more intensive than the simple word. but the precise meaning must be looked up

in a dictionary.

~ lhik. all right, okay « ~ ~ .right)

4bilii Qhili, loose, sloppy, baggy « 4hllii ')'y, 5 , loose)

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

314 Comparison of adjectives with se

The comparative degree of adjectives is expressed by a phrase consisting of the postposition se C + ADJECTIVE. The superlative is expressed by sab se C '-:-' + ADJECTIVE.

ABSOLUTE

- d 4- 01~j r-J

ye zifrin 1111JhetiJgii hai This saffron is expensive.

COMPARATIVE

- d 4- C (01~j) U"'101pj oJ vo zifrin is (zi£rin) se mahemgii hai

That saffron is more expensive than this (saffron).

Adjectives 47

SUPERLATIVE

- d 4- c '-:-' 01~j t.S~ Wmiri ziifriin sab Be maheIhgi hai Kashmiri saffron is the most expensi ve

In some contexts the adjective by itself has the force of a comparative.

-Y. ~Iji'~ J-. ~ ~./I

agar kahiriJ. JUga mil sake. to acchi hO

It would be better if (we) could get a rickshaw.

315 Comparison of adjectives with tar, tarin

The comparative and superlative of some Perso-Arabic adjectives can be formed with the Persian suffixes tar} (comparative) and tarin \.r-.} (superlative). Some of these Perso-Arabic comparatives are used in colloquial spoken Urdu, but most are used in more formal contexts and are found mainly in written Urdu. Additional examples may be found in §1408.

ABSOLUTE

- a uJ."....a..!y. .r.~ r-J ye tasvit xiibsiirat hai This picture is pretty.

COMPARATIVE

- a } Uj."....a..!y. .;:l_,..a:i oJ ~ magar vo tasvir xiibsiirat tar bai But that picture is prettier.

- JY.""; iSjY: J.tly. J If'I J J.;- t.S.)~ C ~ ,y} Ujy.:2-!y. xiibsiirat tarin larki se §iidi kame k:i us ki xihi§ pUri na hili His wish to marry the prettiest girl was not fulfilled.

Persian comparatives and superlatives in common use often lose their comparative and superlative force and merely intensify the adjective.

-d~

behtarbai « beh, good') It's a very good idea.

_}. beh 1'/ 'good' occurs only as a prefix, whereas behtar.r:-H 'better' and behlarin .j:!.r:-H 'best' occur as independent words.


~

- wy, l=t4:- 1:.J Y. J~) 1 ~ r"F"

mai.riJ. behtar urdu Mini cihti hiilil I want to speak better Urdu.

<a S;J' If-.r-N r-:1 ye behtarin ghari hai

This is the best (quality) watch.

-'" ~

- ~~L:,) \f..;~ .2 U"'I

us ne badtarin gunih kiyi « bad, bad 4) He committed a very terrible sin.

-..r.I ~~ ~ ~lk; o)~4j J ~4 U"'1

is jamiat Ire zyadatartilib ilm zahin hairiJ. « zyida, more) Most of the students in (of) this class are intelligent.

316 zyida, 'more', 'most' and kifi, 'quite', 'too'

zyida and kifi are both adjectives and adverbs. Used adverbially, zyida qualifies adjectives to show a sort of comparative degree. kifi means 'enough', but when used adverbially to qualify adjectives it can mean 'quite', 'too'.

ilS"" o~ 4j <a 1...£ o~ 4j ,.;:......1) r:!

zyida kim ye rista zyida gandabai

more (too much) work This road is dirtier.

. IS"" ~d

Wipaisi

enough money

. IS"" -.ct~) y,.r.~ d

Wi der ha rahi bai

It's getting quite late.

317

Superlatives with adjective + se + adjective

An absolute superlative can be made by by adding the postposition se C' + ADJBCTIVB to the absolute form of the same adjective.

-..r.I Lf) -ty.S LJLC. ~I C' ~I OJ vo Beebe se accb8 makin dbii.tb.d rabe haiIil

He is searching for the mosr exdellent possible house (better than good).

4 bad J.t 'bad', occurs only as a prefix, whereas badtar ;~ 'worse' and badtarin ,J..;~ 'worst' occur as independent words.

Adjectives 49

-4':1.?~~~Y-1; C'~; C 201 OJ vo un Ire lie buti se bud kat xarid kar liya

He bought the worst possible coat (deliberately) and brought it for him.

ADJECTIVES WITH OTHER GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS

318 Adjectives used as adverbs

Some common adverbs of place are actually adjectives in the masculine oblique singular. See §409. A few adjectives can be used adverbially, to modify other adjectives. See §416.

319 Adjectives used as nouns

Many adjectives can also be used as nouns.

• I> • ~ ~

-~ c:::~ (~ L.Y. ~

mujhe ba[e dijie, chOre nahirl1

Gi ve me the big ones, not the small ones.

~ a ~ ~ J w_,J-i IJarOrb ki qimat kya hai7

What is the price of the big ones?

~ o~ ij ~IS"" d I) J u _,.lr l::jihil6Ib. ki riC ki kya fieda7

What use (is) the advice of those who are ignorant?

A few Perso-Arabic loan words, including naujavin LJ1..P.'_,j, 'young man'; yairmulki ~ ~ , 'foreigner'; Dumijnda o~li , 'representative'. and nouns denoting nationality, are classified as both nouns and adjectives.

_,c!T ~ 5y J~ )_,I LJ1..P.'_,.) ~ 1 Cknaujavin aurdO bU[hea gae

One young man and two old men came.

-If.!'t Lf) .?ilS'" w~ ~~ ~ r"F" 2-L J ~1J....j ~~ yairmulki imdlid Ire silsile mem kai yairmulki yahiril kim kar rabe haim Several foreigners are working here in connection with foreign aid.


... J1.r-1 _2IJ ,i_,..)rL) ~,iL.:. c.;l .. i .... JI.r-1

iriDisiIarat xane mem kim kame vile irinI .

The Iranians working in the Iranian embassy .

itni

itniis used idiomatically as a noun.

itne mem, 'in the meanwhile'

I. ,<1'. ...s::J1 • "I

- ......... u 1,.o.J:>,) .. ~ rtf ~ .c:-

itne mem ham ne ek dhamaki sona In the meanwhile we heard a crash.

itne par bhi, 'in spite of it (this)'

L I'" '''1

- ,~ U.J-' ~ ~ J'I! c-

ime par bhibacca sati raha

In spite of this the baby went on sleeping.

ADJECTIVES DISCUSSED IN OTHER CHAPTERS

320 Participles used as adjectives

Participles may be used as adjectives. See §901, §907 for detailed discussions.

321 Possessive adjectives

The possessive forms of the pronoun are grammatically adjectives, and agree with the nouns they qualify. They are discussed in §212.

322 The reflexive possessive adjective apni

The reflexive possessive apoi ~ 1 is grammatically an adjective, and agrees with the noun it qualifies. It is discussed in §213.

323 Numbers

Numbers are, of course, adjectives. They are discussed in Chapter 13.

4

ADVERBS

The category of adverbs includes two different groups of words: words which are original (underived) adverbs; and words which are originally other parts of speech, but are used adverbially. Many adjectives are inflected to masculine oblique singular and used as adverbs. They may occur more frequently this way than as adjectives. Some nouns occur in adverbial phrases; such nouns are also oblique, and are preceded by an oblique demonstrative.

Adverbs qualify verbs, just as adjectives qualify nouns. Urdu adverbs include:

ADVERBS OF TIME: describe the time when an event or action occurs; ADVERBS OF PLACE: describe the location where an event or action occurs; ADVERBS OF MANNER: describe how an event or action occurs;

ADVERBS OF DEGREE: intensify the meaning of the verb in some way; MODAL ADVERBS: modify a verb or adjective.

SYMMETRICAL y-v-k-j ADVERB SETS

401 The categories: NEAR - FAR - INTERROGATIVE - RELATIVE

Urdu distinguishes systematically between the categories 'near', 'far', 'interrogative' and 'relative'. An overview of symmetrical sets of words beginning with y-i-a (near), v-u (far), k (interrogative), and j (relative) is given in Table 11 in §309. In Table 12 on p. 52 contains a comprehensive list of symmetrical adverb sets, including some common adverbial phrases with oblique nouns.

ADVERBS OF TIME

Some simple adverbs of time can be looked up in a dictionary, and need no explanation.

hamUa, always

kal, tomorrow (with future); yesterday (with past) aksar,often


Table 12: Symmetrical y-v-k-j adverb sets

y-i-a I rS NEAR

ADVERBS OF TIME

yl ab, now

..;;.JJ U"'! is vaqt at this time

ADVERBS OF PLACE

U~ yahariJ, here

s: 1

. U"',

isjagah (in) this place, here

_". ~! idhar, hither

.,j~ U"'! is taraf in this direction

ADVERBS OF MANNER

Uy. yiiIil, th us

u1 U"'! is wah this way

Y-U I J FAR

~ (tab. then)

~

..;;.JJ U"'I

us vaqt at that time

u~J vahim, there

~i

. ..r

usjagah in that place, there

}

_". ~l

udhar, thither

~

.,j). ..rl

us taraf in that

direction

u_,;; (tyiiril.) so, thus

}

cf..r1 us tarah that way

k S

INTERROGATIVE

~

Db. when

..;;.JJ~ kis vaqt

at what time

u~

kahiril, where

r4~

kisjagah

in which place. where

_",J.J kidhar, whither

.j).~

kis taraf in which direction

u~ kyom. why?

cf~

Iris tarah, which way?

(_

RELATIVE

~ jab, when

..:;..JJ~ jis vaqt

at the time that

u~ jahaIh. where

s.:

.~

jisjagah in the place that

_".~ jidhar, whither

.j~~ jis taraf

in the direction which

u.Y." jiiIh, as

cf~ jis wah

in the way that

Adverbs 53

402 ab - tab - kab - jab

This set of adverbs refers to points in close time, distant time, questioned time and relative time.

ab, 'now' refers to the present moment (close time).

- I.Ft ~ ~ o)~ ~ y\ ab 1hlk bara baj gae haiIil

Now it is exactly twelve o'clock.

_If' uJ~ j~ ~ ~;:...., ...r. C yl ab se maim sigrel pini char diirll gii From now on I shall stop smoking.

abhi Cab + hi, means 'right now', 'still'. See also Table 28 in § 1207.

- d~) ~ ~ ..ft"!1 abbI ghanp baj rahi hai

The bell is ringing right now (still ringing).

tab. 'then' is not actually a member of the 'far' category. but a surviving member of a nearly vanished category, the t-set, or correlative set. It is still most frequent in correlative clauses (§ 1112) but has also acquired the function of expressing a point in remote time (past or future). However, us vaqt is more commonly used to express remote time (see §403).

- 4:i G'r. _,j ...r. ~ tab maim naujaviin thi Then I was a young man.

_ ~ ~ ~ Jy... J.ri .jr" J Gl£. S:J ~ tab tak makiin ki sirf pahli manzil ban cuki thi

By then only the first floor of the house had (already) been built.

tabhi (tab + hi) means 'just then', 'only then'. See also Table 28 in § 1207.

-JJ~~~

tabbI ghanp bajne lagi

Just then the bell began to ring.


kab means 'when?'.

q (' ..".lJJ" .s J,)

15 "-'. _""".r"

diisii manziI lab bane gi?

When will the second floor be built?

~ 1 ~T~I_,~~T ip lab vipas iCIil ge? When will you return?

kabhi (kab + hi) means 'ever', 'once'. kabhi + nabirll means 'never'. See also Table 28 in §1207.

c,> U· IS"" I .• \' TLS . .::1 ,,;II- lS""f;:' ift-:-' L ~ ..

kyi ip DC kabhi dehli ki safar kiyi bai? Have you ever travelled to Delhi?

jab, 'when', 'at the time that' is used in the relative clause of relative-correlative sentences. See § 1112.

403 is vaqt - US vaqt - Iris vaqt

The noun vaqt 'time' (m.), occurs in adverbial phrases, preceded by an oblique singular demonstrative, or the oblique of kyi or jO. These phrases describe a specific point in time.

is vaqt means 'now', 'at this time', 'at present' (close time).

- .::1 ..::..)_,~ J y~1 ,_r. ~ .;..f.J U"'! is vaqt mulk mem ehtisao ki zariirat bai

At present there is a need for accountability in the nation.

us vaqt means 'then', 'at that time' (distant time).

•

- ~ 01y'"} -r. .;..f.J Ifl

us vaqt maiIil nau javin thi

At that time I was a young man.

•

_ ~ . ..".lJ" l,,~ S:;":':;.J 1

u" U' r I..J"'1""l '.r'" If

us vaqt tak sirf pahli manziI bani thi

By that time only the first floor had been built.

kis vaqt means 'at what time?' .

q .::1 liT .;..f_, ~ ~5 Qikiya kis vaqt ili bai?

At what time does the postman usually come?

Adverbs 55

Compare

q tf "T J ,.sfS L· ..

4ikiya lab ae gi?

When will the postman come (today)?

jis vaqt, 'at the time that' is used in the relative clause of relative-correlative sentences. See § 1116.

404 Calendar and clock time See § 1308-§ 131 L

ADVERBS OF PLACE

Many simple adverbs of place can be looked up in a dictionary, and need no explanation.

bihar, out, outside andar, in, inside qarib, near

dUr, far

405 yahiIil - vahiIh - kahirlJ.

This set of adverbs describes location in a place. yahim means 'here' (near location). vahirlt means 'there' (far location) and kahidJ. means 'where' (questioned location) .

-~;:, ..sJ) u~ lS5l5" gap yahariJ roll: dijic Please stop the car here .

.. \" lJi::j I S:; L... L

- .::1) .::;r ) .i?) ,. U ,J r"1'

ham valWb car bajc tak intizir k:artC rahc We went on waiting thereuntil four o'clock.

q .::1 w3.l u~ISI JI.Jt' haviii a44i kahitb pllfli hai? Where is the airport located?

jahirlt, 'where' is used in relative clauses. See §1110.


406 idhar - udhar - kidhar

This set of adverbs describes movement towards a place. idbar means 'hither', 'here', udhar means 'thither', 'there' and kidbar means 'whither'. 'where'. To a certain extent, the adverbs describing location: yabiril., vaharh and ka.hirll are also used to describe movement. thus acquiring some of the functions of this set.

- b jl/,..)1 idhar 80, bete Come here, son.

- L$' S'l&-! J~ c: /' .) 1 ' ~ dJ T d IJ ~ _J.) C /' ..)i udbar sC pOlis vile i rahe the, idbar sC cOr bbig gayi

The police came from that side (as) the thief fled from this side.

J

- ~ to ~.) /'.) I _rt>.) 1 ~J

vo idbar udbardeKb. rahi thi

He was looking this way and that

~ Y, dJ ~ /' £ ~ tum k:idbarji rahe hO? Where are you going?

Also

~ Y, 4J ~ uLy.) ~ tum bh.idJji rahe hO? Where are you going?

jidbar, 'where' is used in the relative clause of relative-correlative sentences. See §1111.

407 is jagah - US jagah - kis jagah

The oblique nounjagah, 'place' (f.), preceded by an oblique singular demonstrative, or the oblique of kyi or p, is sometimes used as an adverb of place. describing the specific location of something.

<a Iy, 1$ ~I~ UJI4j ~ lJ"1 is iagab 7.amin4ir' ki xizina g8!"i hili hai

In this spot the landlord's treasure has been buried.

~ j. CO ,,~~

. Li J$ J; ~ If"' "f. ,. .

kambaxt cabi kis jagah pari hai? Where is that wretched key?

Adverbs 57

jisjagah, 'in the place that' is used in the relative clause of relative-correlative sentences. See § 111 O.

408 is taraf - US taraf - kis taraf

The oblique noun taraf. 'direction'. 'side' (f.), preceded by an oblique singular demonstrative, or the oblique ofkyi or p, may be used as an adverb of place. describing movement in a direction.

- Li ._j;' U'" 1 0 ~ l) '-:-"" L, .r.! j_j nazir sihib ki makin is tarat hai

Mr. Nazir's house in in this direction.

~ a ._j;' ~ ,.j l,;. J1S 4ik xina kis tara.fhai?

In which direction is the post office?

jis tarat. 'in the direction that' is used in the relative clause of relative-correlative sentences. See § 1111.

409 Obliques as adverbs of place

Some common adverbs of place are made from (a) adjectives, in the masculine oblique singular case and from (b) nouns, in phrases consisting of an oblique noun preceded by an oblique demonstrative. In many instances. the adverbial use is much more common than use as an adjective or noun.

Adjectives

~t-~ 2Ht-~ ~I.) t- u41.) 'w t- uw

~. u_.

nici, low ~ nice. below

pahli, first, previous ~ pahle, first, previously diyiID, right ~ diem, to the right

bayiril, left ~ haem, to the left

Nouns

P t- ttl ~t-~ CO L. t- L:... L.

igi, the front part, beginning ~ age, ahead. forward pichi, the back part, end ~ piche, behind, back simni, encounter ~ simnC. opposite. across. in front


NOUN

I.~,· 1fT' l.) '1 \" 1

~ ~ tCf ~ ~'t"" I..l"

is kahini ki na .igibai, na pIcha

There is neither a beginning nor an end to this story (it is rubbish) .

ADVERB

.;5 ~~ 2i ~

fauj age barb gai

The army advanced (moved forwarcl).

NOUN

L~ ,l.) , ~ ~

fauj ki pIchi

the rear of the army

ADVERB

JS"A'

), .

~~~ fauj pIche hat gai

The army retreated (moved back).

ADJECTIVE

1 •

)J-!.~~

niel divir alowwall

ADVERB

'l... T . .J. ~

nice ajiO

Come down (stairs).

ADJECTIVE ~~ 044 biyitiJ hith the left hand

ADVERB

'l... ~ 'w

-::j . .r.,;.l.

biem mur jiiye Please turn left

410 Adverbial phrase or compound postposition?

Nouns used as adverbs, such as tarat, jagah. simni, agi, etc. can also occur in compound postpositions, Here they are usually preceded by the possessive lei (kC - ki). See §527 -§530.

- tJ'T ~ L) If I ~ J t.S.r-mistri kIjagah us ki beta i gaya bai

In place of the mechanic, his son has come.

Adverbs 59

,'l_C. 'w -~~.c.W t·

biy makin kC piehebai

The garden is behind the house.

ADVERBS OF MANNER

411 yiiIh - kyom - jiiIb.

There is no v-u (far) member of this set. A correlative, tyfuh, 'so', 'thus' is used mainly in idioms together with jum (see §423, § 1120).

yiirb.means 'thus'; ky6m means 'why?',

-.J'? 0J-!. yiithkarO

Do it like this.

.c:rJ 0j-!. yiidJkahie

in a manner of speaking

(,' tL..0\":

. a 1ft) v >_y.:J if""

munni kyom ci1li ram bai? Why is Munni screaming?

412 aisi - vaisi - kaisi - jaisi

aisi, 'like this', vaisi, 'like that'. kaisi, 'how?' and jaisi, 'such as' (See Table 11 in §309) are adjectives, but may be used as adverbs of manner, usually in the masculine oblique singular case. As adverbs.jaise and vaise occur in relativecorrelative sentences (§ 1117).

-.J.?L:!I aisikarO

Do it this way.

... .c:rJ ~1 aisekahie ...

Put (say) it this way ...

-W.J-;' li.? ...r. ~.J.? ~J vaisekarO jaise mairlt karti hum Do (it) in the same way I do it.

(,'L f , f~

'~~~N

kutti ghar mem kaise ghusi? Howdid the dog get into the house?


NOUN

I.~.' lfT' l.S"" 'I \" I ~ ,oJ a ,oJ ~ "t-' '.J"

is kahini ki na igihai, na pichi

There is neither a beginning nor an end to this story (it is rubbish).

ADVERB

J5 A~ P r;j

fauj ige bapl gai

The army advanced (moved forward).

NOUN

~ l.S"" ~

fauj ki pichi

the rear of the anny

ADVERB

Jfk

J, •

~~~ fauj piche bat gai

The anny retreated (moved back).

ADJECTIVE

, .

)~~~

nicidiv8r alow wall

ADVERB

'6. T . .J, ~

nice ajiO

Come down (stairs).

ADJECTIVE ~~ W 4 4 biyilbhith the left hand

ADVERB

'L,. ~ 'w

tC:! . .r .r. .

biidJ mUf jiiye Please turn left

410 Adverbial phrase or compound postposition?

Nouns used as adverbs. such as taraf. jagah. simni, agi, etc. can also occur in compound postpositions. Here they are usually preceded by the possessive ki (kC - ki). See §527·§530.

- tfT~ L) U"'I ~ J I.S~ mistrl kijagah us ki beti a gaya hai

In place of the mechanic. his son has come.

Adverbs 59

"K... 'u -d~.c W t:

bay makin Ire pichehai

The garden is behind the house.

ADVERBS OF MANNER

411 yWh - kyom - jiiIb.

There is no v-u (far) member of this set. A correlative, tyW:b, 'so', 'thus' is used mainly in idioms together with jiiIiJ. (see §423, § 1120).

yiirllmeans 'thus'; kyom means 'why?'.

-J;-- wJ:! yiiIiJkarO

Do it like this.

.crs- wj.! yiidlkahie

in a manner of speaking

~ lLw--:

. d 1,$1') v ~ ~

munni kyom cilli rahi hai? Why is Munni screaming?

412 aisi - vaisi - kaisi - jaisi

aisi, 'like this'. vaisa. 'like that', kaisi, 'how?' and jaisi, 'such as' (See Table 11 in §309) are adjectives, but may be used as adverbs of manner. usually in the masculine oblique singular case. As adverbs. jahre and vaise occur in relativecorrelative sentences (§ 1117).

-J;--~' aisikarO

Do it this way.

... .crs- ~, aisekahie ...

Put (say) it this way ...

- w>r w;-- u-::-- ~ J; ~J vaisC karO jaise mairll karti hiiIiJ. Do (it) in the same way I do it.

~ 4 ~ u-::--~G) kutti ghar mem bise ghusi?

How did the dog get into the house?


413 is tarah - us tarah - kis tarah - jis tarah

The oblique noun tarah, 'kind', 'way' (f.), preceded by an oblique singular demonstrative, or the oblique of kyi or jO, is sometimes used as an adverb of manner, describing the specific manner of an event or action.

-J; vb U"! is tarah karO Do it this way.

kis tarah means 'in what way', 'how?', but is also used idiomatically, meaning 'how much?'.

~ 4 cf~ ~~es-

kutti ghar mem kis tarah ghusi? How did the dog get into the house?

q L "w ·....r.:tif~)·····

pyiiz kis tarah haim?

How much are the onions?

jis tarah, 'in the way that' is used in the relative clause of relative-correlative sentences. See § 1119.

414 Adverbial phrases of manner with the postposition se

The postposition se, added to nouns, forms adverbial phrases of manner.

u LL.. . 'I. -- L. . l ..

- " v C )J).r' '+') r-::-

salim. mir khi kar zOr secilliyi « Wr, force + se ~ loudly, forcefully) Salim got a beating, and screamed loudly.

-1..r.._;~J.... c~y.. r1

ham. xu§i se madad karem ge « xuSi, happiness + se ~ gladly) We'll gladly help.

415 Participles used adverbially

All the participles may be used adverbially. See §902, §908-9 and §913.

Adverbs 61

ADVERBS OF DEGREE (416)

Adverbs of degree intensify the meaning of adjectives they qualify.

bahut. bari. zyida

bahut means 'very'.

- 6. ;f~ T ~~ ~ OJ vo babut zahin admi hai

He is a very intelligent man.

The adjective bari, 'big' can be used adverbially as an intensifier.

-\ .,~

- 6.;f~ ~~ Yo OJ

vo ba[i zahin admi hai

He is a very intelligent man.

Compare

- a ;f~T \~ OJ vo ba[i admi hai He is a bigman.

<a U)~ ~ (.$J.i OJ vo bari neK aurat hai

She is a very virtuous woman (= bahut nCk).

zyida is both an adjective and an adverb. Used adverbially, it qualifies adjectives to show comparison. See §316 for a more detailed treatment.

<a \~ o~~j ,..:....,1) I":! ye rista zyida gandihai This road is dirtier.

itni, ldtni

The adjectives itni and kitni (§309) can be used adverbially as intensifiers, meaning 'such', 'what'.

- 'j.._. iwlJ? ~ 0_,......a... ~1l:.:i!_,J U"I us 100 itni acchi mazmiin likhne par inim mili He received a prize for writing such a fine essay.

! .d _r-y-aJ U)~Y. ~ ! o\J vih! kitnixiibsiirat tasvir hail

What a beautiful picture it is (lit. how much beautiful)! I

vih, an expression of admiration, is untranslatable here.


MODAL ADVERBS

This category includes some very common words.

..::..,....i,...ii~ J.,!~ )J~ ~

nahiIil, na, mat, not, do not :§iyad, maybe

zariir, certainly

bhi, also, too

~ pbir, again ..J.r'" sirf, only

,1' •

_ o .c~ ~ OJ

vo nabidt jae gi

He won't (will noO go.

,t" ,

_ u L~JJ~ OJ

vo zatUr jae Ii

He will cateinly g».

_~ { 2 ~\J)JI { d~ OJ vo jae Ii aur vipas ae gi bbi

He will go, and also return.

_ { d~.M OJ vo phir jae gi

He will go again.

417 The negative words nah.irh., na, mat

nahirhmakes negative sentences in present tenses, past tenses except the simple past, presumptive tenses and the future. See Table 13, 'Overview of aspect, tense and mood' in §603. Negative words usually come right before the verb phrase. The present auxiliary hai is usually dropped.

_ul ~ ;)1,,:;1 OJ vo itvir leO nabitb iti

He doesn't (does noi; come on Sundays (dropped hai),

_ ~ ul ~;)Iy! OJ

vo itvir kO nabiIb i1i thi (past auxiliary tbi is kept.) He didn't (did not) use to come on Sundays.

na makes negative sentences in the subjunctive, simple past and conditional tenses. See Table 13. It also makes negative polite requests corresponding to the pronoun lip, and sometimes with requests corresponding to the pronoun tum.

_ 41 ,.j OJ rZ

ij vo nil iyi

He didn't (did not) come today.

:;.:.

Adverbs 63

- III . .~~.

_ ~ _ ~ ~ y J>::-. ~ OJ

vo pichle mangal kO bhi nil iyi thi

He didn't (did not) come last Tuesday either .

_ dT ,.j ~ ..:;,.j J OJ J.,! ~

§iyad vo vaqt par nil iC

Maybe he won't (will noO come on time.

'I '1' l~

-.d UJ-~ i e ~ i.J"'

kat na iiyc. parsam iiye

Please don't (do not) come tomorrow; come the day after tomorrow.

~ • I .• I('"~L-

-JJ~ ~ U'1"':! (.)""':':"'

siikal yahirilnll chOffi

Don't (do not) leave the bicycle here.

mat makes negative requests corresponding to the intimate and non-honorific pronouns tii and tum, and also infinitive-requests.

_ ~ ~ (;-..::..,....;:!.) der znar kar, ghar ji

Don't (do not; dawdle; go home (request corresponding to tii).

-J~..::..,....;J~ bhii kO mat chero

Don't (do not) tease (your) brother (request corresponding to tum).

- wJ.,!r:- ..::..,.... ~ c 0LG U"'i

us dukan se lruch mat xaridni

Don't (do not) buy anything from that shop (infinitive).

418 bhi. 'also', 'too'

bbi functions both as a modal adverb and as an emphatic particle. Its latter function is treated in §121O. The two functions tend to overlap somewhat.

In affirmative sentences, bbi may follow any noun, pronoun or verb, adding the meaning 'also', 'too' to the word it follows.


AFFIRMATIVE

_ f ~l.. 'ne,) ~ ~,)L ."1. ..

L U·· • ~-: • r.f.' . '-'--r-"

mehmin bid§ihi masjid dekhnC jiCm ge

The guests are going to see the royal mosque.

