The Urdu Alphabet, Script and Diacritics

Meet the Urdu script

Urdu is written in the Perso-Arabic script. It reads and writes right to left, the opposite of English, and has about 39 letters. There are no capital letters, and letters usually join up in a word. Urdu also uses small marks above and below the letters, called diacritics, to show the short vowels. Let us meet some letters and marks.

The first letters

Each Urdu letter has a name and a sound:

Which way do you read?

The biggest change from English is the direction. Compare the two:

Match the letter to its name

Which letter?

Which letter makes the sound b?

• ب be
• پ pe
• ت te
• س seen

The short-vowel marks

Urdu shows short vowels with small marks. On the letter be (ب), zabar makes a short a (بَ), zer makes a short i (بِ), and pesh makes a short u (بُ). These marks are often left out in everyday writing, but they are taught so you can read carefully.

Match the mark to its vowel

Short-vowel marks?

Select the TWO marks that show a short vowel.

• zabar
• pesh
• tashdid
• jazm

Alphabet order

Put these letters into the order they come at the start of the Urdu alphabet.

• ا alif
• ب be
• پ pe
• ت te

Complete the facts

The Urdu script is read from right to _____. It has no _____ letters, and its letters usually _____ up in a word. The three short-vowel marks are zabar, zer and _____. The whole alphabet has about _____ letters.

The Urdu script

Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE.

• Urdu is read and written from right to left.
• Zabar, zer and pesh are marks that show short vowels.
• Urdu has capital and small letters, like English.
• Urdu is written from left to right.
• The mark jazm shows a short a vowel.

Reading a whole sentence

Letters exist to build sentences. Urdu runs right to left in the flowing Nastaliq style, has no capital letters, and puts the little word for "is" at the end: - میرا نام علی ہے = "my name is Ali". Four words, read right to left: میرا first because it is furthest right, then نام, then the name, and ہے last. - یہ کتاب ہے = "this is a book". The same shape, shorter. یہ (yeh) is "this", کتاب (kitab) is "book", and ہے closes it.

Read the sentence

In میرا نام علی ہے, "my name is Ali", which word is furthest to the RIGHT, and so comes first?

• میرا
• نام
• ہے
• یہ

Use the script

Use what you know about the Urdu script to answer each question.

• You begin reading an Urdu word. Which side do you start on?
• You want to write a short u sound on a letter. Which mark do you use?
• A mark shows that a letter has no vowel after it. Which mark is it?

Explain the script

In English, explain three ways the Urdu writing system is different from English. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Describe the direction Urdu is read and written
• Explain what the diacritics, the short-vowel marks, are, with one example
• Say whether Urdu has capital letters, and whether the letters join
• Say roughly how many letters the alphabet has