Holidays

چھٹی

Holidays are one of the topics you will be asked to talk and write about: where you go, how you get there, and what you do. Every word below is shown three ways: the Urdu script, a transliteration in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. Read the Urdu first, right to left, and use the transliteration only to check the sound.

Key words (1)

Start with four holiday words:

Match each word to its meaning

What sahil means in Urdu

What does the Urdu word ساحل (sahil) mean?

• the beach, the shore
• the sea
• a journey, a trip
• holiday, day off

Key words (2)

Now four more words you need for a holiday:

Match each word to its meaning

Getting there

Select the TWO Urdu words that are ways of travelling.

• ہوائی جہاز (hawai jahaz)
• کشتی (kashti)
• سامان (samaan)
• پہاڑ (pahaar)

Choose the Urdu word

In Urdu, the word for 'the sea' is _____, and the word for 'a holiday' is _____.

The little word goes after

English puts the little word in front: in the hotel, on the beach. Urdu puts it after the noun, which is why these words are called postpositions. • ہوٹل میں (hotel mein) in the hotel • ساحل پر (sahil par) on the beach You have already met میں (main), meaning "I". The same letters also spell میں (mein), meaning "in". You can tell them apart by where they sit: "I" comes at the start of a sentence, "in" comes straight after the noun it belongs to.

Which is right?

How do you say "in the hotel" in Urdu?

• ہوٹل میں (hotel mein)
• میں ہوٹل (mein hotel)
• ہوٹل پر (hotel par)
• ہوٹل (hotel)

Where and how

Holiday words fall into two groups. Sorting them this way makes them easier to recall, and adds two more: جزیرہ (jazeera), an island, and بس (bas), the bus.

Planning a holiday

Plan a holiday using the words you have learned.

• You want to spend the break somewhere you can swim. Which place do you choose?
• The island you have chosen is far away and you have only a few hours. How do you travel?
• A friend asks where you spent the day. You want to say "on the beach". Which is right?

One more

The Urdu word for 'luggage' is _____, the word for 'a mountain' is _____, and the word for 'an island' is _____.

Your turn: write in Urdu

Write two or three sentences IN URDU about a holiday, using this module's own postposition rule. Write in Urdu script - the transliteration in brackets is a reading aid only.

• Say where you go - the postposition FOLLOWS the noun, as this module taught: ساحل پر (sahil par - at the beach) or ہوٹل میں (hotel mein - in the hotel)
• Name the place: سمندر (samundar - the sea), پہاڑ (pahaar - mountain) or جزیرہ (jazira - an island)
• Name how you travel: ہوائی جہاز (hawai jahaz - aeroplane), کشتی (kashti - boat) or بس (bas - bus)
• Name the break itself: چھٹی (chutti - holiday) or سفر (safar - a journey)