+bhi

1

,) ~ ~)L

- ~ . ..s:' . ~ r'1'

ham bhi bidAhi masjid deKhem ge We too will see the royal mosque.

1

,) - l.:':.

- ~ u-6-1,...li..s:' r1'

ham §ibi qUa bbI dekhem ge We will see the royal fort too

EMPHATIC bbi

if ( .Ji ~ ji ~ ( ~,) J~ ....... _.oJ vo masjid dekhe ga bbi to kya hi) ga Even ifhe sees the mosque, so what?

419 'both ... and', 'neither ... nor'

bhi ... bhi in parallel clauses means 'both ... and'. nahiril ... bhi nahiril means 'neither ... nor'.

- ~ ,...li )JI ( ~,) ~ ~ ..s:'L.:;.,)~ ~J vo bid§ihi masjid bhi dekhe ga aur qila bhi

He will see both the royal mosque and the fort.

- ~ ~,.AiJ )JI If ~,) ~ ~ r.f.'L.:;.)~ OJ vo bid§ihI masjid nahiri1 dekhe gii aur qila bhi nahiri1 He will neither see the royal mosque nor the fort.

420 phir, 'again', 'then'

pbir means 'again', 'over again', 'then'.

-~~ phirkahie

Please say it again.

- 2:'4.- ~,) ~ 0~1 { .c! .Ji iLflj I.F" 0~1 yT ip imtihin mem nikim hO pC, imtihin pbir deDi cihie

You failed the examination (and) should take the examination over again.

Adverbs 65

- l,j T lJ"':l IJ W ~ ft-:l ( L:.::J l_,..(.l ~ ~ ..::-I~),) 2-rl pahle darxist par mohr Iagvi lena. phir yahitb vipas ini First get the application stamped, then come back here.

ARABIC ADVERBS ENDING IN -an (421 )

A group of adverbs borrowed from Arabic ends in i -an (tanvin). See § 1511.

t.~

umiiman

commonly, generally

REPEATED ADVERBS


The doubling of adjectives usually intensifies them, but may also express distributiveness.

Cy.~T~T ihista ibista bOlle

Please speak very slowly.

- 4 ~ C )Jj )Jj ;-4,..)) L. ~ salim. mir khi lear zjjr z6r se cilliya

Salim got a beating, and screamed very loudly.

Sometimes distributiveness is dominant.

! I~ l,j~ ~ wlrS"" u~ 1.F"..r~ J 0i un ki tala mem kabiirb kabadJ nahiIil jini pari!

How many places I had to look for him (where-where didn't I have to go)!

423 Idiomatic repetition

Some doubled adverbs have idiomatic meanings which must be learned individually. These include sequences where the adverb is merely repeated, as well as sequences where two adverbs which are members of the same symmetrical set occur in compounds.


AFFIRMATIVE

-! ~~ ~:. ~ If.'~:.~ 0l....y-. mebmin bidUhi masjid dekhnC jaem ge

The guests are going to see the royal mosque.

+ bhi

s

:.~ ~:.u

- ~ . If.' .~r'1

ham bhi bidSihi masjid dekhem. ge We too will see the royal mosque.

s

:. .. ~

- ~ ~,..ali If.' r'1

ham am qila bhi deKhelh ge We will see the royal fort too.

EMPHATIC bhi

q tf >t' ~ Y ~ tf ~:. ~ oJ vo masjid dekhe ga bhI to kya ho ga Even ifhe sees the mosque, so what?

419 'both ... and', 'neither ... nor'

bhi ... bhi in parallel clauses means 'both ... and'. nahiril ... bhi nahiril means 'neither ... nor'.

- ~,..ali JJI tf ~:. ~ ~ 1f.'~:.4 IlJ vo bidSihi masjid bhi dekhe ga aur qila bbi

He will see both the royal mosque and the fort.

- ~ ~,..ali JJI tf ~:. ~ ~ If.'~:.~ OJ vo bidSihi masjid nabiIiJ deKhe ga aur qila bhi nabiIiJ He will neithersee the royal mosque nor the fort.

420 phir, 'again', 'then'

phirmeans 'again', 'overagain', 'then'.

-~~

phirkahie

Please say it again.

-.b~ L:..l:. ~ 0~1 i .if >t' tlSG ~ 0~1 y,1 ap imtibin mem. n.ikim hO pC, imtihin pbir dena cihie

You failed the examination (and) should take the examination over again.

Adverbs 65

- wi ~IJ u~ ~ , L:.::J I_,(J ~.n ..:;.......I_,..;.):. ~ pahle darxist par mohr lagvi lena, pbir yahiriJ. vipas ini First get the application stamped, then corne back here.

ARABIC ADVERBS ENDING IN -an (421 )

A group of adverbs borrowed from Arabic ends inl -an (tanvin). See §1511.

L~ umiiman

commonly, generally

REPEATED ADVERBS


The doubling of adjectives usually intensifies them, but may also express distributiveness.

C.J-i ,_;:.....,..T ,.::....,..1 ihista ihista bOlie

Please speak very slowly.

- ~ -:4; C )Jj )Jj ;-~J L. ~ salim mir khi kat zOr zOr se cilliiyi

Salim got a beating, and screamed very loudly.

Sometimes distributiveness is dominant.

! 11! w~ ~ u~ u~ ~ J-;N J01 un ki talu mem. kahiIb kahiIb nahirll jiui pari!

How many places I had to look for him (where-where didn't I have to go)!

423 Idiomatic repetition

Some doubled adverbs have idiomatic meanings which must be learned individually. These include sequences where the adverb is merely repeated, as well as sequences where two adverbs which are members of the same symmetrical set occur in compounds.


~~ ~~

,

.rt' ~ 1 .rt' ~ 1

u.Y." u.Y." uy u.Y."

kabhi kabhi, now and then kahidl kahiIb., here and there idhar udhar, here and there

jUrlJ. jiiIiI. as long as, as far as (§ 1120) jUrlJ. tiiIil, somehow or the other (§1120)

INTERROGATIVES AND INDEFINITES USED WITH IRONY

kyi, kaun, kahiriJ, kidhar and Db may be used with irony. not as interrogatives, to deny the idea expressed in the sentence.

424 Interrogative adverbs used with irony

q LlY-~y. q ~~ u~)JI aur kahim jw? plichti bun?

Where else would she go? No one cares (asks)? (Prem Chand, Godan)

425 Indefinite adverbs used with irony

kahiIiJ. may be delexicalized and used with agar. or in place of agar, to express improbability.

I.~, - { (" .. I. ~ . \' 1"'1

-y. ~ y .:::_- cr: ) ~ f

agar kahiIil riIda mil sake. to acchi hO

It would be better if (we) could get a rickshaw (it is improbable).

- 1("" .... j. - •• ~ (' ~ \' .. ..T \'

- oS Y. ~ lS~ Y oS . Y. r'"' .. If ... ~

kahiIh ip k:i ainak gum h6 jiti, to bap muftil hOti

It would have been a great difficulty if your glasses had been lost.

kahiril ... na expresses apprehension. The verb is usually subjunctive and in the compound form. The restriction on the use of the negative with compound verbs (§717) does not apply in the case ofkahiIb. ... na

I. \"". .\ W '..-- \'

- ~.r ,..J d ~ if y u::t"""

kahidl km nad.ini na Dr baithe

I just hope he doesn't do something foolish. (Prem Chand, Godin)

2 In this sentence, bhiJb is used with its lexical meaning; it is bun which is used sarcastically: 'who asks?-no one.' The verb and pronoun are reversed to show emphasis.

Adverbs 67

kahiIil ... to nahiIiJ. expresses strong apprehension. The verb is usually in the compound form, but not subjunctive. The restriction on the use of the negative With compound verbs does not apply in the case ofkahi:dl to nabirlJ..

q.(' ' .. I'\""

. If" .Jt' ~ Y Y r u-::t"'" ~

bas kahi.Iil xarao to nahiIi1 hO gai1

I hope the bus hasn't broken down? (If it has we are really in trouble.)

426

Interrogative pronouns used with irony

q .fti <".St) ~ lS~W- ~ Ll1,..)~ li~ W-"J vo kyi jinti thi Ice in mem kyii khica:ri pak ram 001

How could he know what these two were cooking up between themselves? 3 (Prem Chand, Godin)

ORDER OF MULTIPLE ADVERBS (427)

When a sentence contains two or more adverbs, the adverb of time comes first, followed by the adverb of place and the adverb of manner. If there is more than one adverb of time, the order is YEAR - MONTH - DAY - HOUR.

'1 . 1. I\"" T

d )J)"'"'" u~ U'"' I.:::"

ip b1 yaham zariir aiyS

Please come here tomorrow without fail.

- .d T )J~ ulr.! ~ ~ I.J"~ _,J ~) l:i \ b J lS)~ JL. ~I

agle sit janvari ki pandra tirix k6 das baje subah (- subb) yahiIb zarijr aiye Please come here next year at 10 a.m. on the 15th of January, without fail.

3 'Did he know '" ?~f course not.' kbi.~ refers to a dish in which rice and lentils are mixed.

Here it means a muddle. mess or conspiracy.

5

POSTPOSITIONS

Postpositions follow nouns or pronouns, and mark (a) grammatical functions, (b) location, movement or extent in space and time. A particular postposition may have both grammatical and spatial-temporal functions. Urdu postpositions function similarly to prepositions in European languages. Urdu has only a few prepositions, borrowed from Persian or Arabic (§ 1404, § 1505).

A postposition may consist of a single word (SIMPLE POSTPOsmONS) or a phrase. Postpositional phrases are of two types: POSTPOSlTIONAL SEQUENCES (two postpositions expressing a complex relationship of location and movement), and COMPOUND POSTPOSITIONS.

Whenever a noun is followed by a postposition it occurs in the oblique case (§110). Pronouns also occur in the oblique case before postpositions (§208), except for the first and second person pronouns when preceding the postposition ne(§209).

If bhi, 'also' or hi (emphatic particle) also occur, they normally follow the postposition. (However see §1206 for an exception.)

The commonest postpositions, with their short translations, are:

J- J-lJ 0(- ke- ki), of, 's _,J kD,to

.:::: DC (ergative)

C se, from, by

mem, in

par, on, at tak, till, until

GRAMMATICAL POSTPOSITIONS

Grammatical postpositions express for the most part grammatical functions, such as possession or marking of objects and subjects.

501 lei - Ire - ki expressing possession

The postposition 0 (- ke - ki) shows a possessive relationship between two nouns. It agrees with the noun it qualifies in gender, number and case, like an adjective.

~lJ~UL. miliyat ki mahekma

the Department of Finance

_('"-. '··WL. rJ.:-' C~.:::: '-' ..

miliyat ke mahekme mem

in the Department of Finance

Postpositions 69

~~JuL. milhkidui mother's blessing

502 lei marking objects

Some verbs mark objects with ki. See §526 for examples of the way that verbs 'take' (collocate with) postpositions.

- uY. ) l:f ;:...::. L)" yT If.:"" ma.i.th ap ki §ukr guzir hiiIb I am grateful to you.

- y ~J~ L)" .c-4- d ~ sa1im nejalseki bandobast bya

Salim arranged the meeting (did the arrangement of the meeting).

503 Inflected lei in compound postposltions

Many compound postpositions are phrases consisting ofke - ki (inflected forms ofo) followed by a noun, adjective or adverb. See §527-§531.

NOUN

...;_;' J x

X ki tara! < tara! (f.), direction, side, way in connection with X

ADJECTIVE

J,llk... J X

X Ire mutibiq < mutibiq (adj.), conformable, similar according to X

ADVERB

.x.J1 Jx

X ke iipar< iipar (adv.), above, up, over above X

504 k.O and its alternate forms

Following nouns, kO always occurs as a postposition, but following pronouns (including personal, demonstrative, interrogative and relative pronouns, except iip), it may be replaced by the suffix e - (h)SdJ. (§210 and Table 5 in §210)_


505 kO marking objects

The indirect object of a verb is marked by m. The indirect object precedes the direct object.

~)w _,)o..l.lIJ ~I ~.AtL;;, §ibid ne apIJi vilitJa JeD tic bheji Shahid sent a telegram to his mother.

-.::sF ~ J.Jo&,l ~ 0l.r ~ ~

haeci DC mebmin JeD phiil peg kiye

The little girl offered flowers to the guest.

m sometimes marks direct objects. Such objects are either (a) animate direct objects or (b) specified inanimate direct objects. Human objects are normally marked with m. but in certain cases kfi may be omitted to show that the object

is unspecified.'

Some verbs take objects marked with se (§515). ki (§502) or par (§525).

See §526 for examples of the way that verbs collocate with postpositions.

Animate direct objects

-j~;~

salim JeD buliiO Call Salim.

-hdt~;u~

bacci5tb JeD bay le calo

Take the children to the park.

j. ". \' :c;-

J~'__'Y C

lrutti JeD mat chq6 Don't tease the dog.

Specified direct objects

-j~; dlJ J.i ( a yl__"":' J.i L) d4 pam ki nal uraD hai, nal vile JeobuliiO The water pipe is broken; call the plumber.

~

-J:>;- J~; JJ~ o-'

US sandiiq Jeo xiii Dr dO Empty that box.

Grammarians who treat grammatical postpositions as case-markers define objects marked by to as being in the dative case.

Postpositions 71

Unspecified direct objects

j~ ~IJ j.j i)yt ( d ylyo:. J.i L) d4 pini lei nal xarao hai, fauran naI vilibuliiO!

The water pipe is broken; call a plumber at once 1

-j~ d .x..91 JJ..\.:...o sandiiq iipar ie jse Take the box upstairs.

506 kO marking subjects

In IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS (§641) the 'real' or logical subject of the verb is marked by kfi, and the verb agrees with the logical direct object. It is considered a subject because it may control the reflexive possessive adjective apni (§213), be the subject of a clause with a conjunctive participle (§612), and typically stands in first place in the sentence?

Many impersonal constructions describe the experiencer's subjective state. which has led to the coining of the term EXPERIENCER SUBJECTS. Experiencer subjects tend to occur with the verbs boni, 'to be'. and ini, 'to come' and lagni, 'to be applied'.

-I..PI ~ c,,_..; i,;1 aknun JeD samOse pasand hairit Akram likes samosas.

_ J.:.......J .\l5:,.. li l:.J1

a ,'-' .. "~

mujhe apni naya makin pasand hai I1ike my new house.

- # t!..Ji J 15~L) ;01

un ko kimyibi ki tavaqqd nahith Hedoesn't expect to succeed.

-~) T ~ ~ l,t i u L) Ifl ~ mujheus ki nim yid nahiIb i rahi I don't recall his name.

Jagni with experiencer subjects

lagni has no precise English translation, although it is often defined as 'to be attached', 'to be applied' . In impersonal constructions with experiencer subjects, lagnican mean 'to seem', 'to feel', or 'to catch (an illness)'.

·('1 . .. u ,.J

- \5" - ~ (t"" '-'. -

ye bit sac nahith Jagti

This thing does not seem true. 3

2 Grammarians who treat grammatical postpositions as case-markers call subjects marked by leO dative subjects.

3 The logical subject is not expressed.


- KJ 1; li~ Ir, y- 0i un k.o mer-a jini buri laga

They were displeased by my going (lit. my going seemed bad to them).

~ .-...s; ...- ~li""'-"'--

-JJ? *-.r' ~ '+' Y 2J-1

bacce k.o k.hani de1dl kat bhiik lagne Jagi

The child saw the food and began to feel hungry.

~ a Lf J:J c: uLr-' ~LS) ~ Y--.rl iip k.O ye zukim k.ahiIi1 se lag gayi hall

How (lit. from where) did you catch this cold?

507 kO showing movement in a direction or to a destination

1m occasionally expresses direction of movement in physical space. However in this function it is usually deleted. leaving behind an oblique noun.

- L.~ ~; ~ s YJJ>l uJ) 4.-

cirOm piirab dCs ko cal pa¢ [Narang, Readings) All four set off to an eastern country.

~ ....rl ,d) ~ c2~ Sis yl ~

kya ap f}ik we ji rahe haiIi1? (deleted 1m) Are you going to the post office?

508 kO after days and dates

kO is commonly used after days and dates. but not after clock time (§ 1311).

'I . ...- ( .._j"'- -'

-.:d Y n U.J1 'J~ ~ Y C1

hafre ko mai.Jh masriif hiidl. pir ko iiye

I am busy on Saturday; please come on Monday.

·...-~Io..l..:..l Y 'J v

pandra agast ko

on the 15th of August

- If ~T z-! ..r~ OJ vo das baje a:e gil

He will come at ten 0 'clock.

509 to following infinitives

1m following an oblique infinitive shows an impending event or purpose (§646).

Postpositions 73

510 ne marking subjects

00 marks the 'real' or logical subject of transitive verbs in perfective tenses (see §629). The verb agrees with the logical direct object. unless it is marked by 1m. See §211 for the forms of pronouns used before 00.4

-....rl ~~ c>- L.)L. c2..l.."..' abmad DC sire samose khae hairh

Ahmad has eaten all the samosas (agreement with samose).

Compare - If ~~ c>- L.) L. ~ 1 almuid sire samose khae gil

Ahmad will eat all the samosas (agreement with ahmad).

SPATIAL-TEMPORAL POSTPOSITIONS

Spatial-temporal postpositions refer to location. movement or extent in space and time. (But these postpositions also have some grammatical functions. particularly se.) They may be divided into two groups: (a) those which may not be followed by a second postposition (se, tak), and (b) those which may be followed by se to make postpositional sequences (§533).

511 se with ablative function

In the following, se shows spatial movement away from something, or elapse of time ('since'. 'for').

<i' "T 1...-

. ,d '05 C U't"-' IJ""i ~

ye bas kahiIiI se iti hai? Wheredoes this bus come from?

- u-"" ) ~ c 0~ .J') ~ mairil dO din se bimir hiiril

I have been sick for two days.

512 se marking the instrument

se may mark the instrument, and is translated as 'with' or 'by'.

- li';- .1;.;;,.,., ~ C ~ qalam se dastxat kama Sign (it) with a pen

-.! J,; ,;..., c: ~) r-t' ham Ii1 se safar k.arem ge We will travel by train.

4 Grammarians who treat grammatical postpositions as case-markers call subjects marked by DC ergative subjects.


se marks the instrument of verbs expressing incapacity (§635) and involuntary action (§801). as well as causative (Chapter 8) and passive (§634) verbs.

Incapacity

_ Jil:- ~ J~IJ,) ~I C ~ mujb Be aisi davi khii nahiril jiti

I can't possibly take such medicine.

tnvotuntery action

q l/ y, Y c~ iy,JI o bO. mujh Be kyi ho gayi?

Oh no. what have I done (involuntarily)?

Instrument of passive

_..J dl:- J~ c: uJJJ.):r ~...- ~ ye sapikmamurom sebaniiijiiC gi

This road will be built by labourers.

Instrument of causative

_If ujlJ; C ~ rL)l.)" y,T u::-" mairb. ip kii kim salim se karviiiriJ. gil I'll get Salim to do your work.

513 sa in comparison of adjectives

The comparison of adjectives with sC is discussed in §314 and §317.

514 sa in adverbial phrases

se is added to nouns to form adverbial phrases of manner. See §414.

.1L..1 C ..

ehtiyit se « ehtiyiit. caution + se) carefully

Postpositlons 75

515 sa marking objects

Certain verbs require objects marked with siS. (See §526 for examples of the way that verbs 'take' (collocate with) postpositions.)

Direct object

u.. milnii, to meer'

-~ C.r.l.L J ,dL.J ~.)I adib risile kc mudir se mili

The writer met the editor of the journal.

milnii, 'meet', can also take the object with kfi, in which case a more coincidental meeting is implied.

_LJ\·...l"'51 '.......J.\".L......, T

.. u- R '-' .c:. v·o Y L ,u::-" c..

ij mairll hamsiC to bas kc aQ4C par mil gayi Today I met the neighbour at the bus stop.

~y. piiclma, to ask

~ J:S ~;.; L.} ~~ C' J~ L.~ J~

kfii mere dil Be piichc tCre tir-e-nim W kfi

Someone should ask my heart about your half-released arrow (Gbalib)

Indirect object

y kahni, to say, tell

- uy, li-r~ y ~ c y,T u::-" mairl:I. ap Be kuch kahnii cihti hwil

I would like to tell you something.

516 sa forming postpositional sequences

se is added to other spatial-temporal postpositions to make postpositional sequences. See §533.

5 mllni has another meaning, 'to be available". In this sense it is intransitive and does not take an object.


517 tak showing extent or limit

tak shows that something extends to a specific point in time or space.

'iJ.2i l.:..

-d C!) v

car baje takiiye

Come by four o'clock (not later).

- J if'";A:i J)Y!: J.2i )~~ )~~ d w_"...;i unborn DC dar dar takc5r ki tali! ki

They searched far and wide (till far and far) for the thief.

The idiom X se le kar y tak shows a complete range 'from X to Y (and everything in between)' .

-~) ~ J.2i I '1 '10 _;- del 9'" Il) ~

becara unnis sau assi se Ie kat unnis sau pacinave tak qaid rahi The poor man was imprisoned from 1980 to 1995.

518 tak as an emphatic particle

tak is sometimes used as an particle meaning 'even'. It is more emphatic than bhi In this usage it is not a postposition, and the noun (or pronoun) is not in the oblique case.

L:... '.' J.2i b LS",\I .

- if.:"{ Lt) if"" _y-o ~)Y... '-' Yo" j-J

naujavan kya. bii[be tak XuSl mana rahe haiIh

Even the elders are celebrating, not to mention the young people.

519 mem with locative function

mem expresses location in or at a point in space or time. Such location may be concrete or quite abstract.

u-::-"L_,..j u-::-" ~ u-::-" ° ~ J ~

u-::-"~~ ..r.ftf

• ·e':1 le:1

.fi.:t"""' ..r. i.,S""'-

1camre mem, in the room fi~ mem, in a mirror

dO din mem. in two days

sanati gobe mem, in the industrial sector ghar mem, at home

uIhgli mem angiitbi, the ring on the finger

Postpositions 77

- ...rt u-::-" C" I) ~ 1 rr ham abhi riste mem haiIh We are on the way now.

- Lt ?~~ ($,nS ..r. w_,j~~ d6ni5tb. mem gebrl <IOsti hai

There is deep friendship between (both oJj them.

mem can show transformation from one state to another.

- ~~ J...I..) ..r. WJ5~ ~ ~ wJo::ty!: d IS~ pari ne ciihiyom ko sared gho[i5m mem badal diya The fairy changed the mice into white horses.

mem is used with lagna, 'to be applied' to express 'to cost' and 'to take time'.

e'l • 'w ~ 1

- .c..~ ,c...J) ..J-" ~ ., u::-" i !J" ~

is kam mem pliIbc sau rupee lage This work cost five hundred rupees.

q 2J 0~ cs- .»: d ~ W~J vahiIb. jane m&b kitne din Jagel

How many days did it take to go there?

520 Infinitives followed by mem

Infinitives used as verbal nouns (§639) may be followed by mem, with idiomatic meanings.

-.:1 ~ ~ ~.)T u-::-" d~ ~ cdl)'!) purane Sahr jinf mem iidhii ghan!li Jagla hai It takes half an hour to go to the old city.

- ~..r. d.? ~ ~ .:10L.T ..r. .2~lj~ I'!,

ye kbana thane mem isin hai Magar hazm kame mem mu§kil This food is easy to eat but hard to digest.

521 par with locative function

~expresses location on something which has a surface ('on'), next to something In ~pace, or upon or immediately after a point in time ('at', 'in'). par has a variant form pe ,...,;, occurring in colloquial speech and poetry.


~Cl) .x~ .x L,.jIJ):' .x ..;..JJ

ristC par, on the road mez par, on the table darvaze par. at the door vaqtpar. in (on) time

par occurs in a few contexts where mem might be expected. This may reflect former spatial realities. Formerly a shop was a stall, not a room. and customers stood on the threshold.

dukan par, in the shop

U 1 ,J)' ..ll ~ j,..,.." . w

-. ). ~.,;.....-o~.r'~~,.

piIbc bsj Jar tera. minat par§aWd za1zala iyi

At thirteen minutes after five a violent earthquake occurred.

~ I;; \" ~Laj;,.,1 ..I" I ':, \" wT

- iJ.:t .::1) ~ .. ~. u--' <.5'. ';;_" r-:' fl. ............. y) <.5' .,

ip /ci darxist par bam apne nisao ki naql bhej rahe haiIh

At your request I am sending a copy of our curriculum.

I,': 1.::5:... i . . ~. I' 0 '0.

- ~ u- .x c-r- ,,- .. J)) yt '.r-' '.J

vo karma hazir rUpae mahine par mil sakti tbi

That room used to be available at a thousand rupees a month.

522 par showing movement to a destination par may express movement to a destination.

-~~ tl.) ~ m.airl1 kim par cali I went to work.

- tJ' Yo ,..i IJ) ~ rr' OJ

vo mubim parravana hO gaye He left on an expedition.

523 par following oblique infinitives

Infinitives used as verbal nouns (§639) may be followed by par. This usage is similar to par expressing location immediately after a point in time (§521).

- IYo t _,L.... of' l.) V"'i ~ ~ .x d~ ~ halim. khine par hi mujhe us ki maza milfun hiii Only on eating halim. did I discover its delicious taste.

Postpositions 79

524 Oblique infinitive + par bhi See §1213 .

525 par marking objects

A few verbs require objects marked with par. (See §526 for examples of the way that verbs collocate with postpositions.)

.. -- ~I ' t": II 'L(

- iJ.:t .c..r' ). ~ t.JY)f. L J t.JJ

giOril vile buzurgom par etibir kart! ha.iJh The villagers rely on the elders.

_ ·('T . ~..l c>u C\I

<.f" U""""1' "-U. .J': • <.5' "-'

un ki bat par mujhe harilsi i gai

What he said made me laugh (laughter came to me at what he said).

526 Collocations of verbs with postpositions

Different verbs collocate (occur together with) differentpostpositions in sentences. These collocations are lexical properties of the verb, that is to say. part of the way in which meaning is encoded in the verb. (In English too, different verbs take different prepositions.) VERB + POSTPOSITION collocations must be learned along with the individual verbs.

(a) Some verbs require no postposition with inanimate direct objects. or if the object is human, or specified. it is marked with kO (§505).

I~", l:i' " ~) L ['"=1.r'

karim ne tar bheji

Karim sent a telegram to his mother.

~y-)Iif~ d ['"=1;karim ne caukidir Jro bheji Karim sent the watchman.

(b) Some verbs take objects with ki (§502).

li;-) Ui:.i 1 L) X X ki intizir kami, to wait for X

-1 d.,;-) Ui:.il IS'" yT rt'

ham ip ka intizit' karerll ge

We will wait for you.


(c) Some take objects with se (§SlS).

u J.l c X X se~, to quarrel, fight with X

- IJ.l C d-.r l1..r

murya murre se tara

The cock fought with the cock (in a cockfight).

(d) A few verbs take objects with par (§S2S).

1'-1 '. X

u ,....a.;. flo

-,d ~ ~~ u,;- ~flo ..:.:..)lrJ J~

baccOm ki §arirat par yussa kama munisib nahi:rb. hai

It is not appropriate to get angry at the mischief of children.

x paryussa ini, to get angry at X

The denominative verbs (§607) formed from madad, 'help' illustrate the way in which postpositions contribute to nuancing of meaning in verbs.

u,;- ~J.... J X X ki madad kama, to help X - c:t~;- ~J.... y- J.H.~ 6J

vo yanoom. 1d madad karti hai

She helps the poor.

~ ~ ~J.... ~ X X kij madad deDi, to help X, give help to X

-1.5:' :,.L ~ ~ u~i ~":;";_j ~

muskil vaqt par unhijm De mujhe madad di

He helped me at a difficult time.

u.. ~J.... ~ X X kO madad milna, X to receive help

- ~ ~ :,,.1..., C" .:;..... _,s::.:.. ~ ~)~ J ~ band ke muta:sirio kij hukfimat se madad mill thi

Those affected by the dam received help from the government.

