What School Is Like

School in Urdu

This topic is about school. Every word comes with its Urdu script, a transliteration in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. Urdu is written right to left.

Classroom words in Urdu

Learn these school words:

Match each Urdu word to its English meaning

The Urdu word for a teacher

Which Urdu word means 'a teacher'?

• استاد (ustad)
• طالب علم (talib ilm)
• کتاب (kitab)
• کلاس (klaas)

How the script works

Two things about Urdu script. First, it is written from right to left, in a flowing style called Nastaliq. Second, Urdu uses the Perso-Arabic alphabet, sharing letters with Arabic and Persian, but adds extra letters of its own for special sounds, such as ٹ, ڈ and ڑ. Learn each word with its transliteration to say it.

School words

Select the TWO words connected with school.

• سبق (sabaq)
• امتحان (imtihan)
• سمندر (samundar)
• ماں (maan)

Match each Urdu word to how it is said

How do you say it?

The school اسکول is said _____. The teacher استاد is said _____. A book کتاب is said _____. A lesson سبق is said _____.

Order the school day

Put a school day in a sensible order.

• Go to school (اسکول, iskool)
• Sit in the class (کلاس, klaas)
• Study a lesson (سبق, sabaq)
• Do your homework (گھر کا کام, ghar ka kaam)

The Urdu word for an exam

Which Urdu word means 'an exam'?

• امتحان (imtihan)
• قلم (qalam)
• کلاس (klaas)
• طالب علم (talib ilm)

Saying the school words in Urdu

At school اسکول (said _____), a student طالب علم (said _____) studies a lesson سبق (said _____) with a teacher استاد (said _____).

Urdu puts is at the end

The school words become sentences once you add ہے (hai - is) at the end, where English would not put it: - میں طالب علم ہوں = "I am a student". میں (main - I), then what you are, then ہوں (hoon) - the form of "am" that goes with میں. It still comes last. - استاد اسکول میں نہیں ہے = "the teacher is not at school". To make it negative, put نہیں (nahin - not) just before ہے. Without نہیں it reads "the teacher is at school".

How do you turn استاد اسکول میں ہے, "the teacher is at school", into "the teacher is NOT at school"?

How do you turn استاد اسکول میں ہے, "the teacher is at school", into "the teacher is NOT at school"?

• استاد اسکول میں نہیں ہے (ustad iskool mein nahin hai)
• نہیں استاد اسکول میں ہے (nahin ustad iskool mein hai)
• استاد نہیں ہے (ustad nahin hai)
• میں طالب علم ہوں (main talib ilm hoon)

A school day

Choose the right Urdu word for each school situation.

• You want to say 'a book'. You choose:
• You need the word for 'a teacher'. You choose:
• To say 'a lesson', you choose:

Use what you know

Use what you know about Urdu to make each choice.

• Urdu is written in which direction?
• The flowing style Urdu is often written in is called...
• 'A school' in Urdu is:

Well done

You have met the key Urdu school words: اسکول (iskool, school), استاد (ustad, teacher), طالب علم (talib ilm, student), سبق (sabaq, lesson), کتاب (kitab, book) and امتحان (imtihan, exam). Keep practising the script and the transliteration together.