~ ~J.... C X X se madad lena, to get, take help from X -J L.~ ~ ~J....J ~,t:s::....,_,) ~ yY1 t~~ OJ vo ye kam akela nahi:rb. kar sakti. kisi ki madad lena paqe gi

He can't do this job alone; (he) must get help from someone.

Postpositions 81

COMPOUND POSTPOSITIONS

Compound postpositions are postpositional phrases consisting of inflected ki + a noun, adjective, adverb or more complex construction. There are a great many such postpositions. Some of the most common are presented here, listed according to the six main structural types to which they belong. The order of the elements in some postpositional phrases is reversible (with or without minor changes in phrase structure or agreement). Those phrases are marked with an asterisk (*) and amplified where necessary by footnotes.

527 lei + oblique noun + postposition

ka is inflected to Ice or ki, agreeing with the noun in gender and case.

(ki) vajah se, because of Ion account of < ~ _j vajah (f.), reason, cause Ice sabab se, because of < ~ sabab (m.), cause, reason

• Ice zarie(se), by means of6 < ,....a.:!) ~ zaria (m.), means

• Ice taut par, as, by way of 7 <)_,1 taw" (m.), manner, way

Ire muqabile mem, in comparison with < r.4li... muqabila (m.), comparison

- C ~J J ~ J JL.I-q "pI,d) _,) C ~J J ~ jL)' ~ 1.,;-11 ip ye kam kis ki vajah se kat rallS hairll?---AII1miID kC hulan lei vl4iah se

On whose account are you doing this work?-On account of mother's order.

Compare the meaning of Iris vajah se (without ki):

<a ~j"i-q c« d)';- C ~J ~jL)',-.,! I.,;-IT ip ye kim kis vajah sekar ralle hairll?-lizimi hai Why are you doing this work?-It's essential.

f.,)_,1J ~

tohfC ke taut par asa gift

6 Also occurs reversed as bazaria-e-X (with the Persian preposition ba). See §531, 7 Also occurs reversed as bataur-e-X. See §531 for an example.


528 ki + oblique noun

ki is inflected to ke or 10, agreeing with the noun in gender and case.

kS sith, with < ~L... sith (m. & adv.), company

kS xilif, against, contrary to 8 < ,.j"j..;.. xilif (m. & adj.), opposition kS vistC, for, in order to < ,.1......1~ vista (m.), connection, reason 10 taraf, towards < ,.j _). taraf (f.), direction, way, side

ki jagah, in place of < ~ jagah (f.), place

'" kS iliva, in addition to, besides 9 < D~"j..;; iliva - aliva (m.), superaddition

- a ~j ~ ~L... 2 0_,.::....~.) lr}J larki dOsrom. ki satb kheJ. rahi hai The boy is playing with friends.

- a ,.j"j..;.. J 0 _,j u ,-,! ye qiiniin ke xilifbai This is against the law.

- a lJ'T ~ L) ~ ~ J r.S~ mistrl lei jagah us ki beli a gaya hai

In pJaceof the mechanic, his son has come.

J ~L...J 01 oJ"j..;; - D~"j..;; J ~L..,~ 01 in vasael ki ilavs - ilava in vasael ke

in addition to these resources

529 ki + oblique adjective

ki is inflected to ke, agreeing with the oblique adjective.

'" kS mutaalliq, about < Jla;:.. mutaalliq, connected with

ke mutibiq, according to < ~ Lk.... mutibiq, conformable, similar Ire baribar, equal to, similar to < .r.1.r. bara'Dar, even, level, equal

8 Also occurs as ke bar xilif, and with izifat as xilif~-X (§532). xilif as an independent noun rarely occurs in modem Urdu.

9 OCClaS also as iJiva X te. iliva does not take the oblique singular suffix (although kf shows the oblique case).

Postpositions 83

_ ~b .- r ·,l_-. ""I..lit,,;. . 1

~ .~ ~tC '-' .d

apne xindin ki mutaalliq koch batiiye Tell something about your family.

1 \ 'I.. . 1 .Ai L) I

- .::t .r. .r. tC U'" ~ .d ~

jamila ki qad apne bhii ki barabarhai Jamila's height is equal to her brother's.

530 ki + adverb

ki is inflected to e.

ke bid, after < ~ bid, afterwards, later

Ire piche, behind, after < ~ piche, behind, after k:e iipar, above < .r.,J I iipar, above, up, over

k:e pis, near; shows possession < 1..1"4 pis (adv. & m.), near; side '" k:e siva, except for 10 < I"..... sivi, apart from

- 41 ~ L-.rS ~ J "-;-"""'L. ~)y OJ vo xurfid sihib Jre bid kamre mem aya

He came into the room after Mr. Khurshid.

- 4 T ~ L-.rS ~ J ~L.., ~jy. OJ vo xurfid sihib ki picbekamrC mem. iya

He came into the room behind Mr. Khurshid.

- a U"4 2 ~ 0LG J 0\ un ki dukan ghar ki pis hai Their shop is near the house.

531 (lei) + Persian preposition + oblique noun

ka is inflected to kC or ki. agreeing with the noun in gender and case.

10 Also OCClaS as sivi-e-X te. Its inclusion among the adverbs is no more than a matter of convenience, since it only occurs as a postposition.


... ke bayair. without < ba, with. by + .r.'- yair (rn.), stranger ... ki bajae. instead of 11 < ba, with, by + d~ jae (f.), place

bazaria-e-X, by means of X < ba, with, by12 + ,...a.,!J ~ zaria (m.), means bataur-e-X, as, by way of X 13 < ba, with. by + J..,1 taur (m.), manner

... ke biivujUd. in spite of < hi, with + s Y.'".J vujUd (m.), existence

ke bar xilif, contrary to < bar, on, over + ._j'j..;.. xilif (m.), opposition ke darmiyiin, between, among < dar, in + 0~ miyiin (m.), the middle

.,...... 1~L. .!. ..,...... 1~L. '! c: if ~ U _ r."-! - r."-! c: r..r .J u_

in vasael ke bayair - bayairin va.siel Ire without these resources

bayair also occurs with the perfect participle:

. ..l.J .r "l.J .r .

r."-! ~ ...... ~r. - ~ ...... ~r. r."-!

bayair mCribiit samjbc - mCribiit samjhc bayair without having understood what I said (men bit)

.,...... ---!'~ 't_,._,"""" --- I tt::: Lr-- .r - .::::. ' . - «: . . r.f Lr- r..r,

is kamre 16 bajire - bajire is kamre ke

instead of this room

,...i.%i JP. hataur -e-tohfa asa gift

532 Noun + izifat

xilif-e-X, against. contrary to X14 < ._j'j..;.. xiliif (m.), opposition

~~'j..;..

xilif-e-hukm contrary to orders

II jae (properly jay) is an old form of ji. When the order is reversed, the postposition lei appears

in the m. obl. sg. case.

12 Occurs unreversed as ke wia-e-X (se). lei is lost when the postposition is reversed. 13 Reversed fonn of te taur par.

14 Reversed fonn of kC xilif.

Postpositions 85

PQSTPOSIT10NAL SEQUENCES

533 Spatial-temporal postpositions + se

The postposition se is added to other spatial-temporal postpositions (with the exception of tak and se itself) to make postpositional sequences. The first postposition locates an event in space or time, and se expresses further movement beyond that location.

• ... 1 .' ~I ,1·\l.;;:,:'1

-C:"'" ~ .. er »: "-':t"' u,

in Wom mem si ek cun lijie Choose one of (out oJ} these shawls.

- I)_f C fl...,,1 .F ~ j ~ JI.J1 havii jahiz Uhar ke Upar si guzri The aeroplane passed over the city.

1("": T '.,...... J::1 L.

- \.f'"'- C ~ tt::: '{ .. (~

ciihiyii palang ke nice se ii nikli

The mouse popped out from under the bed .

- L::J ).-. c: ._j}> J J.r) ;:. ("1 ham oS dehli ki tara! si safar kiyii We travelled via Delhi.

Compare

- ~ _;.., ._j}> J J.r) d rf

ham ne dehli ki tara{ safar kiyii

We travelled in the direction of Delhi.

EXPRESSING POSSESSION ('TO HAVE')

Possession may be expressed by kit (- kS - ki), kS pis or kD, depending on the nature of the possessive relationship.

534 Inalienable possession: ki (- Ice -]0)

When possession is of something which one normally or customarily has, such as kin, body parts, reputation, landed property or a home. ki (- Ire - ki) is used.

- u-::t J~ J) .F~Jy~ Yhida 1W dO bhii baitb Shahida has two brothers.

- 4 0J4 ~I._j;- L) LJ~ bCcirS ki sirf a. piiOIh bai

The poor fellow has only one foot.


. .f'1 L...., -~~-*' :J I

hamiri ghar nahirll bai We have no house (home).

• L... • -- \" Il:i 1

- ~ i.I- ',' ...I Y if L ...r,

is tile kikOi caDi nahirit

This lock has no key.

- a U? S~ J ~l.o )515 4iktar sihab ki hap izzat hai

The doctor enjoys (has) great respect.

535 Alienable possession: k.e pis

When possession concerns (temporary) physical ownership or control of a tangible object, ke pis is used.

- a ~L... ...r4 J i.l-Y- ~ dhabi ie pis siikal hai

The washerman has a bicycle.

.e' .. u L....,

- I..FI fi"' C ~ ...r y L..J ,

hamirC pis bahut sa ghar bai1iJ

We have many houses (properties).

536 Intangible possession: kO

When possession concerns something abstract or intangible, impersonal constructions with kO are generally used.

Having an illness is expressed with kO, however this could equally well be considered a case of anexperiencer subject (§506).

- a j l.5'" ..:...rt _,..) ~ l::.."'! ustid iO bahut kim hai

The teacher has a lot of work.

q ~..;......) _,..) ~T ~ kyi ip iO fursat batl

Are you free (do you ha ve leisure time)?

- t::t jL5) ~ mujhezukim hai I have a cold.

6

VERBS

FORMS OF THE VERB

Urdu verbs have four parts, or basic forms: the ROOT, IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE, PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE, and INFINITIVE. These are elaborated with auxiliaries and suffixes into a complex system of verb tense and aspect (see Table 13 on pages 89-90). The basic form of a verb determines its aspect, whereas the auxiliary (or in the future tense, the future suffix) determines its tense.

601 Root

The verb root is the form to which SUFFIXES are added. A useful rule of thumb states that the root is that part of the verb which remains when the infinitival suffix lj -na is removed. The formation of infinitives is regular.

l.i l::- jini, to go l.i;- kama, to do l:..! ~ deni, to give

l:..:._., sllDDi, to hear, to listen

l::- ji, go

;- kar,do L._.) de, give

rJ-" sun, hear, listen

Double transitive and causative STEMS are formed by the addition of the increment, -i(-li) to the root (§803). Double causative stems are formed by the addition of the increment -vi (- -Ivi) to the root (§811). To inflect a verb, it is not necessary to know whether one is dealing with a verb root or a derived stem, as verbal constructions are formed from roots and stems in the same manner. One must remember that the derived stem of a root is a different verb from the root, and has a different meaning.

.r: sun, hear, listen ; kar,do

L._~ de, give

l;- sun, hear, listen

;- Iear,do

L:..... suni, tell (§805)

1; bra, cause to be done (§810) ':J ~ diIi, cause to be given (§81O) I_,.:-., sunva, cause to tell (§811) I,,; karvi, cause to do (§811)

The subjunctive (§608), request forms (§61O), future (§611), conjunctive participle (§612) and continuous tenses (§614-§617) are formed from the verb root (or stem). The verb root is also used with the modal verbs sakni, 'to be able' to show ability (§618); and with cukni, 'to be finished' to show completion (§620).


602 Infinitive

The infinitive is the form of a verb which is given in dictionaries. It has the suffix -na, and may be inflected like a masculine noun.

L:.:..... sunni (v.t.) to hear, to listen

Li; kama (v.t.) to do, to act, to perform

The infinitive is used as a verbal noun (§639), as a request form (§61O) and in infinitival constructions showing necessity, advisability, obligation, imminence, the agent, permission, purpose, and negative assertion (§642-§650).

603 Imperfective participle

The imperfective participle is formed from the root by the addition of the present suffix -ti (- -te - -oJ, which is inflected like an adjective to agree with nouns or pronouns in gender and number.

L:.:..... sunna, to hear, listen Li; kama, to do

~ L:...... sunti, hearing, listening

~ w; karti, doing

Lil; kariini, to cause to be done ~ wi; katiti, causing to be done

Forms of the imperfective participle L:.:..... sunni, to hear

SINGULAR

PLURAL

MASCULINE FEMININE

\.;:.:...., sunti

~ sunti

C' sunte

(~ suntiJh)

The feminine plural suffix -tiJh occurs in the habitual present when the auxiliary is dropped in negative sentences: suntirl:l, kartirll.

The imperfective participle is a verbal adjective. It may be used as an adjective (§901). but its most important function is contribution of the aspect of incompJetenessto the tense system. Imperfective tenses describe actions or states which are not completed. Most imperfective tenses are habitual: they describe actions or states which occur generally or regularly. They include the habitual present (§623), habitual past (§624), habitual conditional (§62S), and habitual presumptive (§625). The simple irrealis (§622) is identical with the imperfective participle. The imperfective participle is used in sequences with rahni to show continuation (§626) andjini to show progression (§627).

Verbs 89

Table 13: Overview of Aspect, Tense and Mood

(The form of the negative is shown in parentheses after the forms.)

Infinitive

ana, 'to come'

Basic form of verb

ROOT a

Simple constructions

SUBJUNCTIVE

(agar) YO iC (+ na)

(if) he comes; he might come

FUTURE

YO iC sa (+ nahiIb) he will come

Aspect

CONTINUOUS TENSES (DURATIVE ASPECT)

Complex constructions Present

CONTINUOUS PRESENT VO a raha hai (+ nabitil) he is coming

Past

CONTINUOUS PAST

VO a raha tbi (+ nabitil) he was coming

Conditional

CONTINUOUS CONDITIONAL (agar) vo a rahi ho (+ na) (if) he is coming

Presumptive

CONTINUOUS PRESUMPTIVE vo i rahi hO sa (+ nabitil) he must be coming

Irrealis

(Unfulfilled conditions)

CONTINUOUS IRREALIS

(agar) YO a rahi hOm (+ na) (if) he were coming


IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE ita

IRREALIS

(agar) vo ili (+ 08) (if) he had come

HABITUAL TENSES (IMPERFECTIVE ASPECT)

HABITUAL PRESENT vo iti hai (+ na.h.irll) he comes

HABITUAL PAST

vo iti tbi (+ na.h.irll) he used to come

HABITUAL CONDITIONAL (agar) vo ili hi) (+ 08) (if) he comes

HABITUAL PRESUMPTIVE vo ill hi) gi (+ nahiJi1.) he must come

HABITUAL IRREALIS

(agar) vo iti hOti (+ oa) (if) he came (regularly).

PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE iya

SIMPLE PAST

vo iya (+ na, nahi.rb) he came

PUNCTUAUPAST TENSES (PERFECTIVE ASPECT)

IMMEDIATE PAST

vo aya hai (+ na.h.irll) he has come

REMOTE PAST

vo iyi tbi (+ na.h.irll) he had come; he came.

CONDITIONAL PAST (agar) voayihi) (+na) (if) he has come

PRESUMPTIVE PAST

vo aya ho ga (+ nahiIiI.) he must have come

PAST IRREALIS

(agar) voiyihOti (+ na) (if) he had come

Verbs 91

604 Perfective participle

The perfective participle is formed from the root by the addition of the past suffix -i (- -e - -i - -im), which is inflected like an adjective to agree with nouns or pronouns in gender and number.

L:.:...... sunni, to hear, listen ~ \..:....., suna, heard

\j I~ karina, to cause to be done ~ 4 1;- kariiya, caused to be done

Forms of the perfective participle

L:.:...... sunni, to hear

SINGULAR

PLURAL

MASCULINE FEMININE

suni

sum

When the m. sg. and f. sg. forms -a and -i of the past suffix are added to roots
ending in vowels, the root vowel and the suffix vowel combine as follows:
i+i ~ ayi kh.ii, eat ~ 4 ~ kbiya, eaten (m. sg.)
a+a ~ aya ga c ji, go ~ .s gaya, gone (m. sg.)
o+a ~ oyi sO, sleep ~ 4_,...., sayi, slept (m. sg.)
i+i ~ iya pi, drink ~ W piyi, drank (m. sg.)
-v
i+i ~ i pi, drink ~ ~ pi. drank (f. sg.)
i-s I ~ i di < de, give --t S:! di, gave (f. sg.) Five verbs have irregular perfective stems, as shown in Table 14 on p. 92.

The perfective participle is a verbal adjective. It may be used as an adjective (§907), but its most important function is contribution of the aspect of completeness to the tense system. Perfective tenses describe actions or states which are completed. They are also punctual: they describe actions or states occurring once. They include the immediate past (§631), remote past (§632), conditional past (§633), and presumptive past (§633). The simple past (§630) is identical with the perfective participle. The perfective participle is used in sequences with jini, 'to go' to form the passive (§634) and with kami, 'to do' to show habit (§636).

Table 14: Irregular perfective participles
ROOT PERFECTIVE STEM PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE
M.SG. M. PL. F.SG. F. PL.
1.Ji , , ,
.Ji .Ji .c_.Ji ..s.Ji "pl.Ji
hO. be h- I hili hue hill hiiiIh
u-
i, s L! ~ J ~
ji,go ga- gaya gae gai ga.i:dl.
;- s: w- d J ~
kar, do ki- kiyi kiye ki k.iril
L....) ? 4.) cd.) '.5.) u:1.)
de, give di- diyi diye di diIh
L ~ t, d J ..,J
le, take li- liya liye Ii lirll THE VERB hona, 'TO BE'

605 The conjugation of boni

Table 15 shows the present, past and future conjugations of the verb honi. (For information about the pronouns in the table, see §202-§204.)

Table 15: The present, past, subjunctive and future forms of boni

Present tense of bona
SINGULAR
1st person u.Ji ~ mairll hiiril I am. (m.f.)
2nd person .cry tiihai You are. (m.f.)
3rd person .cr 0-' vohai He, she, it is .
PLURAL
1st person iJ.t("1 ham haim We are. (m.f.)
2nd person .Ji~ tumho You are. (m.f.)
iJ.t yT aphairil You are. (m.f.)
3rd person iJ.t0-, vo haim They are. (m.f.) Phonetically, the perfective stem has a short vowel: [bol. It is spelled with a long vowel: hii-.

Verbs 93

The present forms ofhona agree with the subject noun or pronoun in person and number. Negatives are made with nahiIil (§417). In unemphatic negative sentences, present forms of hOni are dropped. (ye men topi nahlril hai 'This is not my hat' -7 ye men ~pi nahitb..)

Past tense of bona SINGULAR

1st person 2nd person 3rd person

PLURAL

~-~~ ~-~y ~ - ~ 0-'

He, she, it was.

maim thi (m.) - thi (f.) I was.

tii thi (m.) - thi (f.) You were.

vo thi (m.) - thi (f.)

I st person ~ - .cf r"'1

2nd person # - .cf ~

.. .. T

~-.:&y

# - .cf 0-'

ham the (m.) - thiIil (f.) We were. tum the (m.) - thiIil (f.) You were. ip the (m.) - thiIil (f.) You were. vo the (m.) - thiIb. (f.) They were.

3rd person

The past tense forms ofhoni are adjectival, and agree with the noun or pronoun in gender and number. The negative used with the past of honi is nahiIh (and occasionally na) (§417).

Subjunctive mood of boni
SINGULAR
1st person U.Ji iJ.:'" mairll hiiril I may/should be. (m.f.)
2nd person .Ji,Y tiiho You may/should be. (m.f.)
3rd person sr 0-' vobo He, she, it may/should be .
PLURAL
1st person u.Ji ~ ham hom We may/should be. (m.f.)
2nd person .Jir!_ tumhO You may/should be. (m.f.)
u.Jiy,1 aphom You may/should be. (m.f.)
3rd person U.Ji 0-' vo hom They may/should be. (m.f.) The subjunctive forms of bOna agree with the subject noun or pronoun in person and number. Negatives are made with na (§417). The first person singular forms of the subjunctive and of the present are identical; the context provides the information necessary to distinguish them.

Future tense of hOni
SINGULAR
1st person IS' ma.irll hWb. sa I will be. (m.)
0y. IJ.!'"'
J 0 Y. IJ.!'"' ma.irll hiiIil gi I will be. (f.)
2nd person IS' .. ruMp You will be. (m.)
y._JJ
Jy.y ruhOgi You will be. (f.)
3rd person IS' y. OJ vohogi He, it will be. (m.)
J y.oJ vohogi She, it will be. (f.)
PLURAL
lst person 1 Wy. rt hamhOmge We will be. (m.)
Juy.~ hambOmgi We will be. (f.)
2nd person ly.~ tum ho gc You will be. (m.)
Jy.~ tumhogi You will be. (f.)
1 -
0y...".,1 ip hOm ge You will be. (m.)
J -
0y...".,1 ipMrilgi You will be. (f.)
3rd person .! wy. OJ vohOrllge They will be. (m.)
J uy. OJ vo hOm gi They will be. (f.) The future tense of hOna is formed by adding the future suffix gil (- ge - ge)2 to the subjunctive forms. Although it is a suffix, it is written as a separate word in Urdu. The future suffix is adjectival, and agrees with the noun or pronoun in gender and number. The form of the negative used is nahiri:J. (§417). The future tense ofhona expresses both future and presumption.

Examples

( ) . _ . .) T

- u y. '-'*"' IJ.!'"'? IJ.!'"' t

ij maim daftar merit nahiJil (hiilb) Today I am not in the office.

·I.~, T.<"II,·:I.~, "

-~ ~ ~ L.)""::"' 'tr' ~ r-_'" o-

kal mausam acchi t/Jj lekin ij acchi nahirb

The weather was fine yesterday but today (it) isn'tfine.

2 The future suffix is a contraction of pi (= gaya, the perfective participle of jiDi). Compare the English 'I am going to be.'

Verbs 95

-1 r..r-';- .rr: rt y. ~ I r- _,... )1

agar mausam acchi M. ham sair wem ge If the weather is good, we will go for a walk.

IS' • ~

- y. ~I r-Y ~ s- .ct l:....., C >:!~)

rCcJiyo sa suni hai ke kal mausam acchi hO gi

I've heard on the radio that the weather will be fine tomorrow.

- (!Jot) w::rl yl s: # w::H I,):!~ 1.Sr. men cizem yahiIil thirb. magar ab nabiriJ (hairiJ) My things were right here, but now they aren't.

- J uy. ~ '.5) UI OJ - If.:/ J;_,.»... r.f..~ J yT ip ki c1zem mahfiiz h.airb. vo almiri mem hOm gi Your things are safe. They must be in the cabinet.

606 hOni as an auxiliary verb

In the Urdu verbal system, the tense of the auxiliary verb honi determines the tense of the verbal construction (Table 13 on pages 89-90).

(a) Present tenses (continuous present, habitual present and immediate past) are formed with the present tense of the auxiliary.

(b) Past tenses (continuous past, habitual past and remote past) are formed with the past tense of the auxiliary.

(c) Conditional tenses (continuous conditional, habitual conditional and conditional past) are formed with the subjunctive mood of the auxiliary.

(d) Presumptive tenses (continuous presumptive, habitual presumptive and presumpti ve past) are formed with the future tense of the auxiliary.

DENOMINATIVE VERBS (607)

Denominative verbs are verb phrases consisting of a noun or adjective plus an inflected verb. They are very frequent in Urdu, which has borrowed Perso-Arabic nouns, adjectives and derived verbal elements, such as Arabic participles (§1501-§1502) and Persian present and past stems (§1406) extensively. An Urdu verb is added to these loans, most frequently bmi (but di5ni, 'to give', lena, 'to take', barbdbni, 'to tie', nikilni, 'to take out', lagini, 'to apply', u1hini, 'to raise' and rakhni, 'to put' also occur). English borrowings are assimilated in the same way.

The intransitive of denominative verbs is formed by substituting a semantically appropriate intransitive verb, such as hOni for kami (see §807 for examples).


When the phrase is not formed with kama, it is essential to check the dictionary to find the intransitive. Denominative verbs are listed under the noun or adjective which forms the head of the phrase.

The inflected verbs in denominative verbs collocate with (take) different postpositions in sentences (§527). These collocations must be learned along with the individual verbs.

lj; uy. J X X ki izzat kami, to honour X

~ I..i -"" u:r J X X ki izzat bona, X to be honoured

li; J::.lL J X X ki samagling kama, to smuggle X

~ u -"" J::.lL J X X ki samagling bOna. X to be smuggled

~ ~ uy. y- X X to izzat deni, to show respect to X

~ l:L uy. C' y y- X X to y sC izzat miJni, X to be honoured by Y

~ ~ ~ y- X X to gikast deni, to defeat X

~ lj 4J ~ gikast khini. to be defeated

l:A..li ~ .n-' ~ X X ki mehr bimdhni, to agree to a dowry of X

L:.::.l1S)~ ,.....~ J X X kl zimmediri lena, to take responsibility for X

Also:

X ki zimmediri u!hana. to take responsibility for X

juliis nikilni, to parade, parade in protest

VERB FORMS BASED ON THE VERB ROOT

608 Subjunctive

A verb is used in the subjunctive mood when it describes an action or state which is uncertain in some way, or which is contingent on something else. Hence the subjunctive is often used in conditional sentences and subordinate (dependent) clauses. Certain conjunctions, adverbs and phrases require the subjunctive.

The subjunctive is not a tense. When translating it, the context of the whole sentence, including the tense of the verb in the main clause, must be considered.

Verbs 97
Table 16: Forms of the subjunctive
kamA 'to do'
SINGULAR
1st person uJ,} w::-- maiIil kariiIil I may do. (m.f.)
2nd person L;Y til kate You may do. (m.f.)
3rd person L;OJ vokare He. she, it may do. (m.f.)
PLURAL
1st person ~;~ hamkaredl We may do. (m.f.)
2nd person J; r3 tumkarO You may do. (m.f.)
~;yT ipkaredl You may do. (m.f.)
3rd person ~,}oJ vo karCriJ. They may do. (m.f.)
The verbs bOni, 'to be' (§605), deni, 'to give' and lCni, 'to take' are irregular.
dena. 'to gi ve '
SINGULAR
1st person uJ~ w::-- maiIil dum I may give. (m.f.)
2nd person L~Y tiide You may give. (m.f.)
3rd person L~ <lJ vode He, she, it may give.
PLURAL
1st person d.~r-t' hamdem We may give. (m.f.)
2nd person J~ ~ tum dO You may give. (m.f.)
..;..~ yl ipdem You may give. (m.f.)
3rd person u:! ~ OJ voderll They may give. (m.f.)
lena, 'to take'
SINGULAR
1st person u} ..r.' maiIil1iiri:l I may take. (m.f.)
2nd person dy tii Ie You may take. (m.f.)
3rd person d OJ vole He, etc., may take.
PLURAL
1st person ~r-t' hamlem We may take. (m.f.)
2nd person }~ tum 10 You may take. (m.f.)
~yT iplem You may take. (m.f.)
3rd person ~ OJ volem They may take. (m.f.) 98 Urdu: An Essential Grammar

The forms of the subjunctive agree with the subject noun or pronoun in person and number. Note that subjunctive suffixes do not show gender. The form of the negative used with the SUbjunctive is na (§417).

The subjunctive In main clauses

The subjunctive is used in main clauses: (a) in asking for permission or advice. (b) in making a wish or expressing a preference, (c) in expressing encouragement, (d) in making an indirect command, (e) as one form of request. (f) following uyad,3 'maybe', and W (ke),~ 'if only', and (g) in questions expressing doubt or uncertainty.

- dT dT, JJ~ - ~ wJT J..I.iI .,p-" W-kyi maim andar iiidJ?-zariir, iiye iiye!

May I come in?-Certainly, come in, come in!

-~~G4-J' dT iiyc, khini khibh Come; let's eat.

- ~ ..:.-. ,.s- ~ C J,.., I,.... himid sC bOO ke mat cixe Tell Hamid not to shout.

r. : L 'w

- ~ '-'.J'" I,)::-l .

b8iJ:b taraf calem Please drive on the left.

,d T )ij ,),j 4.- y- i L;;, r;_T ~ L;;, uyad ij Wn kO cirlld nazar ii

Maybe this evening the moon will be visible (sighted).

! J J1' ~ j.) I ,dT )a.i ..I.i~ r;_T LfL) W ij cirlld nazar ii, kal id hO gil

If only the moon is sighted tonight. tomorrow will be Eid 1

Because the subjunctive may express a wish, when using it to express the possibility of an undesirable event, the subjunctive verb is often put in the negative. This is an exception to the restriction on the negative with compound verbs (§717).

3 §i)'lid may also be followed by a verb in the simple past, referring to a completed event: §iyad vo aisI davi nakbi saki, 'Maybe he couldn't take such medicine.'

4 W may also introduce clauses in the irrealis: W ip batvl na bhiilti, 'I wish you had not forgotten (your) wallet.'

Verbs 99

!,d~"'; f ~,_,..s.5)"'; .xJI JJ~ 15J~ l.:.:il itni bhiri sandiiq Upar na rakho. bhiril gk najii! Don't put such a heavy box up (on a rack), lest it fall!

The subjunctive in subordinate clauses

Not all subordinate clauses have verbs in the subjunctive. However subordinate clauses are dependent clauses, and so inherently contingent. Certain conjunctions and impersonal expressions having to do with contingent situations introduce subordinate clauses with verbs in the subjunctive. They may be called SUBORDINATING EXPRESSIONS.

agar, 'if, ke, 'that' may introduce clauses containing the subjunctive.

jab tak + NEGATIVE, 'until', 'unless' introduces a relative subordinate clause (§ 1114) which may contain a subjunctive.

ti ke, 'so that', ba§artCke, 'on condition that' (§ 1228) always introduce clauses with the subjunctive.

Subordinating expressions: impersonal constructions

The following impersonal expressions introduce subordinate clauses which contain subjunctive verbs.

,.s- a ~ ,.s- , I,....

Co .,

,.s- a I$JJ~ ,.s- &. '-:-'"" t.:.... s: L..';-I ~ ,.s- Yo I'.a •• ~ I

mumkin bai ke, it's possible that ... cihie Ire, it's needed that ...

zariiri hai Ire, it's necessary that ... munisib hai ke, it's appropriate that ... xudi kam Ire, God grant that ...

aisi na hO ke, lest (it should not be such that) ...

Subordinating expressions: personal constructions

The following verbs introduce subordinate clauses which function as direct objects of main clauses, and which contain verbs in the subjunctive.

farz kami eke). to suppose (that)

majbiir hOni ke, to be compelled, obliged to cibni e. to want (to)

ex ki) dil cihni ke, (X) to feel like kO§U kami ke (in requests), to try (to)


NOTE: many subordinating expressions may also introduce the irrealis. See §609, 'Unfulfilled wishes, conjecture and regret'.

Examples

- e,_j ~_, ~,.s- a ~

mumkin hai lee mujhe vazifa DB mile

It's possible that I might not get the scholarship.

. .r 1.1 . I ,.I,jl ,.s-. ~

-~fi' .en: C~.J7' ~ r'<" d·,

cihie ke ham. andheri hone se pahle ghar pabwbcCtiJ We ought to reach home before dark.

- w_,~ ;-I~I ~..sf ri_T ,s- a I.S)J~ zariirj hai ke ij hi paisa ada kar dum

It's necessary that (I) pay the money today.

! .d~ J.... ,.AJ;_, ~ ~ s: ~;I~ xuda lwi leenajma kO vazifa miljae!

May God grant thatNajma gets the scholarship!

! e ,_j j.) s: y, ,_j ~ I i J~~ ..sf CT ij hi xaridO. aisa DB hi) lee kal DB mile!

Buy it today, lest it be unavailable tomorrow!

-~; ";1...;1 ~ J::j~5y s: .::t)~..:;...fo bukiimat majbiir bai lee l~g meIil izafa lwi

The government is compelled to increase the power cuts.

... wy, c.4L;.;;j1 JL..., U"'!,.J ~ if} farz kijie lee is sit intixaDit bOth '" Suppose there are elections this year ...

- w~ If'~T I~ i.J':",.s- .cfi c.~ 0~ 41 abbijin c.ibiC the ke ma.iIh bari idmi banum Daddy wanted me to become an important person.

-J~ ,_j ~; ~ ,.JJ; ?_,) leotiJ /auij ke kisi kO taklif na dO

Try not to give trouble to anyone.

Verbs 101

609 Conditional sentences

CONDITIONAL sentences consist of two clauses. The first, or condition clause, usually begins with agar fl . The second, or result clause, begins with to y . agar is often deleted, to rarely (§1202). agar may also be replaced, by jab ~ (§11l2) orja y." (§1106-§1107).

Urdu conditional sentences belong to two basic categories: fulfillable conditions, and unfulfilled conditions (IRREALIS). Unfulfilled conditional sentences, also called 'contrary to fact' sentences, describe conditions which have not been, or cannot be, fulfilled.

Fulfil/able conditions

Fulfillable conditions include (a) those that will probably be met, and (b) conditions which are presumed to be met. When the verb in the condition clause is subjunctive, or in one of the imperfective tenses (present or future), the condition remains open-ended. It is possible or even probable that the condition will be met, but it has not happened yet, or it is not yet confirmed. There is still a possibility that the condition will fail.

The verb in the result clause provides the context of the result (a present result, a future result, or a command), and the tense of the sentence.

When the verb in the condition clause is in the simple past, the action in the condition clause is either (a) complete (and the condition will have been met), or (b) the perfective aspect is used to affirm the result (provided the condition is met).' Perfective tenses cannot be used in the condition clause if there is little likelihood of the condition being met, or if the action is still continuing.

Possibility/probability: condition in the subjunctive or the future -J~ J15yTyy, tf ~fl

agar tel gar( a)m bc5 to alii t!8.l dO

If the oil is hot, put in the potatoes. (I expect it is hot.)

- a I.::s:::...., .r O_' Y -.r-; ,_j C"j..... IJ .fi..r ,:;,T /1 agar ip mariz ki ilij na lwi.rb to vo mar sakti hai

If you don't treat the patient, he could die. (I think you might not do so.)

5 Compare the following use of a perfective tense to express affirmation: miJi!-iyi jl, 'Gardener!-Just coming, sir.' The gardener has not come, but uses the simple past to affirm that he is doing so immediately.


. • - \" - ( I -L T (', .

_ ~ r;r If ->-' Y IJ' uy. _ru) ~ ~r. y- .r .r.>"

xair agar ip mere sith rusvi hOm gi to wi harj nahirll

Fine, if you wiJl be disgraced along with me, then there is no harm. (Rusva, umr;io lin Adii)

.« ~~ ;1j.g.S"""14. U--.s1...:d' ji ~ jJ.J ~,;.j~ 0-' /1 agar vo ciIM par qadam rakhe to apoe mulk ki jhan4i kb,.,a lair de gi If he sets foot on the moon, he will set up the flag of his country. (It is possible but unlikely; a simple past verb is not possible.)

Presumed present fact: condition in the present or habitual present _-'~ JIS yT ji a j / J.;i /1

agar rei gar( a)m bai to ilii tJ.il dO

If the oil is hot, put in the potatoes. (It looks hot now, but check it.)

l::5:- - - \" . ~ U--' T (',

_ .a' r 0-' y I.Ft tC!_.r ~ C ~r y- .r

agar ip mariz ki iJaj nahiIiJ karre haitil to vo mar sakti hai

If you don't treat the patient, he could die. (You don't seem to be doing so.)

Completed action/affirmation of result: condition in the simple past _ a ~ r oJ"':; ~ ,..l C~ l_) d4.r d yT ./1

agar ip ne mariz ki ilij na Jeiyi to vo mar sakti hai

If you don't treat the patient, he could die (You have indicated you won't.)

- .1 uy, y~U--)-,~ ji J ~ d yT ip ne mehnat ki to zariir .k.imyib hOm ge

If you work hard (you) will certainly succeed (You have not yet made the effort, but your success is assured if you do.)

Unfulfilled/unfulfillable conditions {irrealis}

When imperfective participles without auxiliaries are used in both the condition clause and the result clause, the sentence describes a failed condition, or a condition which is impossible to meet (irrealis).

_l.:.p ;1¥14. U--...s:L.:d1 ji 45) jJ.i ~ ..G~ 0-,./1

agar vo ciIbd par qadam. rakbm to apoe mulk ki jhan4i ldJari lair dem

If he had serfoot on the moon, he would ha ve set up the flag of his country. (He failed to get into the space programme.)

Verbs 103

- l:i~ r 0-' ji 2.;,..l C~ U-- d4.r yT /1 agar ip mariz ki ilij na brte to vo mar jiti

If you hadn't treated the patient, he would have died. (You treated him.)

~ wT)..I.i1 ~)'y!;ji 2.l,{J)ll:i ~ ~jl-,).) y-T /1 agar iip darvizC mem tiiJi Jagiti to cOr kaise andat ita'"?

If you had locked the door. how could the thief have got in? (He got in.)

w-'1 )\.1i;,j1 ~ d) e. )-,1./1 agar aur jiti cable, yahi intiziir Mti

If I were to live longer, it would only be to wait like this (GlBlib)

When the condition clause ends in thi (- the - tbi) or a verb in the remote past, the condition has also failed, but the sentence suggests that there is scope for discussion on the subject.

~ l/T )J.)I ~)ft, ji ~ 4 L>:J )lw ~ ~j IJ) s d yT ./1 agar ip DC darviizC mem tiiJj Jagiyi thatO cOr kaise andar i gayi? If you had locked the door, how did the thief get in? (For the sake of argument, I accept your assertion, nevertheless the thief did get in.)

Unfulfilled wishes, conjecture and regret (irrea/is)

Conjunctions, impersonal expressions and verbs which normally require the subjunctive may take the imperfective participle to show IRREALIS (conjecture, regret, etc.). Irrealis may also be used in place of the subjunctive to wish for something impossible.

... ~ j.\J ~ J.) 4: y,T s: ~ if; farz kijie ke ip ciiIhd par qadam rakhte ...

Suppose you were to set (had set) foot on the moon ...

_wl5:J )ll:i ~ ~jl-,).) ~ rS"'~ b~ eihie thi Ire mai.dJ. darvizC mem tiiJi Jagiti I should have locked the door.

_ ~1....a...J,..lI~I_X ,.l_) CJV' J~ '.' ...r

W iip batyi na Millie

I wish you had not forgotten (your) wallet.


Complex conditional sentences

Precise distinctions of aspect can be expressed in conditional sentences (both fulfillable and irrealis). See §617 (continuous conditional, continuous irrealis), §625 (habitual conditional, habitual irrealis), and §633 (conditional past, past irrealis).

610 Request forms

Request forms corresponding to tU, tum and iip

There are three basic levels of request forms in Urdu, corresponding to the three second person pronouns tii, tum and ip. See §203 for a discussion of these pronouns.

The use of compound verbs (Chapter 7) with the vector verbs dena and lena is very common with request forms, but particularly with the mid- or tum-level forms, where they point to the reciprocal transactions which take place in the solidary relationships where tum is often used.

Lower level request forms corresponding to tii consist of the verb root alone.

" I.rljl.r - d- 'frJ 'frJ

kh8ni kba. bete

Eat (your) food, son.

-~_,.... ~ ~_,.... sOja munne. sOja

Go to sleep, baby, go to sleep.

Mid-level request forms corresponding to tum consist of the verb root with the suffix .{) (identical to second person plural (tum-level) subjunctive forms). They are used towards persons addressed with the pronoun tum.

_y ~u~ khiinikbalt5 Eat (your) food.

- d..;t >I' Jd') d~ s-- yl ab sO jii5. der ho gai hai

Go to sleep now; it is late.

! lj.h ~ -&JL.. ~ ..;,.JJ 2~ )j 4 yT ip bizir jiite vaqt mujhe sith le cali> na! When you go to the market do take me along!

Polite request forms corresponding to ip consist of the verb root with the suffix -ie (- -iye) for most verbs. -iye is added to most roots ending in long vowels; -ie is added to roots ending in consonants.

Four verbs have irregular stems, as shown in Table 17 on p. 105 .

A

calie

Please walk.

• L...

d· juye

Please go.

Verbs 105

Table 17: Irregular request forms

ROOT POLITE REQUEST STEM POLITE REQUEST FORM
kar, do ~ kij- ~ kijie
de, give ~,) dij- ~,) dijie
I.e, give ~ lij- ~ lijie
pi, drink ~ pij- ~ pijie Examples

~ l.gS"'ul.gS"' yl - .d~lj~ yl ab khiini kbiiye - ab khiini leba lijie Please eat (food) now.

- A d ~L.. ~..;,.JJ 2~ )j4 yT ip bizir jiltS vaqt mujhe siith Ie calle

When you go to the market please take me along.

Courteous formal requests may be made by suffixing gil to an ip level request.

-1.Pf dlJ ~T ~I ~L.)S1S (If ~ u~ yahiril bai,rue ga. ~ sahib abhi inC vUe hairl:t Please sit here, the doctor is on his way now.

Other request forms

The infinitive may be used as a request that is neutral with respect to honorific levels (§203). It is appropriate for neutral requests or impersonal instructions.

l.:L.. 0'" I w~ 'w .s;

- v L '.r:-" _""')J .r.r.. C y.;

cauk se haem mU(Di aur sau mi~ age ca1ni

Turn left at the crossroads and walk a hundred metres further.

- l:J4i ~ J:..;... ~4 c1 2} 2 ~~ Jilt 2 d J4

panl pine Ire qiibil banine ke lie use pirl1c mina; tat ubalni To make water fit to drink, boil it for five minutes.

The subjunctive, (§608, p. 103) may be used as a request form.

- u:!~__...:. UY.:r.-- )JI ~ ~jl:i .,j.,..sirf tiza phal aur sabziyiril JCarldetil Buyonly fresh fruit and vegetables.


- d-;- J:l1 _,s- .a.r. 2-rl a: dY' ~ dOOne sC pahle bar patte kO aJag bre1iJ. Before washing, separate every leaf.

It is appropriate to make formal polite requests to strangers of equal or superior status (persons addressed with ip or an honorific title) using verb phrases with taSrif, 'one's honourable self'. (See §1603 for more examples.)

Li":1 ~r.:; tWiflini

to bring one's honourable self (= ini, to come)

~ w.J;" t;;.C_, _;- ~.b. ~ J Io:r'I ~ , d":1 ~_r:.:i I dl iiye. taSri! ]iiye, mairil ip ki kyi xidmat kat sakti hiirl1?

Come in, come in; how can I help you?

-d~l.i~, d":1 ~r:; j ,oW li~ khini tayyir bai, tairif ]iiye, khini khiiye The food is ready; please come and eat.

4G~~ tWifrakhoi

to place one's honourable self (= baipmi. to sit, maujiid bOni, to be present)

_ 'A\. ~ "" wi. , ~L:.....

~J -~ '1'"'t. ••

janao, yahiriJ. tam! rakhie Sir, please sit here.

611 Future tense

The future tense (Table 18 on p. 107) is formed by adding the future suffix gi IS" ( - ge I - gi J ) to the subjunctive forms of a verb. The future suffix is adjectival, and agrees with the noun or pronoun in gender and number. Agreement in person, as well as number, is shown by the verb's subjunctive base. The form of the negative used is nahirll (§417).

The verbs ooni, 'to be' (§605), deni, 'to give'; and leoi, 'to take' are irregular.

Presumption is expressed by adding the future ofbOni to continuous (§617), habitual (§625) or past (§633) tense verbs,

Verbs 107
Table 18: Forms of the future
Jaunj, 'to do'
SINGULAR
lst person IS" :? mairll kariidl gi I will do. (m.)
w.J ~
J w.J:? ~ mairll kariiIil gi I will do. (f.)
2nd person IS" c_:?y tiikaregi You will do. (m.)
Jc_:?_y tiikaregi You will do. (f.)
3rd person If L:?O.J vokaregi He, it will do. (m.)
J c_.?o.J vokare gi She, it will do. (f.) PLURAL

1st person

Id,:?~ hamkarerllge We will do. (m.)
J._r-:?r1' ham karCIil gi We will do. (f.)
I_,:? ~ tumkarOge You will do. (m.)
J J:? r:i tumkarO gi You will do. (f.)
I d,:?yl ipkareIilge You will do. (m.)
J d-:?yl ipkarCIilgi You will do. (f.)
I d-:?IIJ vokarerllge They will do. (m.)
J d-:?o.J vokarerllgi They will do. (f.) 2nd person

3rd person

dena, 'to give'
SINGULAR
1st person IS" u.J~ ~ maiJh dum gi I will give, (rn.)
Ju_'~~ mairiJ. dum gi I will give. (f.)
2nd person IS" L~Y tiidCgi You will give. (m.)
J L.~Y tiidCgi You will give. (f.)
3rd person IS" L~ C.J vodegi He, it will give. (m.)
J L.~ C.J vodegi She, it will give. (f.)
PLURAL
1st person I d-~ ~ hamdClhge We will give. (m.)
J d-~~ hamderllgi We will give. (f.) 10B Urdu: An Essential Grammar

2nd person

1J~~ tumdOge You will give. (m.)
JJ~~ tumdOgi You will give. (f.)
1 ~~yT ip deIil ge You will give. (m.)
J ~~yT ip deIil gi You will give. (f.)
1 ~~DJ vo deIil ge They will give. (m.)
J ~~¢J voderilgi They will give. (f.) 3rd person

Examples

(' J. J • bL., j,lf I, \I .t... 1'-

-15 ~ ~ y ~ J (.$) u-::J t,J J L . r,._i!'; r

braci jane viii reI giri sifhe nau baje cbute gi

The train going to Karachi wilJ leave at 9:30.

-1 ~ ...r.- ~.r. r-t' ham bar mu§k:iJ. merilj1tiril ge We will win in every difficulty.

_If uJL:- 0l::....,J..Lf ...r.- JL 2fl agle si1 maiIil hindiistiin jiiiiIh gii Next year I will go to India.

- J UJ';-LJft-/.J:1 L.~J J yT ...r.maiIil ap ke vade par bbarOsi kariitb gi

I will rely on your promise.

612 Conjunctive participles

Form and function of conjunctive participles

The root of karni, kar is added to the root of any verb to make a CONJUNCTIVE PARTICIPLE. Conjunctive participles transform two separate but related clauses into a single sentence which shows two actions or events happening in succession. The two clauses must have (a) the same subject. and (b) verbs in the same tense.

The form of the negative used with conjunctive participles is na (§417), however negative conjunctive participles are uncommon.

_If UJ'? t') )JI If uJL:- ~ ...r.maim ghar jiiiiIh gii aur arim kariiIil gi I will go home and I will rest.

I

.' I

Verbs 109

_ If UJ';- t I} A ~ ...r.mai ghar jii kar Brim kariiIil gi

I will go home and rest (having gone home. I will rest).

_ 4~ 0L:>..::..I JJI lib~ .:2 ,.....J_., sa1ima ne pafbii aur imtihin diya

Salima studied and took the examination.

--7 - 4~ 0L:>..::..1';-.lb~.:2,.....J_., salima DC parb ksr imtihan diya

Salima studied and took the examination.

The sequential order of the two actions becomes unambiguous when the conjunctive participle replaces the first verb: 'I will rest after I go home.' 'Salima studied before taking the examination.'

Alternate form root + ke of conjunctive participles The conjunctive participle ofkarni itself is ROOT + Ire.

_If UJ';- t'} JJI If UJ'? tt)" ...r.maira kim kariiIi1 gii aur Brim kariiIiJ. ga I will work and I will rest.

_ tf UJ'? t1} J .? tIS' ...r.maim kim kat ke irim. karii.rl1 gi I will work and (then) I will rest.

The alternate form root + Ire is often used to form conjunctive participles with other verbs as well (although conjunctive participles with kat are the written standard. and more common, usage).

!J';-t'}J.Ib~ parb keirim karOl Study before you rest!

Short absolutives

The verb root alone may function like a conjunctive participle (the SHORT ABSOLUTIVE). Short absolutives are incorrect in modern standard Urdu,6 but may

6 In Hindi, when the first action in some way causes the second action, tar may be omitted. This usage is not allowed in standard Urdu.


nevertheless be found in texts, particularly older ones.

L.f I I. •. - -- ,_s-,.7 l;.jl ·u

- .. .c.'r.'~~ ~ ,1.1.

pini itoi thi kc sab koch bBhi Ie gay. There was so much water that it carried everything away.

Idiomatic phrases with kar

kar is added to xis, 'special' to form the phrase _;- ,f l,,;. xis kar, 'particularly' (with the same meaning as xis taur par). kyOrb. kat means 'how?'.

q 1J1'';u~~1 aisi kyOrb. kat hili?

How did it happen like this?

Conjunctive participles in sentences with impersonal constructions

When the second clause is an impersonal construction. the clauses may appear to have different subjects:

(' I. • I ~lo. L

- L u-::- C y- ~ c. . u ,oj

vahiiIh ji Ire acchC samo.se milCrll ge (We) will go there and get good samosas.

The subject of the first clause is an omitted pronoun (ham), whereas the subject of the second appears to be samOsC. But samase milem ge is an impersonal construction. and the verb agrees with the direct object. S8Dlose. while the real subject of the second clause is an omitted ham kO. (See §506, §641.)

(' '. -- (' 'lo. L

t- - L u::L CY'-" ~I y rt' )JI L ..,-::-l • U ,J rt'

ham vahidljaem ge aur ham ko acche samase mileriJ. ge Wewill go there and wewill get good samosas.

Mixed transitivity with conjunctive participles

The verb in the main clause (below. the second verb) is the sentence verb, and determines the transitivity of the sentence. If the main verb is transitive, the subject is followed by DC if the verb tense is perfective (§629). If the main verb is intransitive, the entire sentence is treated as intransitive, and ne is not used.

L.ff--~

- .. *.r _,. ~ ,_;:-4

mairb. parh kar ghar gayi Having studied. I went home.

- ~~;~.4 .2,_;:-4 mairb. ne ghar ji karparhi Having gone home, I studied.

Verbs 111

613 Repeated roots in conjunctive participles

When the verb root in a conjunctive participle is repeated, the action of the verb is repeated, takes a period of time or occurs continuously.

- ~ ,_;:-4 Lfo. c:''; J J ~ c2~...1 US DC paise gin gin kar apne batve mem rakhe

He counted the money very carefuIly before putting it in his bag.

- JlJ d) 1$) L ;-lr! lr! _,....jT )JI ;- J..l! JJ..i ,__,JJ;karvatem badal badal kar aur iiIb.sU bahi bahi kar siri rat ki~

He spent the entire night tossing and turning (changing positions) and shedding tears. (Narang, Readings)

614 Continuous tenses

Continuous tenses have DURATlVE aspect they describe actions or states which are incomplete and in progress. They have the following structure:

VERB ROOT + rahi - ram - rahe + inflected AUXILIARY VERB

rahi is the perfective participle of rahni, 'to stay', 'remain'. It is delexicalized (has lost its original meaning) and functions as the continuous participle. It agrees with the subject noun or pronoun in gender and number, like an adjective.

For an overview of continuous tenses, see Table 13 on pages 89-90. For the auxiliary verb bOni, see §605-§606.

615 Continuous present

The continuous present tense (Table 19, on p. 112) describes actions or states which are incomplete and in progress at the time of speaking. The present tense of the auxiliary is used, and the verb agrees with the subject.

The form of the negative is na.hiIi:t (§4I7), although negative sentences in the present continuous tense are rare. If a negative present continuous does occur, the auxiliary may be dropped.

Examples

-.cf~) T~ ~I J~ bhii abhi ghar i Tabi bal Brother is coming home now.

Table 19: Continuous present tense of kami
SINGULAR
1st person 0J1~);- iF-" mairll kar r&hi hiilil 1 am doing. (m.)
0-'11..51');- iF-" maim kar ram hiilil 1 am doing. (f.)
2nd person L .? .. tii kar rahi hai You are doing. (m.)
d ,:) Y
a (,$1');- ji tii kar rahi hai You are doing. (f.)
3rd person d~);-O~ vo kat rahi hai He, it is doing. (m.)
d 1..51');-O~ vo kat rahi hai She, it is doing. (f.)
PLURAL
1st person lfi d);- r1 ham kar rahe haiIh We are doing. (m.)
lfi 1..51')'; rt ham kar ram haiIh We are doing. (f.)
2nd person -'1 d);- ~ tum tar rahe ho You are doing. (rn.)
-'1 (,$1');- ~ tum tar rahi ho You are doing. (f.)
<..rid) ,;yT ip kar rahS hairiJ. You are doing. (m.)
i,J.:t (,$1') ,; y. T ip kat rahi hairiJ. You are doing. (f.)
3rd person i,J.:td)';O~ vo kar rahc hairil They are doing. (m.)
o« (,$1') ,; O~ vo kat ram hairiJ. They are doing. (f.) (Examples)

- d 1..51') A~ i} ~0~1 J.S-" (,T o~) farida aj ka1 imtibin Ice lie parh rabi bai Farida is studying for exams these days.

'L.. . I \;'~I

- c« d) ~ c: ,. O~,;')~ err:

afzal aur farida cae pi rabe baidl Afzal and Farida are drinking tea.

~ b' ~

- if.) J-. ~ _;:... , S,).j_""J ~ X d-~

cibi bar jagah 4hiilil4i, magar nahirll mil rabi

1 looked for the key everywhere, but (I am) not finding it.

Continuous tenses do not occur with mhni, 'to remain' as a sentence verb; the habitual present is used instead.

Verbs 113

- 0-'1 d-t) C JL.. ~J ~ )-'1') iJ":"" maim lihaur mclil dO si1 sa mhti biiIb

1 ha ve been living in Lahore for two years.

The continuous present is also used to describe a future action which has already begun, or which is considered as begun.

- 0-'1' ~) T 1,]"4 J "'IT .»: ' ~J is) , a ~ thik hai, rakh do, mai.th ip ke pis i raba biiIb

Okay, put down (the receiver), 1 am on my way to you.

616 Continuous past

The continuous past tense describes actions or states which were incomplete and in progress at a point in the past. The past tense of the auxiliary is used. The verb agrees with the subject. The form of the negative is nahirll (§417).

Table 20: Continuous past tense ofk.ami
SINGULAR
1st person ~L,; mairh kar rahi thi I was doing. (m.)
,:) ~
~1..51');-~ maith kar rahi thi I was doing. (f.)
2nd person ~ ~)';ji tii kar rahi thi You were doing. (rn.)
~1..51')';-ji tii kar ram tbi You were doing. (f.)
3rd person ~ ~);-Il~ vo kar rahi thi He, it was doing. (m.)
~ 1..51').?o~ vo kar ram thi She, it was doing. (f.)
PLURAL
1st person ~4); rt ham kar rahe the We were doing. (m.)
~ 15)';- rt ham kat ram thim We were doing. (f.)
2nd person ~ Lt);- ~ tum. kar rabe the You were doing. (m.)
~ 1..51'); r:i tum kar rahi thim You were doing. (f.)
.. ,;- T ip kar rabS thS You were doing. (m.)
.:& Lt) "'I
.. ; T ip kar rahi thiIh You were doing. (f.)
~1...S1') Y
3rd person ~ »>» vo kar rahe the They were doing. (m.)
~ 1..51');O~ vo kar ram thiIh They were doing (f.) 114 Urdu: An Essential Grammar

Examples

,( j' 1 A': LT. (' I __ 'I"

- r,.f' Y. Y r: ~ ~ ~ ,,) .JI!r' iJ-' .s ~

bhii kal ghar i rabi tIM, jab bas xarib hO gai

Brother was coming home yesterday, when the bus broke down.

-.fi (,f.') ~~ 2} ~ G~l Ll}~ Gi 4~) farida un dinom imtihin ke lie parb rah1 tbI

Farida was studying for exams (during) those days.

- ~ .d) L5'i d~ o~) )JI ~I afzal aur farida cae pi rabe the Afzal and Farida were drinking tea.

~ ST .t

- ~ .d) .ru ~ ~ ...fJ 1 ...r..JI!r' ~

jab ghar mem ig lagi, tab bam sO rabe the

At the time the fire broke out in the house, we were sleeping.

With the stative verb baithni, 'to sit' the continuous tenses refer to the act of sitting, and not to the state of being seated.

Lf~b llL)" ----- - •

- .. ~y r-:! ., <f"r ~ ~ (,f.') ~ ...r.

mairll bai1b rabI tbI, ke kursi ki paya tnt gayi

I was just sitting down when the leg of the chair broke.

LJ'" j. b LdS- --- ..' •

- .. ~y r-:!., <f"r ~ ~ dY. ~ I..P""

mai:ri:t baitJU biii tbI. jab lrursi ki paya tnt gayi

I was seated when the leg of the chair broke.

617 Other continuous tenses

The CONTINUOUS CONDITIONAL tense is used to describe incomplete, continuing actions or states which may be happening at the time of speaking. The subjunctive auxiliary is used, and the verb agrees with the subject. The clause is introduced by words like §ayad, agar, mumkin hai., etc. (§608). The form of the negative is na (§417), as is always the case with subjunctive verbs.

-.Jt~) T ~ ..:;...JJ u-1 J~ ~~ §ayad bhii isi vaqt ghar i raba bO

Maybe brother is coming home right now.

Verbs 115

-J:' ,..j ._jJ.G ,c"1.J1' I.fi') .; it) ~_,......i /1 agar nasrin kim kaT rabi M. usC taJdjf na dO If Nasrin is working, don't bother her.

Th~ CONTINUOUS PR~UMPTIVE TENSE is used to describe incomplete, continuing ~~lofns or states which on~ _pres.umes to be happening at the time of speaking. e uture tense of the auxiliary IS used, and the verb agrees with the subject.

Ii'" L ~I f .(

- o y, ,,) ~..:;...JJ lJ"! J~ I C ~ ~4

pamc baj gse. bhii is vaqt ghar i rabi bO gi

It's five O'clock; brother must be coming home now.

- J y, I.fi') .;- it) ...r.' ~ lJ"! ~__,......; nasrIn is silsile mem k.im ksr rabI bO gi Nasrin must be working in this connection.

The CONTINUOUS IRREALIS is used to describe unrealized continuous actions or states. The imperfective participle of hOni is the auxiliary, and the verb agrees with the subject.

- tiy, ~ J-..k..:. L) u...l y tiy, ~) T 0-' }'I agar vo a raha hOm, to us ki xat mil gayi hOti

If he were coming(on the way), we would have received his letter.

618 Root + salmi (ability, possibility)

The modal verb salmi shows the ability to perform an action, or the possibility of an event occurring. The verb phrase has the structure:

VERB ROOT + inflected form of sakni

salmi, which is intransitive, determines the grammar of the sentence; in perfective tenses, salmi agrees with the subject and tIC is not used even if the verb root belongs to a transitive verb. The tense of sakni determines the form of the negative (negatives are shown in Table 13 on pages 89-90).

L:£:.... t , • \

-.d ~~:r.

m.Cri bacca cal saJctj bei My child can walk.

_If ~ T ~ ...r.''::''Y~ J J)' d)~ ~J vahid bimir hai, kal ki divat mem nahiJ:b. i saki ga

Wahid is sick; he won't be able to come to tomorrow's party.


- a l5_jJ.), LC.... ~ ~ l_j~ r:! ~ maim ye davi nabiril kbi saD. kafvi bai

I couldn't take this medicine; it's (too) bitter.

-C" . .'. w , I •. J ~ w lJ L....... T

- d "_'-.J1' If)· ..r.t d) ~ . I.F"

ismin mem bidal chi rahe haiJil, biri§ hO sakti hai Clouds are gathering in the sky; it could rain.

619 Root + pini (possibility)

The verb p8ni, 'to find' may be used as a modal, showing the possibility of an action dependent on circumstances (most often in negative sentences). The verb phrase has the structure:

VERB ROOT + inflected form of pini

Used as a modal, pini is intransitive. and agrees with the subject.

- tf .d4 T ~ ~ .::..y~ J jJ, a ._j_j~ ~_j vahid masriif hai, kalki divat mem nahiIh i piC gs

Wahid is busy; he can 't manage to come to tomorrow's party.

'w .«. . .l' I T '-w I..%. _. l.:.:il . •

-~.~~,.Jrct) ("1'-"; .. ~)>- _~w~

baccorh DC itni gor maciyi ke ham. irim se film na dekh pie

The children made so much noise that we couldn't watch the film in peace.

In negative sentences with pini, the oblique infinitive may be used instead of the root, if a second clause follows. The second clause usually contains a verb of motion. In this case, the negative immediately precedes pini.

- t.! ~ wj 4 L) Ifl ~41 ~ 4 ,.j d;S; ;fi ~ ~ I OJ vo ek machli bhi pa.kafne na pays thi ke us ki paom phisal gaya He hadn't managed to catch a single fish, when his foot slipped.

pinii also occurs as a non-modal verb meaning 'to find'. 'to get'. whereas sakni only occurs as a modal. Although intransitive as a modal, pini. is transitive when used as a sentence verb.

'w . 'I '~I' '1

-.c:. ... ~~ ~w ~~

anjum ne imtihin mem acche nambar piC

Anjum got good marks (good numbers) in the examination.

Verbs 117

620 Root + cukni (completion)

The modal verb cukni shows completion of an action or event prior to a second action or event. which may be expressed in the sentence, or be the event of narration. It usually occurs in perfective tenses. The verb phrase has the structure:

VERB ROOT + inflected form of cukni

cukni is sometimes translated as 'already', but it usually corresponds to an English pluperfect. cukni., which is intransitive, determines the grammar of the sentence; thus in perfective tenses. cukni agrees with the subject, and ne is not used even if the verb root belongs to a transitive verb.

.. C," l.:. \"tf.::-f' L) ~ l:J1 uW· ~. I .A) I

- ~ If""; .J1' I.J".J-".r .. t -r .. .,T!; - L.J1' ~

andhSra hone lagi. cqiyirh apna Wn ki git gi tar ximog 1Jij culd tbhb

It began to get dark. The birds had sung their evening song and become silent. (Narang, Readings)

W- .. ·w ~. 1o....sJ.... .. C"_ ~lf

-.. ..;;.J .. ) L ~ ~ .:& L""; ~ l5) r-t'

ham. giip b&; cuke the jab malik. sihib DC daryift kiya

We had already sold the car when Malik Sahib inquired (about it).

621 Compound verbs

Compound verbs are nuanced verb sequences with a structure similar to ROOT + sak:ni or ROOT + cukni:

VERB ROOT + inflected VECTOR VERB

Vector verbs lose their lexical meaning. and contribute various nuances to the meaning of the main verb. as illustrated below. The commonest vector verbs are j3.ni, deDi and lena. Compound verbs are described in Chapter 7.

-~~.k.,:.r,! ye xat parhic

Please read this letter. (non-compound verb)

- ~p "";'; h r:! ye xat parh dijiS

Please read this letter (to me). (compound verb. vectordeni)

_~",,~hr:! ye xat pllfh lijie

Please read this letter (to yourselt). (compound verb, vector leni) .


VERB FORMS BASED ON THE IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE

With the exception of the IRREALlS, verb structures based on the imperfective participle have habitual aspect: they describe actions or states which occur generally or regularly. Imperfective tenses have the following structure:

IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE + inflected AUXILIARY VERB

For an overview of habitual tenses, see Table 13 on pages 89-90. For the auxiliary verb bani, see §605-§606.

622 Imperfective participles alone

Irrealis

Imperfective participles without auxiliaries are used in both clauses of conditional sentences to describe a failed condition, or a condition which is impossible to meet (§609, 'Unfulfilled/unfulfillable conditions'). The imperfective participle may also be used in place of the subjunctive to show impossible conditions (§609, 'Unfulfilled wishes, conjecture and regret').

Narrative imperfective

The imperfective participle is used without an auxiliary in narration. Passages with verbs in the narrative imperfective typically start with a verb in the habitual past (§624), describing events occurring regularly in the past. As the narrative continues, the auxiliary is dropped, and only the imperfective participle remains.

i 2.~ .rr: J u~ )JI u~ - .& J~ c: .c}) &-,;51 4)

_~:l wLi L) ISjl5 j,d) ~ ~ i 2.~ ~ ~ Z ;I~ YO aksar sabaq rl$e se bhigt£ the. khetOm aur jangalom ki san katte, cora kar ganne yi phal kbate, yi pbir rei gap ki ta.m.Ui dekhti

He often used to play hooky from memorizing (his) lessons. He would walk in the fields or forests, steal sugar cane or fruit and eat it, or (again) watch the splendid sight of a train. (Narang. Reader)

623 Habitual present

The habitual present tense (Table 21, on p. 119) describes actions or states which occur generally or regularly in the present. It may also be used to describe a close future event.

The present tense of the auxiliary is used, and the verb agrees with the subject. See § 1009 for agreement with mixed subjects. The form of the negative

Verbs 119

is nabiliI. (§417). In negative sentences, the auxiliary may be dropped. The feminine plural suffix -tirb. occurs in the habitual present when the auxiliary is dropped in negative sentences: ~ sunti:lil, ~; kartirl:J..

Table 21: Habitual present tense of kama
SINGULAR
1st person l:i~ maiIb. karti hiirll I do. (m.)
uy. I.P""
uy,~.? ~ maiIb. karti hum I do. (f.)
2nd person dl:i;ji tii karti hai You do. (m.)
d~~ji tii karti hai You do. (f.)
3rd person d l:i~o-, YO kartihai He. it does. (m.)
a ,,);0-' YO karti hai She, it does. (f.)
PLURAL
1st person 1.F12.;r-r ham karte hai.J:b We do. (m.)
1.FI,,).?r-r ham. karti hai.J:b We do. (f.)
2nd person y,2.;~ tumkarteho You do. (m.)
y,~; ~ tumkartiba You do. ([)
H~ T ip Iaute habil You do. (m.)
1ft e: ~
.. ; T ip karti habil You do. ([)
I.FI r..I ~
3rd person I.FI 2.;0-, YO kartC haim They do. (m.)
c« ~ ~ 0-' YO karti haiJiJ. They do. (f.) Examples

.. • . U .\ W .L Is.

- I.FI ~ >.F' t· Y' ~ .r., Jy ~ r"<"

ham. 8m. taur par Wn ko bay mem bai!hre haiIb We generally sit in the garden in the evening.

.. ,\.. :l' I. •

- .ct 1.5" ~ "_'.r. I..F" u y.! r U "('"':

yahiIh sardiyom mem baraf pafti hai

It snows (snow faJls) here in the winter.

Compare

- a IJI') ~ w.r. {~ ~J.vJ ~ f gar( a)m kaPfC pehnO, baraf par ram hai Wear warm clothes; it is snowing.


.. ~ .

-r,5 . u::r>J~ ~ I":!

ye bas sadar nahiIiljiu

This bus doesn't go to the town centre.

- ~ 2__,......r., _;,) r-t ham fan par sOre haitb We sleep on the floor.

.. . La.ii -

-~.c..J'1' 0.) u ~

macchar nuqsindeh bOre haitb Mosquitoes are harmful.

Immediate future

-.::1 liT ~.) ( J I.)~ : ly..) c; ~ o.)L. mida ne nar se kahi: xabardiir, d~man im bsi

The female said to the male: watch out, the enemy approaches. (Mazhab·e-[§q)

624 Habitual past

The habitual past tense (Table 22, on p. 121) describes actions or states which occurred generally or regularly in the past. The past tense of the auxiliary is used, and the verb agrees with the subject. See §1009 for agreement with mixed subjects. The form of the negative is nahirlJ. (§417). The habitual past is often translated as 'used to (VERB)' , but is also translated 'VERB-ed', 'was/were (VERB)ing', depending on the context.

With stative verbs (verbs describing a state), such as baitJmi, 'to sit', letoi. 'to lie', sana, 'to sleep', rahni 'to remain', and cihni, 'to want' the distinction between past habitual and past continuous states is not very strong.

Examples

-.::1 l:iT ~ ~ yl (~liT ~ ~ ~4 Ji~J~ bhii Wn kC piIilc baje ghar imtbi, ab che baje ita hai

Brother used to come home at 5 in the evening. now he comes at 6.

f

.... ~ . u ~

- ~ ~ I..F" t: . y-- i r-t I..F" ur.-'

garmiyom mem ham §im kO bay mem bai#JtC tbe

In the summer we sat/used to sit in the garden in the evening.

Verbs 121

Table 22: Habitual past tense ofkami SINGULAR

lst person

2nd person

3rd person

PLURAL

lst person

2nd person

3rd person

~li;- maim karti tba I used to do. (m.)
I..F"
~";;-I..F" maiIil karti thi I used to do. (f.)
~l:i.?y tii karti thi You used to do. (m.)
~";;-y tii karti thi You used to do. (f.)
~ li_",)o_j vokarti thi He. it used to do. (m.)
~ ";_".){J_j va karti thi She. it used to do. (f.)
~ 2_;- r-t ham karte the We used to do. (m.)
~..;.? r-t' ham karti thirit We used to do. (f.)
~2_;-~ tum karte the You used to do. (m.)
~..;;~ tum karti thiril You used to do. (f.)
~ 2_.?'iT ipkartethe You used to do. (m.)
.. ".? T ip karti tlliIb. You used to do. (f.)
~i5 y
~ 2_;-o_j vo kartethe They used to do. (m.)
#";,?o_j vo karti thirh They used to do. (f.) (Examples)

- ~ 2_.J'1' .r.!j_j iJ." ~L..j .r-oJ vo kisi zaminC mem vazir bOre the

At some previous time he used to be a minister.

.." . u J "._.:;" L.) .........-.

- ~ ~J I..F" f· _j_;J . ~ I..F" ift ..r.' . .

jaG maim dehli mem thi tab quOl bay mem Tabu t1Jj

When I was in Delhi, I lived in Karol Bagh.

-.& 2__,......r., _;,) r-t ham fad par sOre tbe

We used to sleep/were sleeping on the floor.

The habitual past may be used in narration to describe events occurring regularly in the past. As the narrative continues. the auxiliary is often dropped. and only the imperfective participle remains (narrative imperfective, §622).


625 Other habitual tenses

The HABITUAL CONDITIONAL tense is used to describe actions or states which may occur generally or regularly in the present (present possibility). The subjunctive of the .auxi~jary is used. The clause is introduced by words like uyad, agar, mumkin hat. etc. The form of the negative used is na (§417), as is always the case with subjunctive verbs. The verb agrees with the subject.

-.J1' uT 0.) Lr.J.) .r. .A,ll..! i.J1' lJT jJ) ~ .A,ll..! uyad muns. rOz ita hO. uyad bar dUsre din jtj hO

Maybe the clerk comes daily; maybe he comes every second day.

- U.J1' d) ~....)1.)-' )JI ~..J} OJ ~ .:::1. ~ mumkin hai ke vo log kisi aur S8f8k par rahte hOm

It's possible that those people live on some other street.

The HABITUAL PRESUMPTIVE tense is used to describe actions or states which one presumes to occur generally or regularly in the present. The future tense of the auxiliary is used. The verb agrees with the subject.

,I'" -

- I.) .J1' ul jJ) ,r-.

muns. roz ita b6 gi

The clerk must come daily.

(' '"

- L W.J1' d) ~ ....)1..- )JI ~ S_,J OJ

vo log kisi aur sarak par rahtC hOth ge Those people must live on some other street.

The HABITUAL IRREALIS is used to describe unrealized or impossible habitual actions or states. The imperfective participle ofhOni is the auxiliary. The verb agrees with the subject.

,I'" ,.-- - d

- u.J1' ~ y, ~u I) L., Y liy, lil jJ) ~}i

agar munfi rOz ita hOO. to 8m kim ho gayi hOti

If the clerk came daily, all the work would have been done.

626 Imperfective participle + rahni (iterative)

The imperfective participle occurs in a phrase with an inflected form ofrahni, 'to remain', 'to stay', showing continuation or repetition of an action or state. rahni, which is intransitive. determines the grammar of the sentence; thus in perfective tenses, DC is not used even if the participle belongs to a transitive verb. Both the participle and rahni agree with the subject. This construction

Verbs 123

does not occur (a) in the negative. (b) in continuous tenses. With stative verbs, the perfective participle is used instead (§637).

-.:::1. if;').}Y, ~ ek- J J~..r." ~ jhil mem pini ki satah tam hOd mbu hai

The water level in the lake keeps 011 going doWIJ .

• (' j,' -

- IJ"" ) 1 4 -~) l:;.(j.J+.I *- uI) t;.:)

kutti lit bbar bhaurhkti rahi. nimd or gai

The dog went on barking the whole night. It was impossible to sleep.

The imperfective participle of jioi with rabni has the idiomatic meaning 'to be lost' (to remain gone). It usually occurs in a past tense.

... ~ ~) li4-..r." S~5 I~ ~ ~1l) fol Sr. ~,...;sr ~I

ek martaba jab men ungli ki a challi candi 4J1eti mem jita rahi thi .

Once when a ring on my finger was lost in (playing) blind man's buff .

(Rusva, Umni6 lin Ada)

627 Imperfective participle + jini (progression)

The imperfective participle occurs in a phrase with an inflected form ofjini, 'to go', showing the (a) deliberate continuation of an action, and (b) the progression of a condition leading to a change. jini, which is intransitive. determines the grammar of the sentence; in perfective tenses, DC is not used even if the verb root belongs to a transitive verb. Both the participle and jioi agree with the subject.

d4- 2lf! 01) olJ vih vah! garejiiiye!

Bravo, bravo! Please go on singing!

L '" J..:-....I " . '" ,.J ~~l .C' . s ( "6.' -If 1.:11

- d ,:).r • ~ y C"" ~ .d.,.J':::' ~ ,

itni bbi gate najiiiye. dekh lijie ke kOi pasand Dr rahi hai

Don't go on singing so long; check whether anyone is enjoying it.

(' "6.,\ 1"_ - 'L... ... ,"_L ,"'u 1"_ ('I

- IS' L . ~.J-' ~ Y L . ~.J1' r- c.:--...r If , . ..r." ~ .r

agar jbil mem pini k.i satah kam hOtijie, to jhil siikbjiC gi

If the water level in the lake continues to go down, the lake will dry up.


628 lmperfectlve participle used as an adjective Imperfective participles may be used as adjectives. See §901.

VERB FORMS BASED ON THE PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE

Verb structures based on the perfective participle have punctual aspect: they describe actions or states which occur once in the past. Perfective tenses have the following structure:

PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE + inflected AUXILIARY VERB

For an overview of punctual tenses, see Table 13 on pages 89-90. For the auxiliary verb hOni, see §605-§606.

629 Agreement in pertectlve tenses

Verbs in non-perfective tenses agree with the subject noun or pronoun. (See § lOO7-§ 1010 for a detailed discussion of subject-verb agreement.)

_J L...~ 0~1 j.) ~I anjum imtihin de gi

Anjum will lake the examination.

_If' L...~ 0~1 j.) .!ylj zihidimtihin de ga

Zahid will take the examination.

In perfective tenses, the agreement pattern depends on whether the verb is intransitive or transitive. (See §801 for a definition of transitivity.) Intransitive verbs agree with the subject. The subject is in the nominative case.

_ '(.J1' 1.:-J~Lf" ..r. 0~1 ~I anfu'm imtihin mem. kamyab hO gal Anjum passed the the examination.

_ t.f .J1' I.:-J ~ Lf" ..r. 0 ~ 1 .!y Ij zihid imtihin mem. kamyiib lJij gay; Zahid passed the the examination.

Transitive verbs agree with nominative direct objects. The subject takes the postposition DC (§51 0).

_Lp 0~1 d ~I

anjum DC imtihin diya Anjum took the examination.

- 4~ 0bt.:...1 d .!ylj

zihid DC imtihin diya Zahid took the examination.

The noun preceding ne is in the oblique case.

- 4~ 0~1 d u_,..h ~u. tilib ilmom DC imtihin diya

The students took the examination.

il,.

Verbs 125

If the object as well is followed by a postposition, most commonly leD (§505), the verb is masculine singular. (A postposition always prevents agreement between a noun or pronoun and a verb.)

~ '1 \" •

_ ....!" ~ If 'r' c::: ..r.

m.ai.rll ne kahini Farm I read theta story.

L.t.~ '\"'1 \" i .

_ j:) ~ _,.... If 'r' iJ" C:::..r.

ma.i.ril. DC us kabini ko nahirlJ. pII!bi I ha ve not read that story.

First and second person pronouns take the nominative case when followed by ne. Third person pronouns take the oblique case, and third person plural pronouns

J

(ye, VO, jO) have variant forms (inborn. u~! ' unhom u~ I • jinhOm u~ )

which occur only before ne. See Table 6 in §211.

630 Simple past

The perfective participle is used alone, without an auxiliary, in the simple past tense. (See §604 for the forms of the perfective participle.) The simple past shows the completion of a single action or state at a point in the past, without reference to prior or subsequent events. An adverb of time may focus on the time the event happened; an adverb of place may focus on where it happened, or an adverb of manner, how it happened. When the context of the event or action is not the focus, the simple past is typically used in narration.

The simple past is a perfective tense. If the verb is transitive, it agrees with a nominative direct object (§629). If it is intransitive, it agrees with the subject.

Examples

_ ~J uYJ .....(:; .r- ~ OJ vo der tak vaharil rahii

They stayed there until (it was) very late.

0"":' , ..:;...::,./ d L....r"J~ _...,.:!~ 3.r. w4~ c: dM d 1,).,1 )JI ... 01 - L.t.~.IT ~ J .cJIS 0~..r. r.1~ -I.S~ ;J~ J4S)JI

":«: r. f":! ~l.i L...»> :~JJI Lf"}.c:1 d ~~ ... aur us ne phurti se ha44iyiriljo, diril. diisre DC go~t. xiin aur khiil tJlyyir ksr di. tisri ~er mem jan Qiilne ke lie ige barha. an-path ne use fOkj aUT kaha: 'are nisamajh. yc ~ hai.·

... And he connected the bones with dexterity. The second prepared the flesh, blood and hide. The third stepped forward in order to put life in the tiger. The illiterate one stopped him and said, '0 fool, this is a tiger.' (Narang, Readings)


The form of the negative (§417) is na. nabiIil is also used when the focus of the sentence is on the verb. i.e .• the verb contains the most important information in the sentence. In the examples below. the focus is marked with italics.

J

-J~,..j..:.:..4 J"'~ 01 d u~1

unborn ne an parb ki bit na miDi

They did not accept what the uneducated person said.

'T' T

- t.f ~ ~ e:-" C

ij subah (- subh) bas nah1tiJ if This morning the bus did not come.

The verb oona has two past forms: the past tense thi (- the - tbi - tbiIh) and the perfective participle hiii (- hue - hffi - hiiiIh). tbi shows a state. but hiii shows a transition.

- 4,:i 1-4J J IS" r-".r w::-' I.S)~ janvari merit mausam kifi 1han4i tbi The weather was pretty cold in January.

e'\ j.~ s.s .. r._b

-,c_- Crl ~rv-' r.J" } ~ I_,.;. I~ r-' _,... ~

jab mausam ~ biii tab log gar (a) m kapre pebnni5lage

When the weather became cold. people began to wear warm clothes,

631 Immediate past

The immediate past tense. also called the present perfect (Table 23. p. 127) describes an action or state which is completed. but which still affects the present situation. Very often it refers to events which have recently been completed. The present tense of the auxiliary is used and the form of the negative is nahirlt. The immediate past is a perfective tense; if the verb is transitive. it agrees with the direct object unless the object is marked by k6 (§629). If it is intransitive, it agrees with the subject.

Examples

\('._s1: i ' "u

- .d ~ .r- .d t.f Yo 1.)") .

biri§ bw bai, sarak gill hai

It has rained; the street is wet.

<a: l/ .J1' 0l..aZ L..:.~ , J.J1' ~ ~)4 C.c:'f' dIS" kifi usC se biri§ nah1tiJ bw. xisi nuqsin bO gays bai

It has not rained for some time (and) considerable loss has occurred

Verbs 127
Table 23: Immediate past of jini
SINGULAR
1st person U.J1' l/ w::-' maiIil gayi hiilil I have gone. (m.)
U.J1' ~ w::-' maiIil gai hum I have gone. (f.)
2nd person Lt .. til gayihai You have gone. (m.)
.d .. y
.d~jJ til gai hai You have gone. (f.)
i.· 3rd person a l/ 4)_j vo gayihai He. it has gone. (m.)
X
a ~ ~_j vo gaihai She. it has gone. (f.)
PLURAL
lst person 1ft if f"1' ham. pC haiIil We have gone. (m.)
~~f"1' ham. gai haim We have gone. (f.)
2nd person .J1'c!~ tumgaeoo You have gone. (m.)
y'~ ~ tumgaioo You have gone. (f.)
~2!.".,T ip gaC haiIil You have gone. (m.)
~-
r.J.:t ":;11 ip gaihairh You have gone. (f.)
3rd person ~ .:!o_j vogaChairh They have gone. (m.)
1ft ~ ~_j vo gai haiIil They have gone. (f.) I

If one is not concerned with a connection between the past event and some other event, but only with the fact that something happened (or when, how or where it happened), the simple past is used:

• ... U L'-_'__} .I.bl_ •

- t.f Yo 1.)") • -T -r w::-' t..IJ) '"n

pahi!'Om meIb. bahut biril biii In the hills it rained a lot.

If the past event or action no longer affects the present. but the time it happened (its temporal context) is relevant; or it is connected to a prior event, the remote past is used (§632).

- ~ Jy. l.fJ4 j.) kal bam hiii thi

It rained yesterday.

STATIVE VERBS are used in the immediate past to express states which commenced with an action or event in the past, and which continue into the present.


J. • U •

-d~'..P"t·~

najma bay mem baitJU hai

Najma is sitting in the garden (she has sat down and is still sitting).

U:J ". _j ...l..L,...

-d .. ~1..1"..r

himid fan par leta bsi

Hamid is lying on the floor (he has lain down and is still lying).

632 Remote past

The remote past (also called the past perfect; see Table 24, below) shows that an action was completed in the past and no longer affects the current situation. The action may have been completed within a specified period, in the remote past, or prior to a second event. The past tense of the auxiliary is used and the form of the negative is nahiIb.. If the verb is intransitive, it agrees with the subject. If it is transitive, it agrees with a nominative direct object (§629).

Table 24: Remote past of jini
SINGULAR
1st person ~Lf mai1b. gayi thi I went, had gone. (m.)
.. ~
~Jf~ mai1b. gal thi I went, had gone. (f.)
2nd person ~Lf" tii gayi tbi You went, had gone. (m.)
.. Y
~JfY til gaithi You went, had gone. (f.)
3rd person ~ L.5 0 vo gayithi He, it has gone. (m.)
.. 'J
~ Jf 0-' vo gai thi She, it has gone. (f.)
PLURAL
1st person .&2 rt ham gaethe We went, had gone. (m.)
"Jf ham. gai thiJh We went, had gone. (f.)
~ rt
2nd person .&.c! ~ tumgaethe You went, had gone. (m.)
~Jf~ tum gai thiJh You went, had gone. (f.)
"2 I..JI ip gaethe You went, had gone. (m.)
.:& '0'
"Jf T ipgaithiJh You went, had gone. (f.)
~ y
3rd person .&.c! OJ vo ga!the They went, had gone. (m.)
~ Jf'oJ vo gai thi:rh They went, had gone. (f.) Verbs 129

Examples

- ~ ~ ;..... L)JJ'1'~ d ~ '..P" \ ~H

unnis sau binave mem maim DC 1ihaur ki safar ldyi tb.i In 1992, I (fa veiled to Lahore.

- a tf W""'lIJ yl J-,I , ~ 41 ~ ~..I.::-'- J~ bhiii id par ghar ayi tbi, aur ab viipas gaya hai Brother came home at Eid, and has now gone back.

However, if one wants to say explicitly that something was completed before a second thing happened, it is preferable to use VERB ROOT + cukni in the remote past (§620).

-.r.5 J'1' tJr u4J0 J S~~, ~ ~ 1 ~ J~ ~ jab bhii ghar i cuki tbi. Wii ki tayy8riyiIb. guru hij gairiJ.

When brother had come home, preparations for the wedding began.

633 Other punctual tenses

The CONDITIONAL PAST tense is used to describe actions or states which may have occurred in the past. The subjunctive of the auxiliary is used. The clause will be introduced by words like ayad, agar, mumkin hai, etc. (§608). The form of the negative used is na (§417). If the verb is intransitive, it agrees with the subject. If it is transitive, it agrees with a nominative direct object (§629) .

-J'1' ~J.; ~ d u~y 01,.j a ~ mumkin hai Ire un legem DC ghar badla h6 It's possible that those people have moved.

Lf' .... J.JL:::.

- J'1' .. r c+: "

§iyad munSi DB gaya hO Maybe the clerk has not left .

The PRESUMPTIVE PAST tense is used to describe actions or states which one presumes to have occurred in the past. The future tense of the auxiliary is used. If the verb is intransitive, it agrees with the subject. If it is transitive, it agrees with a nominative direct object (§629).

_ J L.:. .:i ~ ,Lf' L.5.t .' ..

a .r : J'1' .. ft-' ~

munSi ghar gayi hO ga. daftar xili hai

The clerk must have left; the office is empty.


- J .J1' J I.)"_""':- eo4 J ~i JJ~ d 1.)"1 us DC zarIlr ip ki bit mahsiis ki bO gi

He certainly must have been hurt by what you said.

The PAST IRREALIS is used to describe unrealized or impossible past actions or states. The imperfective participle of hOni is the auxiliary. If the verb is intransitive. it agrees with the subject. If it is transitive. it agrees with a nominative direct object (§629).

'f

1- \" ~- , "'," \" ..::..U .J" • \ I

-..,..... ~ )Jr> Y "s.J1' if I.)"~ . <..::>r, L I.)"

agar us DC m.Cri bit mabsiis ki hOa, to zariir kuch kahti

If he had been hurt by what I said, he would certainly have said something.

634 Derived passive

Transitive verbs can be passivized by changing them to the construction:

PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE + inflected form of jini, 'to go'

jini, which is intransitive. determines the grammar of the sentence; DC is not used. and both the participle and jiIJi agree with the subject. Note that the direct object of the original transitive sentence becomes the subject of the passive one.

ACTIVE

-.! ~';-IJ-"l.x..::.JJ ~15'"15'" ~ 4lJ vo timir ki kim vaqt par pUri kare.liJ ge

They will complete the construction work on time.

~ PASSIVE

_IS' ~~ ~IJ.t.l .x ..::.JJ ~ul5'" ~ tamir ki kim vaqt par piiri Jdyi jae gi

The construction work will be completed on time.

ACTIVE

~ b .. • J

- ~ ~ )Y:' 04..At C 1.1 -""l c: U"I

us DC phurti se ha44iyiiIb.jo, dizb

He connected the bones with dexterity.

~ PASSIVE

.( ~ j, .. u.t

- (J.:-' S )Y': C 1.1 -""l u.. ,

haQ4iyiiIb. phurti se jar di gaiIb

The bones were connected with dexterity.

If the action has an instrument. it is marked by ke zarie or Ire hith (preferred if the instrument is human), or se.

Verbs 131

ACTIVE

(' .~ \" ~ \" ~. ..

- If e: . if '-.SJ-"l ~J L: UJJJ .r' ~

timir mazdiirOIil Ire zane piiti ki jae gI

The construction will be completed by the labourers.

~ PASSIVE

- ~ '-.S~ 1¥!'" (C J.)~) LtJ~ JJ~~ 04.~ haQ4iyiirll jidii Ire zane (jidii se) jar dI gahb

The bones were connected by means of magic.

635 Incapacity

Both transitive and intransitive verbs may be passivized to show incapacity. usually in negative sentences. The person (or animate creature) who is incapable of the action is expressed as an instrument marked by &C. Note that if an intransitive is passivized, there is no subject. The verb is masculine singular by default.

_1.J~ ~ ~ ~15'"L:.:;!..r-' 0.)...st' ~I C ~ mujh se Ck hi din meDl hoi kam nabIm Jdyi jiiti

I can't possibly do so much work in just one day.

q IS' ~~ ~ )J.) ~1 ~>t' .i:rl2~ ~I c: ~ ~ kyi tum se aise jiitC pahnC hue itni diir cali jae grl

Wi/lyou be able to walk so far wearing such shoes?

When jiIJi is passivized to show incapacity, its regular perfective participle Giyl) is used.

- Lf ,...i 4.~ ~ ~ l«>~T c: U"i us se idhi mil bbijiyi DB gayi

He couldn't go even half a mile.

636 Perfective participle + karni (habit or practice)

The uninflected (masculine singular) perfective participle occurs in a phrase with an inflected form of kami. 'to do', showing an action that is done as a practice or habitually. It is not used in punctual tenses.

! w-:!JS\l T ~.;- ~I.r. barie karam iyi .karem! Please keep coming!


- ~ ..J _;-l.:.- j I_,T J yT _;51 y U,J-d yfuh to aksar ii.p ki iviz sunA karti thi

Well, I often used to listen to your voice. (RUSV8, Umnio lin Ada"")

- .,;.t 2;1y, ~G 0.) ~L...... ~ I ~ ~ lakhnau mem aise muimle din rat hjjj karti haiIb

These things go on night and day in Lucknow. (RUSV8. Umrio Jin Ada)

The regular perfective participle ofjiini is used in this construction.

.. .. 'wl.o. ... \.

-~I..I.r -. cc-) cr:

maiIb. rik§e se jaya katti tbI

I always used to go by rickshaw.

637 Per1ective participle + rahni (continuation)

The perfective participle of STATIVE VERBS occurs in a phrase with an inflected form of rahni, 'to remain', 'to stay', showing the continuation of a state. This is similar to the construction IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE + rahni (§626), which is used with non-stative verbs. rahni, which is intransitive, determines the grammar of the sentence; thus in perfective tenses, DC is not used even if the verb root belongs to a transitive verb. Both the participle and rahni agree with the subject.

-~) ~ L>')L <Ji ~.r.l i Ls:i~) ~,) ~ '-;-" 'Y.* bhOli sab kuch dekh rahi thi. par cup hi sidhi bai/ha mba

Bhola was watching everything, but he went on keeping mum and doing nothing. [Prem Chand, GOdin)

638 Per1ective participle used as an adjective Perfective participles may be used as adjectives. See §901.

INFINITIVES

The infinitive may be used as a verbal noun (§639) and as a request form (§61O). A variety of infinitival constructions is made with verbs, postpositions or the agent suffix viii (§311). These constructions may be divided into two groups: (a) impersonal constructions with nominative case infinitives, and (b) personal constructions with oblique case infinitives plus a postposition or sentence verb. The first group includes three common impersonal constructions showing advisability, necessity and obligation. The second includes six personal

Verbs 133

constructions showing the agent, impending action, beginning, permission, purpose, and negative assertion.

639 Infinitives as verbal nouns

The infinitive is basically a verbal noun. It may occur in the nominative case as the subject of the sentence or, in the oblique case, be followed by postpositions.

-,fi' c.~ D)_'~ ~I ~ li~ IF" ~L J ~l us Ire sith mCrijinibhi ek zariiri bit thi

My going with him was also necessary. (RUSV8. Umnio Jiin Ada)

'w L.) , 1..1. d

pinckipini

drinking water (water for drinking)

The infinitive + merh means 'at (vsaaj-ing', 'to (VERB)'. See also §520.

":;".....aJ • ·"C,) U L. .... ll

-<::1 ,)~Y'~~-:.~ ...

aisi libiis deldute mim xiibsiirat bai Such clothes are beautiful to look at.

The infinitive + se means 'from (vsasj-ing", 'to (VERB)'.

- <::1 ".,j1) ..Jji Jyt>~ y:J s>_....... c: d~ dT J u_},dLf gifiyoril Ire inc jane se sarak par dhiil ~ rabti hai

There are always clouds of dust in the street from the traffic (coming and going of cars).

Compound postpositions (§527-532) are also used with infinitives.

,) L5J ~ l:; 'I') l,~ \ . ~ .t"

- uJ. ~ L..) _') z:r:; C .::)~ fi'

ghar chi5rne se pahlc darvizC mem tili lagi dedl Before leaving the house, (you) should lock the door.

- a D)_'~ ~ #1 ~ J .:2~ ~rL...... ~I acchi mui§ara banine lee lie acchi tilim zariiri hai

In order to build a good society, good education is necessary.

The infinitive is also used in the nominative case with cibni, 'to want', sikhni, 'to learn' ,jinni, 'to know (how)', and inii, 'to come', 'to know'. The infinitive optionally agrees with the noun it refers to (sait, sitar and gifi in the examples below) like an adjective.


l,:.,6. ( . <:\ lj ,

- uy, , Of d.r I .r..r.:'"" ~

:mairla. sair hmi ( - kamll cihti hiiIb. 1 want to go for a walk.

L .c: ( 0b.J) ljb.J l:.....

- uy, ,'J ~ d.. . . ) ~

m.a.i.ti1 sitar bajana (- bajiru) sikh rahi hiiIb. I am learning how to play the sitar.

=a l::j~ (J~) lj~ .sjlf'c-, vo gap caJanj (- caJaml jinti hai He knows how to dri ve a car.

inioccurs in impersonal constructions (§641), meaning 'to know'.

- a (~T) LiT C}~) lj~ sjl5" _,J -ri us kO gifi calini (- ca1ani) ita (ab') bsi

He knows how to drive a car.

640 Infinitives as request forms

The infinitive may be used as a neutral request form. See §610.

CONSTRUCTIONS WITH NOMINATIVE CASE INFINITIVES

641 Impersonal constructions

Impersonal constructions are sentence types in which the verb agrees with the logical direct object of the sentence, while the 'real' or logical subject of the sentence (if expressed) is marked by the postposition 100 (§SOS) or its alternate forms (§2ID). Impersonal constructions occur very frequently in Urdu. (See §S06 for a treatment of 'experiencer' impersonal constructions.)

PERSONAL

l,:.,6. ( . " lj ,

- U-'1 , '.' d.r) .r F"" ~

mailiJ sair kama ( - kami) cibti bum I wantto go for a walk.

Li '..A,;.,.,.,...) ~.C \.l.J .. l.i - a :r v ~)Y":! t:C. ) _., uJj

tiriiq pyiz ke paJrore pasand karti bai Fsruq likes onion fritters.

Verbs 135

IMPERSONAL

<6.( . (\1,j ,

-d '.' d.r) .r..r.:'"" ~

mujhe sair kama (- kami) cihii

I should go for a walk (to me the going for a walk is wanted).

~ -.«. \'l.J'" l.i

- ....r.t v ~j~ t:C. j ... ,.J-' U-')

tiriiq xC; pyaz ke pakore pasand hairb

Faruq likes onion fritters (fritters are pleasing to Faruq).

In the previous example, the agreement between the verb and the direct object (pakOrC) can be seen.

Deletion of the subject is common.

~ - .«.

- ....r.t v ~).Y'tl I":!

ye pakore pasand bairD (I) like these fritters.

642

Infinitive + bai (necessity)

The impersonal construction INFINITIVE + hai shows the necessity of an action. The subject, if expressed, is followed by kO (§506) (or its alternate forms [§21O]). Transitive infinitives may take objects of their own, in which case they usually agree with those objects in gender and number, like an adjective. (However the force of the agreement weakens in longer sentences, and there are dialects of Urdu in which the infinitives remain masculine singular.) The agreement ofhai with the object of the infinitive is obligatory.

- d (L:.p)..r.~ ~I~j~ ~ mujhidarxist deDi (- deDi) hai

I have to submit the application.

_..JIJ (l.:.J~) ...:.J~ ~I . ~'I .. ...T I,

I,.) ... .. I.) .. 'Y"" ) Y '.' cr:

ip xC; kat darxist deDi (- deni) tbi

You were supposed to submit the application yesterday.

-Here agreement of the verb is visible because thi is marked for gender.

-J y, (L:,p)...r..~ ~I~j~ ij"; ~i use fauran darxlst deDi (-deDi) hO gi

He will have to submit the application right away.


-.:1 l.:AJ,; ~ J0~1 ~ mujhe imtihin ke lie p8!hni bsi

I have to study for the examination.

-Here there is no agreement, because imtihan is followed by a postposition.

In the everyday Urdu of Pakistan, the logical subject of the sentence may be followed either by kO or by 00: mairll 00 4inar pe jini tha, 'I was supposed to go (out) to dinner.' In dialects which have this option, the use of kO tends to be restricted to external circumstances which are not under the speaker's control, whereas 00 refers to circumstances permitting internal choice, or neutral circumstances. This usage is not correct in the standard Urdu of Delhi.

In some dialects of Urdu, inanimate subjects do not require kO:

-.:1dl~ musibat am hai

Misfortune is bound to strike.

The future or past forms of hai may be used to show future or past necessity. While agreement of the infinitive is optional, agreement of the verb is obligatory.

'L.. .,

-tfl ~ ..J.r. ~

mujhebartan miIb.jhne baidJ I have towash the dishes.

-miiIbjhne and hairlJ. both agree with bartan, which is masculine plural.

- ~ (~L..) ~L.. ,:j,r! e-:- ~

tumhCIiJ subah (- subh) bartan miriljhne (- mamjhoi) the You were supposed to wash the dishes (this) morning,

The reproach may be softened by omitting the subject. bartan will stand first in the sentence.

- ~ (~L..) ~L.. e-:- ,:j,r!

bartan subah (- subh) mamjhne (- mirlljhoi) the

(You) were supposed to wash the dishes (this) morning.

The form of the negative is nahiril. If the sentence is in the present, hai may be dropped,

( ) l,j I\"" . Ii'. I\"" -

-.:1 .r ~ l.riJ ~ JY>-, 1.,;-'1

ip ko fauran paisa vipas nabirit kama (hai) You don't need to return the money right away.

Verbs 137

1 n'; U I\"" • 1 i'

-~ r~~J~)y~

mujhefauran paisa vipas nabirb kama tbii

I didn't need toretum the money right away.

Compare

.. (Li <:\ • I\"" • Ii'

-~ rJLr~LrlJ~')y~

mujbe fauran paise vipas nahiril kame (- kama) tbe I didn't need to retum the money right away.

643 Infinitive + ewe (advisability)

The impersonal construction INFINITIVE + cihie shows the advisability of an action. The subject, if expressed, is followed by kO (§506) (or its alternate forms (§210». Transitive infinitives may take objects of their own, in which case they usually agree with those objects in gender and number, like an adjective. (However the force of the agreement weakens in longer sentences, and there are dialects of Urdu in which the infinitives remain masculine singular.) The (number) agreement of cwe with the object of the infinitive is however obligatory.

cihie is historically an old passive form meaning 'is wished', 'is necessary'.

- c.~ (u--4.r=-) d~~ ~ ~ (mujhC) cini xaridni (- xarldni) cib.ie (1) should buy sugar.

-xarldni optionally agrees with cini, which is feminine.

- ~~ (u--4~) ~--4~ L...tl .:::J use an4e xarldne (- xaridni) cib.iCIiJ He should buy eggs.

The past forms ofhai may be used to show past necessity. While agreement of the infinitive is optional, agreement of the verb is obligatory.

.. '6.(U..ll·) '..ll' .tl II\""

-&Cr" "~L,,,;>L.. I,}'-'~

(mujhe> kat an~ xarldne (- xarldni) cihie tbe

I should ha ve bought eggs yesterday.

-Note that because the is marked to show the plural, the plural marker for cahie becomes unnecessary.

.. ·6.(U..ll·) '..ll' . ll\"" .•

-~c. v .. .r- ~ .. .r-~I,}'-' ~

tumhem kat cini xarldni (- xaridni) ewe tbi You should have bought sugar yesterday.


The preceding reproach can be softened by omitting the subject. cini will stand first in the sentence.

.. 'L..(u..u·) '..u' I,.

- ~ c: ., .. ~ -d "~ U-- ~

cini ka1 xaridni (- xaridni) came tbI

(You) should have bought sugar yesterday.

-b~l.:..b~~~0~1;~T ip Jro imtihin ke liS pafImi came

You ought to study for the examination.

-Here there is no agreement, because imtihin is followed by a postposition.

The form of the negative is nahiIb.

, • L.. . (w \\ " "u I ., T

. r.F'1., ~ .r ! dr u:-;J. ~ y y

ip ko aise bitem kami (kami) nabhb camedJ! You shouldn't say such things!

_ 1 ,': • L.. . ~ w ' ~L.; ~J ~

~ d·.· V .. f r '- ar-

mujbevaqt ziC kama nabhb cibie thi I shouldn't have wasted the time.

644 Infinitive + pBfDi (obligation, lack of choice)

The impersonal construction INFINITIVE + an inflected form of Parni shows lack of choice concerning an action. The subject, if expressed, is followed by kO (or its alternate forms). Transitive infinitives may take objects of their own, in which case they usually agree with those objects in gender and number, like an adjective. (However the force of the agreement weakens in longer sentences, and there are dialects of Urdu in which the infinitives remain masculine singular.) The agreement of parni with the object of the infinitive is obligatory.

~ (ul.n '1. __ , l __

- a i..S~ '1!-' J -d'1!-' J~ i..SJy No ~

(mujbC'j ye karvi davi khini (- khini) pa[i 1W (1) must take this bitter medicine.

- i u:!~ (L:.4:) ~ ~) ~ ~ (bamem) car mil caine (- calni) pa¢Ih ge (We) must walk four miles.

Verbs 139

-lj~.J1' rl51>y ~,Lf L.~ l.:..b~.c J0~1 ~ (tumbem) imtihin kS liS papmi pare gi, nahirll to nikim hO jiO ge (You) must study for the examination, otherwise you will fail.

-Here there is no agreement, because imtihin is followed by a postposition.

In more complex sentences, the agreement of the infinitive is optional. however agreement of the verb is obligatory (see example below).

The form of the negative depends on the tense of ~ (see Table 13 on pages 89-90).

~ 'w-- Ii'

-L.j:),.J .r I,J"'IlJ )y ~ ~

mujbe paise fauran vipas kami DB pare

I wasn't obliged to return the money right away.

CONSTRUCTIONS WITH OBLIQUE CASE INFINITIVES

645 Oblique infinitive + viii

The construction: OBLIQUE INFINITIVE + viii shows (a) the agent of an action, (b) an imminent action or event. The construction also occurs adjectivally, modifying a noun.

q a ~ ~ t.r dlJ ~ (J.h;..) (xat ke) bbijne yileki pam kyi hai?

What is the address of the sender (of the letter)?

JI . 5 ... ... r;-

-d J.dJ <..f.:"')~~

kigti bharllvar mem ~iibne vilibai

The boat is about to sink in a whirlpool. (Narang, Readings)

- tft d) L:... ~ Y. i..Sj~ d IJ ~ J:.S";karikat kheJne Yilekhilip xu§! mana rahS hairl:t The cricket players are celebrating.

The last example is equivalent to a relative construction withjO:

L:... ,... I) .. 1 • -- .!:.,..)"

- .._r.:t .::1) is": ~ tJ ~ d) ~ .r Y:'

jO karika! Jebel rabe the vo XuSt mana rahC hairl:t Those who were playing cricket are celebrating.


646 Oblique infinitive + kO

The construction: OBLIQUE lNFINITIVE + kO shows (a) an impending action or event (similar to meaning (b) of the OBLIQUE INFINITIVE + viJi (§645», and (b) purpose (similar to OBLIQUE INFINITIVE + ke lie),

- .ci; d.Jt' t.P ~ J ~ ...rt is larld ki §adi bOne kO hai

This girl's wedding is taking place soon,

Compare

<a JIJ ~.Jt' t,P~ J .)JJ ...rl is larki ki Udi hOne vaJi hai

This girl's wedding is taking place soon,

-J:J ~ ;:_f ~ ~ mujhC kucb kame ko dO Gi ve me something to do.

Compare

-J:J~J d.?~ ~

mujhe kuch kJJrne ke lie dO

Give me something to do. (PURPOSE)

.--. Jl:i~ ... L:....... •

- d .r e» ..Jt,.._J d c: I..F'

maira DC suni hai ke bartil hone ko hai I've heard that a strike is about to begin.

647 Oblique infinitive + lagni (commenced event)

The construction: OBLIQUE INFINITIVE + lagni shows the beginning of an action or event. lagni, which is intransitive, determines the grammar of the sentence, and DC is not used even if the infinitive belongs to a transitive verb.

~ b ~

';:' . - ..

-~ CJ I..F')~

Iri§ti bharl:J.var meth 4iibne Jagi

The boat began to sink in the whirlpool.

_ e'1..i .'. U ..lI ~ ,.1 J. r.::...o...:...

.::. - ~'Y:' ...r).. .:r c.. -..:>.r '"".'

cham Ie 10, uyad biriJ hone Jage

Take an umbrella; it might begin to rain.

OBLIQUE INFINITIVE + lagni describes only the commencement of an action or event, and is neutral with regard to whether an action is intentional.

As a stative verb, lagni occurs in the immediate past to express states which

Verbs 141

began in the past and continue in the present For both reasons, this construction often occurs in perfective tenses,

I I.

I

- a ~ d.Jt' if) ~ 'Y .2 S~ chatri Ie 10, biri§ hOne Jagi hai

Take an umbrella; it has begun to rain.

When expressing an intention to begin something in the future, the denominative verb §urii karni, 'to begin' (with the nominative infinitive) is preferable.

- Lf WJ,? tJ.r- l.j~ ~ c: ol~ ~I ~ C ~ 2f1 agle mahine se maim apni tanxib se koch bacini lurii karii.tb ga As of next month I shall begin to save something from my salary.

648 Oblique infinitive + deDi ('let')

The construction: OBLIQUE INFINITIVE + deni shows (a) permission to do an action, or the (b) anticipation of an event. deDi, which is transitive, determines the grammar of the sentence, and oS is used in perfective tenses even if the infinitive belongs to an intransitive verb.

-l5:J ,..i d~.f- yl;S' ~ ~ ~I abba ne mujhe lritib xaridne na di Daddy didn't let me blythe book.

U .. ,-

- .. :J ~ c»: ~ L uJ~

maccharOriI ne mujbe sane nabir:iJ diya The mosquitoes didn 't Jet me sleep.

, 'I •• :J . -(,'u~t.s;:.. I L) 'j

. ...I"'tr. J dJ ,J '.' ~ ~ cr» ~

maim qarz ka paisa abhi cuki diiriJ.?----f'81mC do, bhii!

Shall I repay the loan now?-Never mind (Jet it remain), brother!

_If uj~ .d ujLf dl; '-:;:-IT I..F' ' J~ ~T ul .. ~~ chuttiyiiril ane dO, maitb ip kO apne gaoth Ie jaiiriI ga Letthe holidays come; I'll take you to my village.

649 Oblique infinitive + verb of motion (purpose)

Oblique infinitives may be used with verbs of motion to express purpose. They may be understood as instances of deletion ofm. or the compound postposition Ire lie.


-1,J.':t edT e e: yT ~L. "';_rl draf sahib ip sC mi.lne ae bairiJ

Mr. Ashraf has come to meet you.

Q .~ ·"C~ L.....:.- T,..; u \"

. ,_r. . ~ '"t. •• r-t' ~ !Y--'

kyom na ij ham. sinema dekbne jiirh'l Why don't we go to see a film today?

Compare

Q .I....{(\ ~ .,- '"(",:.L-...:..... T,..iu". ,_r. . I.,J-" C .c ~'-!. .. r-t f.. ~

kyom na ij ham sinCmi cJelcbne ke lie (kiJ) ja&b.'l Why don't we go to see a film today?

650 Oblique infinitive + ki (negative assertion)

The oblique infinitive is used with nahirll and ki (- ke - ki) to make a strong negative assertion. ki replaces the sentence verb. and agrees with the subject.

! ~ ~y. ~ ~~ i.f.:" maim jhiit nahiriJ MIne k.i! I am not going to tell a lie!

-Jj_y.~~J~

maheIilgii xatam nabirb bone Jd

The rise in prices is never going to stop.

7

COMPOUND VERBS

Verb sequences consisting of VERB ROOT + INFLECTED VERB have been given various designations, including 'compound verbs', 'intensive verbs', 'compound verbal formations' and 'verb sequences'. In this work they are called 'compound verbs'.' Non-compound verbs are referred to as 'simple verbs'.

COMPOUND VERBS AND SIMPLE VERBS

701 The structure of compound verb phrases

The form of the first verb in a compound verb sequence is in most cases the verb root (§601). It is called the main verb. The main verb shows the lexical (original or 'dictionary') meaning of the sequence.

The second verb has been given various names, including 'vector verb', 'intensifying verb', 'compound auxiliary'. and 'explicator verb'. In this work it is called the 'vector verb'. The vector verb loses its lexical meaning to a greater or lesser extent, but adds a nuance to the meaning of the sequence. It functions as the sentence verb. that is, it is inflected to show tense and agreement.

SIMPLE VERB u sOni, to sleep
~
COMPOUND VERB li~ sO jin8, to fall asleep
. .J-'
SIMPLE VERB l.:,.t,~ parhni, to read
COMPOUND VERB ~:'.iI>~ parb deDi, to read to someone While one may generalize about the type of nuance contributed by individual vector verbs, the contribution of a vector verb is also affected by the meaning of the main verb. Sometimes the meaning of the compound verb sequence cannot be deduced from the meaning of the main verb and the force of the vector verb, but must be looked up in a dictionary or discovered from usage.

In some cases a compound has become more or less relexicalized, that is, the compound has a new unitary definition which is distinct from the meaning of the simple verb, and cannot be predicted from its components.

Verb sequences consisting of a noun or adjective plus an inflected verb are referred to as 'denominative verbs' (§607).


Relexicalized compounds

SIMPLE VERB COMPOUND VERB

w)L L:J15)L

L:.J u~d

mlirni, to beat mar 4ilni. to kill

SIMPLE VERB COMPOUND VERB

lena. to take

lejini, to take away

The class of Urdu vector verbs is small. The nine vector verbs discussed in this chapter cover most compound sequences occurring in texts. For further information, the student may consult the references given in the bibliography.

702 The difference between compound and simple verbs

A simple verb shows only that an action or event takes place. Compound verbs are nuanced. They show the unfolding of an action, or provide contextual information. The difference is comparable to the difference between an outline drawing, and a drawing in which the figures are shaded.

Simple verb (bona)

h } b

- E j I t!....li y.1 Y 1J1 I~ r-" Y '-:-':"

jab mausam than4i hiii, to parinde ur gae

When the weather became cold, the birds flew away.

Compound verb (ho jini)

lJ" IL~ .,. .

- .. J1 ~ r--y ~ ..... )Y"':'

janvari mem mausam lhan4i hO gayi In January the weather became cold.

In the above set, the simple verb hOi shows only that the weather changed. The compound verb ho gayi allows visualization of the the cooling process.

Simple verb (P8{hnii)

- l.t,~ c2 LP" u~ \..?' - q l.t,~ .k..:. d yT ~ kya ap DC xat parba?-ji hiIh, maiIh ne parbi Did you read the letter?- Yes, I read it.

Compound verbs 145

Compound verbs (parh lena. JUl!h dena)

w A~.k.;. .

- .. .r.; ~I.J.':'"

maim DC xat J'B!b liyi

I finished reading the letter (to myselt).

- lop A~ ; uL..1 .k.:.:. OJ d LP" mairil ne vo xat ammjjrit kG parb diyii

I read that letter (completely) to mother.

In the first example in the above set, p8!hi shows only that the letter has been read. The compound examples show that the process of reading the letter has been completed; in addition.parh liya shows that the speaker read it for himself, whereas parh diya shows that he has communicated it to another person (by reading it aloud).

The following quotations from Prem Chand's GOdiin illustrates how compound verbs add nuances to events, whereas simple verbs merely show the occurrence of the event.

-I$~ 45 jl.i c2 _r._/ gobar DC nao cjuba di Gobar sank the boat.

- c2 if"'1 J45 - J45 ~ c2.r._/

gobar ne nahirll Ijubii. cjubii usi ne

Gobar didn't sink it; she is the one who sank it.

- Jf -.sf YJ5 yl 'J1 J45 c2 ~ kisl DC cjiibii hOt ab to cjiib hi gal

Whoever sank it, now it has really gone down.

The simple verb Qiibii, 'sank' is used when the question concerns only who has caused the sinking (a metaphor for a misfortune). But when the context of the sinking comes into focus, compound verbs are used. Qubi di (compound with the vector deDi) implies a completed action which begins with Gobar and affects the external environment. Qiib ... gai (compound with the vector jini) unfolds the event of sinking. from the initial stage where it could possibly have been prevented, to the final stage where it sank beneath the water.


INTRANSITIVE VECTOR VERBS

Intransitive main verbs usually occur with vector verbs which are also intransitive. The most frequent intransitive vector verb is jini. p8!Di, nikalni, bai\hni and 1Jlhni are also common. When both verbs are intransitive, the compound sequence is intransitive, and the vector verb agrees with the subject in gender and number.

703 The vector verb j&ni

lj~ jini (which as a sentence verb means 'to go') shows the unfolding of a transitition from one state to a second state. It occurs with verbs of motion and stative verbs; verbs which cannot show completable actions do not occur with

j8ni.

jini cannot be used as a vector verb with the main verb jini:

WRONG

I 'l.. ~

'~.~

baithjiiye!

Please take your seat! (Why are you still standing?)

Compare

~

baithle

Please sit (down). (a routine request)

-~ 1.5<' W _r:.T, ~ ~0.) ~I 04 bit ek din khulni tbi, ixir Jehul hi gai

The matter had to come out (be opened) some day; finally it did come out.

- !J' 4.I)J I 4.) ~..f-'-! .2 lP" maiJb. ne bistar bichi diyi am lq gayi

I spread out the bedding and Jay down. (transition)

- !J' o).r. LSI Jly, 0L..L.. sim.in havii a44C par rah gayi

The luggage was left behind in the airport.

704 The vector verb p8!Di

lj J.i. pafIli (which as a sentence verb means 'to fall', 'to befall') shows something which happens involuntarily, suddenly, unexpectedly, or something one is unable to prevent. p8!lli occurs only with main verbs which can show sudden actions or

Compound verbs 147

events, and does not occur with stative verbs.

-S~J) ~ 1.5<' ~~ J 2 kune ke bhawilkte hi bacci 1'6 pari

As soon as the dog barked the little girl burst into tears.

I' ~ 1.lf -I_ ~

- »» C -.5) t-H) ~ J.l

larn calli ra gap se gir pari

The boy fell off the moving train.

-l>~ T.r.r Lr. -.5)I.),....~ J ~'~y,..:.."'; 0l..:- 41 ~ jab abba jan faut hue, ghar lei zinune diri mere sir par i pari

When Daddy died, responsibility for the household fell (inevitably) on me.

705 The vector verb nikalni

l.l5:.:i nikalna (which as a sentence verb means 'to come out', 'to emerge'), shows suddenness or unexpectedness, but also motion out or away.

ss: ,.sL. u-- 0]'1 ..' I /\"

- ~ C w::-" "tt:! .c,.J1' ~

khule hue ph§.tak mem sa kutti bhig nildi The dog scooted away through the open gate.

IcT . '~L

- ..,- c Lf'::l .c ., .. ,~

ciibiyi palang ke nice sa i niIdi

The mouse suddenly popped out from under the bed.

NOTE: Some have analysed i in the preceding verb sequence as a short absolutive (conjunctive participle with deletedkar); however ifkar is added to the sequence, the meaning changes: the element of suddenness is lost.

IC "'-T . \'"..J::.L L

- ..,- .r C ~ .c. ., .. ,~

ciibiyi palang ke nice sa i kar nikJj

Coming outfrom under the bed, the mouse emerged.

706 The vector verb utJrni

}

~I uthni (which as a sentence verb means 'to rise', 'to get up') connotes an

action which happens suddenly, and it intensifies the main verb. It often occurs with verbs like 'speak', 'cry', 'scream', etc. It occurs only with main verbs which can be intensified, and does not occur with stative verbs. If it is used with a transitive main verb, the main verb cannot take an object, and the sequence is treated as intransitive.


_~I J) ~ ~4J l.::i! ~)~ dard itni thi Ire haeci to u!hI

The pain was so severe that the little girl burst into a wail.

,~ .' ~ "~l' . I'I_ , • ""-::- •

. ,.\.) .d-'I w ~ uJ\.) )'-" ji ~ - 1..I~,..J)y::. ~~

dekho, §Or na macini. nabirll to sara giOril jag uthe ga ... (Prem Chand, GOdin) Look, don't make noises, otherwise the whole village will wake up ...

l"~i' --. 'u

- ~ ~ J"' ..r ~ if'"

qizi ye sun kar cix u#Ji

When the judge heard it, he let out a yell. (Narang, Readings)

707 The vector verb baipmi

~ baithni (which as a sentence verb means 'to sit') shows an impulsive or involuntary action, and may imply that the speaker disapproves of the action. It may describe an irremediable mistake. The vector baithni is an exception to the rule that intransitive main verbs usually occur with intransitive vector verbs. baipmi occurs most frequently with transitive main verbs.

- Jf' l5".)} )JI ( ~ J.l C.sJL. tj"j..... mulizim milik se lar baifM, aur naukari gal

The employee quarrelled with the boss, and lost his job (lit. Thejob went).

TRANSITIVE VECTOR VERBS

Normally, transitive verb roots are used with vector verbs which are also transitive. The most common transitive vector verbs are: deni, and lena. 98Jni and rakhni also occur. When both verbs are transitive, the compound sequence is transitive; in perfective tenses, the subject takes De (§51O), and the vector verb agrees with a nominative direct object in gender and number.

708 The vector verb dena

~ ~ dena (which as a sentence verb means 'to give') shows the completion of an action, an action which is done for someone else, directed away from the self, or which affects the external environment. In request forms, use of the compound with deni makes a request slightly more polite.

Compound verbs 149

~ 1 J~ L...~ is..G4:- W.J-" L..., ~ ~ .. ·1 J~ L=-! ~ ~ ~ 1 CIt sa mahal bana do ge. .. mujhe bahut sa IlOna ciJiJ.di de dO ge?

Will you build a crystal palace ... will you give me a lot of gold and silver? (Narang, Readings)

~ " ("'" .. " jJ.\_) 'I

-J ~ LX-I":!

ye purine kiyaz phemk dO

Throw these old papers away. (direction away from the self)

- a 4 ~ .gS) u.:'" L.~ L.J lri ,.i W c2 ~ maiIb. DC lUafa tumharc hatve meril rakh diyi hai

I have put the envelope in your bag. (I have done it for you.)

deDi is used idiomatically with causatives:

- is ~ l.:- ~ c2 (J"I ;- 4 ~_,... mauqii pi kar us ne bhi suns dI

He also took the opportunity to gi ve (him) a piece of his mind.

- J • J

- ~ LlL...,I L:.:i! l:,p ~ ; uji~ J u1

un ki biitOIil kO bhula dena itni isiin nahi:dt

It is not so easy to put out of mind what he said.

709 The vector verb lena

~ led (which as a sentence verb means 'to take') shows the completion of an action, an action done for the self, on the self, directed towards the self, or coming from the external environment and affecting the self.

." ~ I 'lAJ '

- l::J ~ J ~ L...~.d,.J L u.:'"

maitb. DC liIafa apne batve mem rakh liyi

I put the envelope in my bag. (I did it for myself)

c.J .gS) ~\.::) I.:;J T .iip kitib ralch lijie

You please keep the book.

Compare

&J Y\.::) kitib rakhie

Please put the book down.


-.2 ~ d ":J\;.) ~I __.sI l)""'?,1_' C_' vo v8pas a be apni kitib Ie liliJ ge

After he returns he will take back his book.

71 0 The vector verb 4iIni

L:J 15 92lni (which as a sentence verb means 'to put', 'to pour') shows intensity. urgency, completeness, or even violence.

- )'15 l.:..) <.S"~I L) w.;! d w~ baccOm DC baraf ki idmi bani tJili

The children made a snowman (when they got the chance).

J15.t>1 \;_),l" L- . . I

- <.fi ~ i.J.:I \.::I) ~ ~ ~ t~_,.......,..,

is mauzil par maim DC siri kitiberil parh 4EJi hairb On this subject, I have read all the books I could find

- ~IS)L ,c.J _,sf! y ,2.1 ,..) dl_'~..H palis vile na ite to 4ikii usC mir 9BIre

(If) the police had not come, the bandits would have killed him.

711 The vector verb rakhni

~ rakhni (which as a sentence verb means 'to put', 'to place') occurs with the main verbs deni and ICni, meaning 'to give/take (as a loan)" and with other semantically appropriate main verbs showing an action performed beforehand.

<a l&5) L.~ I.f.:-t' 0 t.C.. ~ I d U'J us ne apoi m.akin hamem de rakhi bsi

He has given us his house (aJJowedus to use it).

- t5 L.,) \J'_,J J.l:. O_' j .::i. u+G L.~ ~) Yo ~ ~ d ~ mairil DC nasim Ito jo raqm de rakhi bsi, vo jald lau~ de gi Nasim will soon return the amount which I have loaned (him).

A\. l' I'') ..

- I.Pf ~ J L c~) ) j( s «:" ~ ~ r-::--'

nasim ne mujh se dO hazar rupe Ie ra.khe baiJb Nasim has borrowed two thousand rupees from me.

.. A\.' 1 L- - I U . ,....1lj

- ~ <.s'T') 0rliS) ~ " ~

fitima ne kyii accbi sap: pahn rakhi tbi What a fine sari Fatima was wearing.

:.

Compound verbs 151

-~ ~ JI! I~ ~J J ~)~ d ~>l C J CSJ) Y-If-JtUi.. muzihirin kO rokne ke lie palis DC imirat ke gird gheri tJil rakhi tbi

In order to stop the demonstrators, the police set up a barricade around the building.

MIXED TRANSITIVITY IN COMPOUND VERBS

Although intransitive main verbs usually occur with intransitive vectors, and transitive main verbs usually occur with transitive vectors, there are exceptions to this rule. The resulting sequences are always treated as intransitive (the vector verb agrees with the subject even if it is transitive as a sentence verb).

712 Transitive main verbs with intransitive vectors

The combination of intransitive main verbs with transitive vectors occurs most often with the vectors jioi and baithni. but there are other combinations, which can be found in a comprehensive dictionary.

wl:- 2 L:.4.-d w6.~

wl:-; ~.? W)J' .? ul:-~

Ie jini, to take away

Ie ca1ni, to take someone somewhere khijini, to eat up

kar jiini, to accomplish

kat baitJmi, to do as a blunder

kat guzami, to do (in spite of obstacles) sikhjiini, to learn (quickly)

1. ~ I ... 1- 1 "L- -- . U

-Y:'~Y~L~ ~.J-'~-

yismin Ito bhi sith Ie calo to acchi ho

It would be better if you also take Yasrnin along.

- t5 ~l:- ~ _,.) '-:-' ~ y t5 .dIS 0l:- y ~ ...,..1 is mem to jan ~e sa to ye sab to Jehijae gi

If you put life into it. it will eat up everyone. (Narang, Readings)

~~; ~)L. C ~(o_,) ~ kya ( yo) kisi sC mar pil kar bai{haf

Did he go and get into a fight with someone? [Prem Chand, GOdin)


- d l:i)_f .; ~ ~ ~ J ;:_.; ,._;:.j OJ vo ruWt kame ke lie kuch bhi br guzarti bai

In order to get high, he (an addict) will do anything at aiL

- z! ~ If." JL (.Sf ~I J~) rk ~11 tilib ibn urdu Ck: hi siI mem sikh gse

The students leamedUrdu in only a year.

713 Intransitive main verbs with transitive vectors

The combination of intransitive main verbs with transitive vectors occurs mainly with the vector denio The three intransitive main verbs which compound with dena are calm, harltsni and rona:

l.:.;!~~ l.:.;!~~ l.:.;!~ J)

cal deni, to set off, depart, leave hams deni, to burst into laughter ro deDi, to burst into tears

NOTE: even though d!ni, the vector verb, is transitive, the subject does not take De in past tenses.

~lf

- '.S~ ~ S) J,\)

reI gifi cal di

The train departed.

- 4~ ~ If."';- Lr' ~ latifa sun tar maith bams diyi On hearing the joke, I laughed.

RESTRICTIONS ON OCCURRENCE OF COMPOUND VERBS

714 Constructions based on the verb root or infinitive

Compound verbs are not used with the following:

Continuous tenses (VERB ROOT + rahi hai, rahi thi, etc., §614) VERB ROOT + sakni (§618)

VERB ROOT + cukoi (§620)

OBUQUE INFINITIVE + lagna (§647)

EXCEPTION: compounds which have been relexicalized sometimes occur with salmi. if the simple form does not express the equivalent meaning. But the usage is uncommon,

Compound verbs 153

- LC... l::-- d ~ <.JL.L , ~ ._jJ~ ';_,j naukar masriif tha. simin nabi1illi js saki

The servant was busy (and) couldn't take a way the things.

715 Participial constructions

Compounds rarely occur in participial constructions, including the conjunctive participle (§612).

EXCEPTION: compounds which have been relexicalized sometimes occur in participial constructions, as the simple form would mean something else. But the usage is not common.

... lyS' dJ1 2~ d <.JL.L ;:_ _,)~ naukar ne s8min Ie jiti bue kahi ... Taking a way the things, the servant said ...

.d~ Y"~';-l::-- d ~Jv) ;:_ _,)_,j naukar DC kaPf! Ie js brdha diye

The servant took away the clothes and washed them.

716 Passive constructions

Compounds of transitive main verbs and the vector verb deni are occasionally passivized (§634), but it is uncommon for compounds to occur in the passive.

- d Lt 4') -&5J If." ~~ 2' "=rT ,...it;.] liIafa ip Ice hatve mem rakb diyi gaya bai The envelope has been put in your bag.

717 Negative sentences

Compound verbs are rarely used in negative sentences.

~ d W ;tLJ I'-!;:_ "=rT~ kyi ip DC ye kim br Jiyi ba.i1 Ha ve you done this work?

u ... . L

- d .. r L iJ.:'" u, if."

ji hiril. mairit ne lair Jiyi ba.i

Yes, I have done (it).


w- .. .

-.. ~.::: ~ ~ ,._r.

ji nahirll. mairil ne nabitb kiyi No, I haven't done (it).

Exceptions

(a) Compounds which have been relexicalized occasionally occur with negatives, as the simple form would mean something else. However it is not common.

- ~ ._; _j_ra.. i lJ" d ~ - q lJ" d 0L..l., __...)_,j ~ kyi naukar simin Ie gayi1-nabitb Ie gayi. masriif tba

Did the servant take away the things?-He didn't take them away; he was

busy.

(b) When kahiIh is used with the negative to express apprehension (§425), compounds do occur. The compound is usually split apart. with the negative coming between the main verb and the vector verb.

!.d~"'; J ~i ~ ,..; ,r,JI ( .. hJ..:..g I.SJ~ l:Jl itni bhari sandfiq iipar na rakbo, bhiIb. gjr najaeJ. Don't put such a heavy box up (on a rack) lest it fall!

- uJI5 ,..; JL.. ~ _,515 ~ bhiIb. 4ikii hamerl1 mit na cfoleJh

I only hope the bandits don't kill us.

Compounds also occur in clauses beginning with jab tak + NEGATIVE (§ 1114). However, such sentences are not really negative; in the following sentence, the entire phrase jab tak + NEGATIVE means 'until', 'unless'. The negative comes between the main verb and the vector verb.

- If L._~ \j)"'> ~ u::r.! 0-' u:! ~ ,..; ~ if} ~T ._(j ~ jab tak ip qarz cuki na derb., vo yahirlJ. dhami de ga Until you return the loan, he will sit right here in protest.

Use of a compound in a negative sentence may show CONTRADICTION. Again, the compound is split apart, and the negative particle (sometimes accompanied by to) comes between the main verb and the vector verb.

If ,) ' .. ), .. ..s:.:...s. 'uT

- WJ ~ Y JY .. 'S' .,' ~

maim ip ki ainak ti5[ to nahiIb. diiIiJ gi

I'm not going to break your glasses (you seem to think I will).

..... ;-'

;

Compound verbs 155

PERFECTIVE PARTICIPLES AS MAIN VERBS

Occasionally the perfective participle (§604) occurs as the main verb in a compound verb sequence instead of the root.

718 Nominative perfective participles as main verbs

Two very common examples of compounds with perfective participles as main verbs are cali jani, 'to leave' and cali ini, 'to come', which have been relexicalized. Both the participle and the vector verb agree with the subject.

-If ~ J _; iL.f"l) i, i}1 akram. s8ri kim kat Ice cali gari Akram left after doing all the work.

rr .t" -

_~I b w~ d~ I...?" ~ i d~ L.f"~\ f':!

ye ip ki ghar hai, jab ji cihe yahirll cale liye

This is your house; come here whenever you like.

The nominative perfect participle occurs with other verbs of motion:

- 4 T .2 0L..L., ),,1 lJ" tr~ Ji quli bhigi gayi aur simin Ie iyi

The porter ran and brought the luggage.

719 Oblique perfective participles as main verbs

When the perfective participle occurs in the masculine oblique singular case, the participle shows (a) continuation or progression, often with the vector verb jini; (b) intensification of the verb, and/or (c) imminence.

Continuation/progression

- ~ ,!J); r-r IJt' .c2 -A.-I ahmad DC hi ham kO roke rakbi It is Ahmad who delayed us.

-rote rakhi shows continuation of the action. rok rakhi does not occur.

- ~ ~J ~ ~ ~ ._; yk J J ~ L.., .c' ~ Li 0-' vo be basi se sidiq ki taraf dCkhe ji raha tha

He went on lookinghelplessly at Sadiq.


If l, .. "\' 't.... 'I .r . - cy ~ I d . o:::""'+' r.

nambar gbiimii jiiye. kabhi to mile gi

Do go on dialling the number; you will get it sometime.

Intensification

... Uy.l::,:..'l~ c~~ maim tum se kahe deti bibb ... I wamyou ...

-kahe dena means 'to warn' , whereas kah deDi would mean 'to tell'.

Imminence

U . ..::.l..'l 'I. ·,..lll 1' .... 1

- 'J1' 1..)" o:::~ ~~) if,Y y I.F'"

maim ip ko is almiri mem cbupae deli biirb

I will hide you in this wardrobe right away. [Narang, Readings)

DENOMINATIVE VERBS IN COMPOUND VERB SEQUENCES (720)

Denominative verbs (verb sequences consisting of a noun or adjective plus an inflected verb, §607), may occur in compound verb sequences, especially with the most common vectors dena, lena and jioi. It is impossible to formulate rules to predict the occurrence of individual denominative verbs with individual vectors, as the semantics of each individual denominative verb must be considered. Actual usage should be learned as it is encountered.

..'l -- -_ ..'ll u ." '.;_,,:;, .

-d .r ~ ~ I.P'" u~ ~ L .. 'JY'"

xiirStd ne tinOril idmiyoril mem paise taqsim kar diye Khurshid divided the money among all three men.

U ' t........ u- . ..A.....!.

- .. .r I.;-' u~ 0::: .. 'JY'"

xiirStd DC paisOril ki hisib kar liyi

Khurshid made an account of the money (and kept it).

s: t So .s

- c y. L- I.F'" y,; }

log cauk meritjama bO ga£ People gathered in the square.

8

INTRANSITIVE, TRANSITIVE AND CAUSATIVE VERBS

INTRANSITIVE AND TRANSITIVE VERBS

801 The difference between transitive and intransitive verbs

Transitive verbs are verbs which may take objects. The object may be deleted, but can still be inferred, or 'understood'. Intransitive verbs do not take objects. The focus in the sentence also differs. In transitive sentences, the focus is on what the doer does. In intransitive sentences, the focus is on the result of what is done.

English translations of Urdu sentences are not reliable as a guide to whether an Urdu verb is transitive or not, because English verbs may often be used both transitively and intransitively, depending on the context (This shop sells apples versus Apples are selling well now). Compare the following Urdu sentences:

(l:J') > ) _ t/ ~y Jj4 u- ~

salim ki bizD tilt gayi « tii~, to be broken) Salim broke his arm (lit. Salim's arm broke).

(L;jy ») - 4..'l jy Jj4 u- ifl )JII)L.. _,s- ~ d .ltlj

zihid DC salim kO mara aur us ki bizii tOr diyi « tOfoi, to break (something» Zahid hit Salim and broke his arm.

English passives are sometimes needed to translate Urdu intransitives:

(' .t"('

(L;.r ») - l.::-l .r ~

camcagir gayi « girni, to fall)

The spoon fell; the spoon was dropped.

(~ > ) - ~ C ~ -S5! ~ t.li

tij mahal bafi mehnat se bani « hanni, to be built) The Taj Mahal was built with great effort .

Unintentional action; are expressed in Urdu with intransitives. The instrument of the action occurs in a postpositional phrase with se (§512):


r L.5 e'" •

(w_,., » - .. .r ~ c- CJ-!

bacce se camca gir gayi « giroi, to fall) The ba.bydropped the spoon (accidentally).

A transitive verb (with a subject taking ne) would express intentional action:

e'" e'" •

( wI_,., » - 4') I_,., ~ d CJ-!

bacce necamca girl diyi « girini, to drop, let fall) The baby dropped the spoon (deliberately).

802 Agreement of verbs

Intransitive verbs agree with the subject of the sentence, whatever the tense of the verb. Transitive verbs agree with the subject only in non-perfective tenses. In perfective tenses, the subject of transitive verbs is followed by the postposition ne (§51O). The verb agrees with a nominative direct object (see §629 for a detailed discussion). All causative verbs are considered transitive with respect to subject-verb agreement, and take the subject with DC in perfective tenses.

803 The increment -i

Transitive and intransitive verbs often occur in pairs which are closely related in both meaning and form. Many transitives are formed from intransitives by adding the increment-a 1 to the intransitive root (§601) to make a transitive stem. Roots ending in long vowels take the alternate form of the increment, -Ii 'Y .1 Derivation with the increment -I can be summarized as follows:

(a) The increment may be added to an INTRANSITIVE root to derive a lRANSlTIVE stem (§804).

(b) The increment may be added to a TRANSITIVE root to derive a DOUBLE TRANSITIVE stem (§805).

(c) The increment may be added to an INTRANSITIVE or a TRANSITIVE root to derive a DIRECT CAUSATIVE stem (§81O).

Transitive and causative stems take infinitival, participial and verbal suffixes just like simple verb roots. They are also found under their own spellings in dictionaries, and not under the intransitive form. (Some dictionaries, however, show indirect causative verbs (§81l) under the forms from which they are derived.) For most practical purposes, the transitive or causative stem of a derived verb may be treated and referred to as a verb root.

An alternate form of the increment, _j ~ occurs in one case: bhigni ~ , 'to get wet' -+ bhigfiDi li_H. ,'tosoak'.

Intransitive, transitive and causative verbs 159

There are also BASIC TRANSITIVE VERBS, which are not derived from intransitives.

Some transitive verbs have no related intransitive form, for example, kama w;, 'to do' , sunni t;;_ , 'to hear' ,pafImi l.:.A> J.4 ' 'to read' . In certain other cases, the intransitive form is obviously derived from the transitive, and not vice versa, for

1

example, sil J- ' 'to be stitched' < Bini l:.::- ' 'to stitch'; dhul J..t.,) < dhOni

wyt>':', 'to wash',

Illustrative sets of transitive and intransitive verbs are shown below, Please note that there are numerous irregularities in the derivation process, and it is not possible to formulate rules which predict every case. Each pair must be learned indi viduall y ,

804 Transitives derived with the increment-i

The increment -i may be added to an INTRANSrrTVE root to derive a lRANSrrIVE stem.

Case I

The vowel in the intransitive root is short. and the root ends in a consonant. The increment -I is simply suffixed to the root of the intransitive verb to form the transitive stem.

w~ f- q

banni, to form, be made ~ banini, to make

lj~ f- L:5:J

lagni, to stick, be applied ~ lagani. to apply

lj~ f- L:h

v '0'

calni, to walk, go ~ cal.ini to run (something), drive

lj~ f- ~

bacDi, to escape ~ baciini, to save

, ,

wl.gJl~4l'1

uthni. to rise. get up ~ uthini to lift, wake someone

lj)l. f- L:L

milni, to meet, be available ~ milini, to connect, mix'

2 milini could also be construed as a double transitive verb in the sentence, us oj! mujh sCi hath miliyi, 'He shook hands with me.'


_ ,\ ·..l~~I._. l ... · ..... 1

a i.$I'.J v" u ~.. c- ~ ,

is mahalle mem Sk masjid ban ram bai A mosque is being built in this ward.

- J~ ~ ~ ..s-~~ CoIJ 0.) J. U-,)-,.)j-I mazdiirOm De din rat kim lear ke masjid banii

The labourers worked day and night to build (and built) the mosque.

, -

I "~I .....l c "-,-I I

- ~ "-,F.J-" -T'" ~ c;..

aj mairlt bahut savCre ufhi

I got up very early this morning.

- ~.) ~I ,cJ J. \.F" ' Ls.:i Y.J-" ) I if ~ caukidir sOya thi. mairlJ. De use ufha diya The watchman was asleep; I got him up.

-.c! J... ~L- Loi) ~ c J~l ittifiq sa Brif sahib mil gse

By chance Mr. Arif met us (was available).

- ~.) "j._, C ~ L.,., ._j) ~ Brif sahib se mila dijie

Please connect(me) with Mr. Arif (on the telephone).

,

- J"j._, ~ )JI ~.)J.) J. 1,,)"1

US De diidh aur cini milii

He mixed milk and sugar.

Case 1/

The intransitive root vowel is long, and the root ends in a consonant. The root vowel is shortened, and the increment -i is suffixed to form the transitive stem.

lj~ t- ~J-"

siikhni, to dry, dry up ~ sukbini, to dry (something)

.(" . r . . J..,u .,...-:. U

- if"' is-'.J-'' <..f:-" J .,::::: if J .

bira ke bad zamin siikb gai After the rain, the soil dried out


<a !.?-.) ~ ~ ~j '-:;JY'.) ~ ur.:--J garmiyom mem dhiip zamin ko sukba cleti hai In the hot season, the sunlight dries out the soil.

The verb bOlni. 'to speak', which may take an object, is treated as an intransitive and forms a transitive by shortening the root vowel and adding -i.

Li ~ t- l:J J-/

bOlni, to speak ~ bulani, to call

.. (" . J \j'

<a cr>: ~i.,.S""') ~

Najma farsi 001 sakti hai Najma can speak Farsi.

- a i.$I') ~ y- 1.,;'1 ~ Najma ap kO buli rabi hai Najma is calling you.

Case III

The vowel (or final vowel) in the intransitive root is short, and the root ends in a consonant. The increment -i is infixed or inserted into the verb root of the intransitive verb to form the transitive stem. This lengthens the root vowel and may also change the vowel quality. The final consonant of the root may be softened.

(a) When long -a is added to short -au, long -i- results.

ljt..:.f"" t- WL)

ka!Jli, to be cut ~ ki!ni, to cut, disconnect

Li) L. t- l.i.r"

IIl8I'Ili, to die ~ mimi. to beat, hit

L:J I.s:::i t- I.:Ki

nikalni, to come out, emerge ~ nikilni, to take out

, ,

LiJl:i1 to- lj)1

utami, to descend, get out ~ utirni, to bring down, take out

-~.!S ~

bijli kat gal

The electricity was disconnected.

- a ~) ~L)) l:i r.S~ mistri tar kit ralJa bsi

The electrician is cutting the wire.


- Li;i ~ r fi.) , Li) wi ..,..s- '-.I ~ c: .rI 2-rl pahle bas se baccOrit 1m utirni. pbir xud utami

First get the children out of the bus. then get out yourself.

(b) When long -i is added to short-u-, a long -0- results. This rule also affects a few verbs with Iong-Ii-.

Lijy ~ Li;"

mUfDi, to tum ---7 mOfni, to tum (something)

L:J~~ ~

khulni, to open -+ kholni, to open (something)

l;5J) ~ l:S)

ruknl to stop -+ rokni. to stop (something)

Lij_,:; ~ 8_,f

lUtna. to be broken ---7 tfifDi,3 to break (something)

ljj~~ L:.l'~

chiitni, to be released, depart ---7 chOpJi, to leave, abandon

~ ~.I'"

- a If.'j .r r..Sj l.)

gi!i mur rabI hai The car is turning.

• )J, . .;- 'u J,Lf'

-~ jYy ~. r..Sj

gip bieri:t 1m mar dijii Please turn the car left.

-a~ C?1f)0~ dukin das bajS khula hai The shop opens at 10.

- a l:l~ 0~ C? If:' )1J.j~ dukindir das baje dukin kholti bai The shopkeeper opens the shop at 10.

(c) When long -a is added to short -i-c long -c- results.

bikni, to be sold ---7 becni, to sell

Li Li

~~ ~

chidni, to be pierced ---7 chedni, to pierce

J Both the initial t- of tii!Di and the initial t- of fii!ni come from an ancient 11'-. which has developed in different ways.

Intransitive. transitive and causative verbs 163

- ~ ~) ~ I;';-~~ ~ b-

mSIS merit gharbuni kaPfi bile rahi hai At the fair. handloom cloth is being sold.

, .f"

-Ift~) ~ Ilfl:.,lfi-' ~~~ ~ b-

melS merit jaulihe gharbuni kapri bic rahi hairb At the fair, the weavers are selling handloom cloth.

805 Double transitives derived with the increment-i

The increment -i (- -Ii) may be added to some TRANSITIVE roots to derive a DOUBLE TRANSITIVE stem. Double transitive verbs take two objects, a direct object and an indirect object. The transitive roots which make double transitives are semantically reflexive, and occur with the vector verb leni (§709) when compound.

Case I

The last vowel in the transitive root is short. and the root ends in a consonant. The increment -8 is simply suffixed to the root of the transitive verb to form the double transitive stem. If the transitive root has two short syllables, the vowel in the second syllable is elided .

Lil..t.~ ~ l:..t>~

parhni, to read, study ---7 parhini, to teach, educate

Lil.:-. ~ L:..:....,

sunni, to hear, listen to ---7 sunini, to tell

Lil~ ~ Li~

. .

pakafni. to catch ---7 pakrini, to give to hold

Li~f- ~

samajhni, to understand ---7 samjbini, to explain

'J,. J-. '

- ~I..t.j,) .. Pjl ~.c ~L, ~l: .... ...1

ustid sahib ne hamerit urdU. parbii

The teacher taught us Urdu (double transitive).

Compare

J. i'

- ~ r,f j,) .J)) .c ~

mairit ne urdU. pa[bi hai

I ha ve studied Urdu (transitive).


'L:...... . ..L.." Li

- 1..1 r.- ~.c:. .. ,

nahid De mujhe xabar swW

Nahid told me the news (double transitive).

Compare

-.._r.-..d..r?-~U'!"" mairlt ne xabarerb. sunbil

I listened to the news (transitive).

Case 1/

The transitive root vowel is long, and the root ends in a consonant. The root vowel is shortened, and the increment -i is suffixed to form the double transitive stem.

Li~ f- ~~

dekhoi, to see, look at ~ dikbiinii, to show

Li~ f- ~

sikhni, to learn ~ sikbani, to teach

-J~~.rtii~d~

nasim ne mujhe tasvir dikhiii

Nasim showedme the picture (double transitive).

Compare

- ~ ~ _r..rtii ~ U'!"" maim ne tasvir dCklH

I looked at the picture (transitive).

I.~ \.:1... ~-- - "L..l

- a '.f.') '+"- '.' Y &-! ....

ammam baece ko calnii sikha rahi bai The mother is teaching the baby to walk.

Compare

-d~J~~~ bacca caIni sikh raha hai The baby is learning to walk,

Case III

This group is the remnant of a formerly larger group of verb roots ending in aspirated voiceless consonants, which took the increment in -Ii. kahnii, 'to say' is now virtually the only member of the group. It forms a double transitive with -Ii, and is translated by an English passive.


G~f-y

kahni, to say ~ kahlinii, to be called

..--.I. --,..J L-, ~ I. • -..r.t L.1'1'-' .. ,) '1'""=! ~

ye pahar himalaya kablati baUD

These mountains are called the Himalayas.

606

Transitivity with compound verbs

When compound verbs are used, transitive verbs usually take transitive vector verbs, and intransitive verbs usually take intransitive vector verbs (Chapter 7).

607 Transitivity with denominative verbs

Denominative verb phrases, consisting of a noun or adjective plus a verb (§607) often have parallel transitive and intransitive forms made with kama and honi, respectively.

G..tf ~b - u; ~I~

daxil kama, to enrol - dixil hOni, to enter, be enrolled

w-- l.:.l~ J('" 1-- J. • 1 .

- a= cr: U'!"" '.Y"'"' c: - y d.d .c:. U'!""

maim ne apne be!C 100 is skill mem dixil kiya bai

I have entered my son in this school.

- d l..tf ~I~ ~ J~ Jl- I..r'l ~ Ir.ma-a beta is sID skill mem daxil blli bai

My son has entered school this year.

G..tf r-: - u,.,s- L-

jamakarnii, to collect - jami hOni, to gather, accumulate

.s '

- d ,.,s- L- Y ~ U'!"" ~ ~ I..r'I

us ne jalse mem bahut log jama kar liye

He collected many people in the public meeting.

,( So ._j

- C jf L- U'!"" ~ Y

log cauk memjama b6 gae People gathered in the square.


808 Verbs which function both intransitively and transitively Some verbs function both transitively and intransitively.

badaIni bhami

badalna, 'to change' and bharni, 'to fill' are intransitive when there is no object, and transitive when there is. When they function as transitives, they take subjects with the postposition ni5 in perfective tenses. The addition of an intransitive or transitive vector verb often makes their status explicit.

-dJ.,l~~~ cLlY~~d~ munir ne bahut dinom se kapfC nabiIiJ. badle

Munir hasn't changed his clothes for days (transitive).

- 4. tJ' J..I.! r-.r' mausam badal gayi hai

The weather has changed (intransitive, intransitive vector verb).

- S~ J..I.! J~~ J 7-'-! d ifl" mairh DC bistar ki cidar badal di

I changed the cover on the bed (transitive, transitive vector verb).

w 'u ~Iu'

- .. A-ii$.,IJ.':""..r . .c..if."

mairh ne balti mem pam bhar liyi

I filled the bucket with water (transitive, transitive vector verb).

-.;5 A-i c: J4 JJ4 baIti pam se bhar gBi

The bucket filled up with water (intransitive, intransitive vector verb).

809 Exceptions: transitives without ne, intransitives with lIS

Transitives which do not take ne

There are a few verbs which may take objects, but which do not take subjects with nC in perfective tenses.

wi d Ie ana, to bring l:J-*, bhiilni, to forget
w~ lana. to bring L:L milni, to meet
llL:- d Ie jiini, to take away l:J_Y. bOlna, to speak, say Intransitive, transitive and causative verbs 167

The compound verbs Ie ini and lejini have the intransitive verb ini, 'to come' as their vector verb, therefore they do not take nC.

-1./ dJI~~~;y

naukar caedani le gayi

The servant took a way the teapot.

-1./ J~ .,;:;-' L) .:.l.i~ 0-' vo muIaqit ki vaqt bbiil gayi

He forgotthe time of the appointment.

- ~y ct"" ~ maim sac b01i

I spoke the truth.

~ samajbni

samajIma, 'to understand' is transitive, but may occur either with or without nC in perfective tenses:

I

~ ~ .:.:..4 Sr, d if! - ~ ~ .:.:..4 Sp 0-'

vo men bit nahiIiJ. samjhi - us ne men bit nahiIh samjhi

He didn't understand what I mean.

The addition of a transitive or intransitive vector verb to samajbni forces the choice, and contributes different nuances of meaning:

,\ Lf "u 'uT

-..,).)1' .. ~ '-' . If ... ~

maiIiJ. iip ki bit samajb gayi biiIiI I follow your point.

-J ~.:.4 d if." mairh ne bit samajh H

I have understood the matter (and will probably deal with it).

The idioms dikhiii denii, 'to be seen', 'to be visible' and suniii dena, 'to be heard', 'to be audible' do not take ni5 even though denii is a transitive verb. (dikhii and sunii are nominal forms meaning 'coming into view' and 'hearing', respectively. They are translated with English passives.)


- u ~ 'L:......s:.::;.J~ ... l..5". ...

.. I.S' J JJ-' i..!.:---"'

maSm ki D diir tak sunil diyi

The noise of the machine could be heard a long way.

Intransitives which take ne

A few intransitive verbs may take 00:4

thiikni, to spit jbiritkni, to peep mutni, to urinate

\.j ~ khatkha!ini, to knock

In some cases the presence of a direct object or quasi-direct object in the deep structure may explain the phenomenon.

1.)~(ojl.JJ~) L:S:i~ G...GI)

(darvizi) khatkhatiDi, to knock (on) a door (andar)jbiritkni, to peep inside

CAUSATIVE VERBS

Causatives describe the causation of a state or action. sometimes by means of an instrument or intermediary agent (a noun or pronoun followed by se C' • Ice zarie ~J ~ 2. or ke bith ~~ 2)· The instrument is however not always mentioned. Causative verbs may be divided into direct causatives and indirect causatives.

DIRECT CAUSATIVES are derived by adding the increment -I \ (-Ii "i ) to an INTRANSITIVE or a TRANSITIVE root.

INDIRECT CAUSATIVES are formed by prefixing -v- to the increment to make -vi I.J (-lvi I_,J) (§811). When the instrument is mentioned. the indirect causative is the preferred form.

If a transitive verb already contains the increment -i (because it is itself derived), then the increment cannot be added again. Such verbs have only the indirect causative in -vi.

4 Some scholars include additional items in this list, such as chirllkDi ~ , 'to sneeze', or cillini lj l4- ' 'to shout'. This reflects differing usages in various dialects of' Urdu.


810 Direct causatives derived with the increment -i

Case I

The vowel in the intransitive root is short, and the root ends in a consonant. The increment -i is simply suffixed to the intransitive root to form the direct causative stem. If no intransitive exists, the suffix is added to the transitive root. Occasionally a shortened form of the transitive stem (rather than the intransitive root) is the basic form.

Sometimes there is not much difference in meaning between direct causatives and derived transitives. For example. the verb girini I.) If (from gimi \.j f. 'to fail') can be construed as 'to let fall' (direct causative) and 'to drop' (transitive).

\.j~ f- 8L)

katni, to be cut ~ katini. to have cut

wi_;- f- Gyf"

kama, to do ~ karini, to have done

\.jl_? ~ Gj_,:;

tfi!ni, to break (tr.) ~ tDfini. to get broken. break loose

- J U:) J..a.i ~JI~j zamjndar DC fasal kata li

The landlord got the harvest cut.

- J \j:J ~J ~ ,dlf'

gae ne rassi tori li

The cow broke the rope.

Case /I

The intransitive root vowel is long, and the root ends in a consonant. The root vowel is shortened. and the increment -i is suffixed to form the direct causative stem.

1.)45 ~ ~.J5

Qubni. to sink ~ Qubini. to sink something, drown someone

I.)~ f- L:f~

bhigni, to run away ~ bhagini, to chase away. disperse

\.j~~~

baitJma, to sit ~ bitbW, to seat, cause to sit


-.;5 If.' Y_j5 yl 1.J1 .)45 .d ~ kisi DC t!ubii hO, ab to t!iib hi gai

Whoever sank it, now it has really gone down. (Prem Chand, GOdan)

- .lJ .:2J.l ~ ~ I 2~ ~ - 4.) 4. _,.) ~ .d w_,J l_j ~~ pOlis viloIil DC bhir kO bhaga ruyL lruch bhage, magar lruch lame lage The police dispersed the crowd. Some ran away, but some started to fight.

Case 11/

The intransitive or transitive root ends in a long vowel. The root vowel is shortened, and the variant form of the increment, -Ii 'Y , is suffixed to form the causative stem.'

pini, to drink ~ pilini, to give to drink

W'Y) f- w_j)

rona, to cry (int.) ~ rulana, to make cry

Li)L. ~ Li_,.....,

sana. to sleep (int.) ~ sulini, to put to sleep

Li'Y.) ~ L;.p

dena, to give (tr.) ~ dilini, to have given

This rule also predicts direct causatives from the following transitives:

Li)L. ~ l.:.::-

sini, to stitch, sew ~ silini, to get (something) stitched

Li)\.t..) f- l..i JA .)

dboni, to wash ~ dhu1ini, to have (something) washed

- 4.) )\._ _,.) ~ .:2 w~ miriJ. ne baece kO sula diya

The mother put the baby to sleep.

5 Two irregular verbs are: cbiiDi \j *' ' 'to touch' (tr.) which forms the causative cbuvini \jl~, 'to cause to be touched'; and khini li~, 'to eat' which forms the causative khi1ini 1.jW-, 'to feed', 'give to eat' (perhaps on the analogy ofpini _ pilini).


q a 4 'Y) .d uS, a 1.51') _j) ~ munnI ro rahi hai, k:is DC ruJaya han Munni is crying; who has made her cry?

-d J)L. ~.:2 ~ maiJb. DC qamis siJjJ hai

I have got the shirt stitched.

- _j:J 'Y.) ~J) ~ I_,.) ,dl_j L!J~ mangne vile kO ek riipaya dila dO Have someone give the beggar a rupee.

811

Indirect causatives formed with the increment -vi

If the increment IJ -vii. ( I} -lvii.) is substituted for the increment I -I ( "1 -lii).

a INDIRECT CAUSATIVE stem is derived. In other respects, the rules for deriving the indirect causative are the same as those for deriving the direct causative (§810).

Indirect causatives express the causation of a transitive action through an instrument or intermediary agent (a noun or pronoun followed by by sC C • ItS zarie ~) ~ 2, or Ire hath ~~ 2)' The subject makes the instrument do something to, on or for the object. The instrument may be omitted. but is still implied. English translations must take context into account, and will vary.

Indirect causatives can be made for most Urdu verbs, and some dictionaries do not show them separately, but under the basic form from which they are derived. Indirect causatives cannot be made for intransitives which do not have derived transiti ves, such as W, 'to come, jana, 'to go' and rahni, 'to remain' .

Sometimes there is not much difference in meaning between indirect causatives and direct causatives. For example, the causatives silini I..))\...., and silvana l..il)..... both mean 'to get (something) stitched'. In other cases, there is a clear difference; for example, eJubini 1..)45 means 'to sink something', 'to let or make sink'; eJubvana GIy.5 means 'to have (someone) sink something'.


Case /, intransitive root

~ banni, to be made

G I~ banvini, to cause to make. get made

~ bilmi. to be sold

G lfo bikviini, to cause to sell. get sold

Case t, transitive root

G;- karni. to do

G I_'; karvini, to cause to do. get done

lO!'ni. to break

turvini. to cause to break

Case II, intransitive root

~_,s GI S y!

~

GI • ~

4iibni, to sink

Qubvana, to cause to sink

baithni, to sit

biJhvini, to cause to seat

Case III, intransitive root

sOni, to sleep

sulviini, to cause to put to sleep

Case III, transitive root

~ s dena, to give

G I} ~ dilvini, to cause to give

Case IV, causatives of double transitives

L:..t,~ GIY'~

dekhna, to see. look at dikhvana, to cause to show

p8!hni. to read. study pll!hvaoa, to cause to read

Intransitive. transitive and causative verbs 173

- ~ I~ ,....lJ C u_')_'~ r d ol.!.~ ~ bidWl DC mazdiirOm se qila banvaya

The emperor had the fort built by the labourers.

-..rt 2 I_'; ._jL, «: JL. ~~ r-t' ham biyIca mili se sat karvate baiIb

We have the garden cleaned by the gardener.

~ ~ I~ ~ U_,.j L.,-. mehminom to bifbvi dijie Please ha ve the guests seated.

-J u_'~ I~ ~~ Ji)1.b.:. t..! ye xat akram Ire hath bbijva diirb gi I will send this letter with Akram.

-_'~ I_,J~ ~J) ~I ~~ J)lif~~ ~I_' ~L. mingne vile ko caukidir kC hiith cst riipiya dilvi do Ha ve the watchman gi ve the beggar a rupee.

Causatives of double transitives can take an instrument and up to two objects.

. ~

- JI_,:...... ~~ ~ ..::..c4 C' &-! d ~ l::....1 ustid ne bacce se jamaat ko kabini sunviii

The teacher made the childtell the story to the class.

Compare

- JI;.... JlyS'D)j.J y" ..::..c4 d ~ bacce DC jamaat ko pUrl kabini suniii

The child told the whole story to the class.

- ~1~,....lJ G1.r.J..r.-t' C C1r d ~L.:. .._j)~ iirif siihib ne siraj se bamem purinA qila dikhviiyii Mr. Arif had Siraj show us the old fort.

Compare

'ul.~ I:GI . I

- - ~ ~ ~ .r.J I.F'"I' .:::. Cr

siriij DC bamem plrini qila dikhiyi Siraj showed us the old fort.


When causatives are taken into account, most verbs make sets of three:

lj I_,L - Li)\... - l:L milni-milini-milvini

to meet, be available-to join, connect, mix-to have (someone) join, connect

- 2! ~ '-;-"" L, .JJ ~ e: J ti! ittiIaq sa irif sahib mil gae

By chance Mr. Arif met us (was available).

- ~.) )\... c '-;-"" L .JJ ~ irif sahib se mila dijie

Please connect me with Mr. Arif,

- J wj I_,L C '-;-"" l- .J) ls. _,s- y T ~) ~ J P...r.,I ...r. mairl:t aprStar' ke zarie iip kO Brif siihib se milvaiiJil gi

I will have the switchboard connect you with Mr. Arif.

Some verbs make sets of four:

LiI_P- - LiUS" - UL) - ~ katni-kiitni-katini-katyini

to be cut-to cut-to get cut-to have (someone) cut

-~.lS J..ci

fasal kat gsi

The harvest was cut.

- iJ.:t .:::tJ 2... L) j..aj 0l...S" kisin fasal kat raM haitb

The farmers are cutting the harvest.

-.) US" j..aj d J 14j zamindar ne fasal katl Ii

The landlord got the harvest cut.

- J I_,:) C w_j)_j.):r J..ci d)14j zamindar ne mazdiirOrit sa fasal katvi Ii

The landlord got the harvest cut by the labourers.


812 Causative denominative verbs

Denominative verb phrases consisting of a noun or adjective plus the verbkami, 'to do' (§607) change transitives to causatives by substituting the causative, karini, 'to cause to be done' or the indirect causative, karviini. 'to cause to do'.

- dl; L- .r, d 01~~ siyisatdan ne log jami katae

The politician got(a lot of) people collected.

- _dl_j; L- Sy c: u.p")L) d LJIJ.;....~ siyiisatdan DC kirlrunOril sa IOgjama karvie

The politician got the workers to collect the people.

U 1 -- I.: I.) J .. « 1 U:.J l:.ll· ·T

- .. .r' r..r- I..P'" '.Y'-" 1,,)", ... ",c LP'" .r

ixir mairil ne apni beta is skill mem daxil karaya At last I got my son entered in this school.

- 41-,; ~I.) I..P'" J_,..(... If! ~ ~I L-l)::' J .fJu..., d I..P'" _,..:..T ixir mairl:t DC sir-am ke zarie apoi beta is skill mem diJcil brviyi

At last I got my son entered in this school by means of intercession.

813 Causative verbs in requests

Causative verbs are sometimes used in requests to soften them, by implying a higher status to the addressee.

• .) 1.1 b L....

- ~ Y"-" L..J~) »r r:!

ye ciir jore silva dijie

Please get these four suits stitched.

The speaker hopes to influence a busy tailor to do a big job quickly, so flatters the tailor by implying that he has assistants to do the stitching.

-~.) l_j; t5~ rL) r:! I)~ zara ye kim jaldi karva dijie Please get this work done quickly.

The addressee will do the work himself; the speaker is simply softening the request.

9

PARTICIPLES AS QUALIFIERS

Imperfective and perfective participles may be used adjectivally and adverbially. Matching forms of the perfective participle of bOna (hOi - hue - hill) are often added to make participial phrases. For the forms of the imperfective participle. see §603; for the perfective participle. see §604. When participles are used as qualifiers. they are inflected like adjectives, and the feminine plural forms are not used.

,d.J1 2..?' - J.J1 ~.?' - 1.J1 l:i; karti hOi - karti hill - karte hue, doing

s: \"' \"IU

':::'.J1 .c; -.s.J1 if - .J1 ..

kiyl hili - ki hill - kiye hue, done

Conjunctive participles (§612) may be used adverbially (§913).

IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLES

The imperfective participle describes actions or states which are incomplete (and often continuing) at the time shown by the main verb.

901 Adjectival use of imperfective participles

An imperfective participle may modify a noun like an adjective. Adjectival participles agree with the noun in number and gender, and usually occur in phrases with hOi (- hUe - hill). Preceding a noun, adjectival participles are used attributively (§306).

- JJ c2J) U)Y. J.J1 ~ lS" kiIhpti hiiIaurat roDe lagi

The shivering woman began to cry.

Compare

(I . 1

- r,f- ~J) U)Y. J1' JJ-i

biifbi aurat roDe lagi

The old woman began to cry.

Participles as qualifiers 177

-J~ )JI \S;:,,~ ~I y- UJ)Iy-~ J.J1..;f girD biii divirOr:h ko ek dhakki aur dO

Give another push to the falling walls.

Compare

- J~ )JI l5:.t. ~ ~ I y- uJ) I_,.p JI_x, prriIJi divwm ko fk dhakki aur dO Give another push to the old walls.

L7 • 6. . L:..t. ~ -L . \' T

- 'i!-' d ... ~ fi; .x. ~ u-:; y "=t

ill kO calti bas par clqlmi nahiril cihie thi

You should not have tried to get on the moving bus.

Following a noun, adjectival participles are used predicatively (§306).

- 43 ~) ~ 1.J1 l.;:(~ )1 ~ zikir bhagtA hiUijl rabi thi Zakir was going along at a run.

- ~~) l.ri 1.J1 lJlf' d )1~ zikir git gati hua nahi rabl thi Singing a song, Zakir was bathing.

902 Adverbial use of imperfective participles

An imperfective participle (usually in phrases with hOi (- hue - hill» may add a context to the main verb. or show the simultaneity of the two actions, like an adverb. Adverbial participles are masculine oblique singular.

- 4J ~) l.ri J,.J1 2. If' d. }1 ~ zikir git gate hue nahl rahi thi

Zakir was singing a song as he bathed.

1," L 1_' .. If J \T~

- 'i!-' .') v-;- ':::'.J1 .:::, ...r '

zakir git gate hue cal rahi thi

Zakir was singing a song as he walked.

An adverbial participle may precede the subject, if it is given more prominence than the main verb.

I~f ). ... ('L,

- j?, C u~ j.:-")'y-; ':::'.J1 .c' ~

bhigtC hue cOr si!hlyom sf gil Pari

While fleeing, the thief fell down the stairs. (adverbial participle)

Compare:

I). r J. I l.;:(~ ..

- Y?.r C' u ~ j.:-")'y-;.J1 ~

bbagti hua cOr sqhiyor:h se gir p8!i

The fleeing thief fell down the stairs. (adjectival participle)


If the main verb is transitive and the tense is perfective, the subject takes ne and the participle is always masculine oblique singular.

-J~~; ~ dy. ~ .2.J1~ zikir DC harhsm hiiC bam kG xabar sunil Smiling, Zakir told us the news.

U,.l-· ··c .:,

- .. .c.J1 C"'*- .c.,c-

Irone DC bhauriJkte biiC bamla kiyi Barking. the dog attacked.

903 Imperfective participle + vaqt, 'while (vERs)-ing'

The construction: IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE + vaqt (-re vaqt) shows an action or event which occurs simultaneously with the action or event of the main verb. The participle is oblique, and hUi (- hue - hiill is not used.

-....;_,1 ~I~ ~ ~~ "";_,1 ~4 ~ ~-' c..~ ~~I imtiban dem vaqt na biiIil taraf dCkhni na diiIh taraf While writing the examination, do not look left nor right.

- li,T ~ ~Ji;L.. I~ i.J1 ~J..2~ J r.-

munir ke jim vaqt akram xudi hafiz kahnC nahiril iyi WhenMunir was leaving, Akram didn't come to say goodbye.

904 Imperfective participle + hi, 'as soon as (VERB)'

The construction: IMPERFECTIVE PARTICIPLE + hi (-re hi) shows an action or event which occurs immediately prior to the action or event of the main verb. The participle is oblique, and hUi (- hue - hili) is not used.

_If L';- ~_,.; ; yT I.f.' ~ ~J..:.l OJ vo landan pahuriJcm hi ip ko ron kare ga

He will call you as soon as he reaches London.

If the subject of the participle is not the subject of the main verb, it will be possessi ve, and will be followed by ke.

-~ ~i DJ If.' .c~ojl-,)~ J ~L.. himid ke darviza kb61re hi vo uth baithi

As soon as Hamid opened the door, she jumped up.

Participles as qualifiers 179

905 Repeated imperfective participles

Repeated imperfective participles show continuing or repeated action which culminates in the action or event of the main verb. hUi (- hue - hili) is not used. The participles are usually masculine oblique singular, especially in the Urdu of Delhi, however (a) if both participle and main verb have the same subject, (b) the subject is in the nominative case, and (c) the participles follow the subject, the participle may agree with the subject. If the verb is a verb of motion, the participles may also agree with the subject when preceding it (see the last example in this section).

~

w .. " ..

- ~ ~;f~;f~~

maiIit samjbiti samjbii6thak gai hiiril

I have got tired of explaining (it) again and again.

..

W L:... I "1,- "1,- .

-.. c .::::.~.c.~.c.~

maim ne samjhiti samjhiiti use maolliya

I persuaded him by explaining (it) again and again.

~

w "" "

- ~ ~~.c~.::::.~

samjhiire samjhire mairl:J. thak gai hiirll

I have got tired of explaining (it) again and again.

- L! 0-! ~ ~ I 0-' ~ ~ likhte likbre vo adib ban gaya

By writing regularly, he became a writer.

- L! 0-! ~~I ~ ~ OJ vo likbre likbti adfb ban gayi

He became a writer by writing regularly.

Repeated oblique imperfective participles may show an action that is not fully accomplished.

- r._?? 2./ ..2/ D-'

vo girre girte bad

She nearly fell (but someone caught her).

- tf I;S; c!~ c!~_,sl5 4ikU bbagre bhigte pakri gaya

The robber was caught while attempting to flee.

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