A hundred words cover an outsized share of everyday Urdu. Learn the pronouns, postpositions, and core verbs first, and the rest of the language becomes far easier to reach.
How to use this list
Do not work through this list top to bottom. Read down it and mark only the words you could not have produced yourself. Those are your list. The rest are already yours, and reviewing them is wasted effort better spent on words you actually meet in reading, conversation, or subtitles.
The 100 words
| # | Urdu | English | In use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | میں | I / me | میں گھر جا رہا ہوں۔I am going home. |
| 2 | تم | you (informal) | تم کہاں جا رہے ہو؟Where are you going? (informal) |
| 3 | آپ | you (formal/polite) | آپ کیسے ہیں؟How are you? (formal) |
| 4 | وہ | he / she / it / that | وہ میرا دوست ہے۔He is my friend. |
| 5 | یہ | this / he / she / it | یہ میری کتاب ہے۔This is my book. |
| 6 | ہم | we / us | ہم اسکول جاتے ہیں۔We go to school. |
| 7 | اُن | them (oblique) | اُن کو بلاؤ۔Call them. |
| 8 | اِس | this (oblique) | اِس کتاب کو پڑھو۔Read this book. |
| 9 | اُس | that (oblique) | اُس آدمی کو دیکھو۔Look at that man. |
| 10 | ہے | is | وہ گھر پر ہے۔He is at home. |
| 11 | ہیں | are | وہ لوگ اسکول میں ہیں۔Those people are at school. |
| 12 | تھا | was (masc.) | کل موسم اچھا تھا۔The weather was nice yesterday. |
| 13 | تھی | was (fem.) | وہ کل بہت خوش تھی۔She was very happy yesterday. |
| 14 | تھے | were | ہم وہاں دو گھنٹے تھے۔We were there for two hours. |
| 15 | ہونا | to be / to happen | کل بارش ہونا ہے۔It's going to rain tomorrow. |
| 16 | کا | of (possessive, masc. sg.) | یہ میرے بھائی کا گھر ہے۔This is my brother's house. |
| 17 | کی | of (possessive, fem.) | یہ اُس کی کتاب ہے۔This is her book. |
| 18 | کے | of (possessive, pl./oblique) | یہ بچوں کے کھلونے ہیں۔These are the children's toys. |
| 19 | پر | on / upon | کتاب میز پر ہے۔The book is on the table. |
| 20 | سے | from / with / by | وہ اسکول سے آیا۔He came from school. |
| 21 | کو | to (object/dative marker) | استاد نے طالب علم کو کتاب دی۔The teacher gave the book to the student. |
| 22 | تک | until / up to | وہ رات تک کام کرتا ہے۔He works until night. |
| 23 | کے لیے | for | یہ تحفہ آپ کے لیے ہے۔This gift is for you. |
| 24 | نہیں | no / not | مجھے چائے پسند نہیں۔I don't like tea. |
| 25 | نہ | not / neither | نہ وہ آیا، نہ اُس نے فون کیا۔Neither did he come, nor did he call. |
| 26 | اور | and | میں اور میرا دوست بازار گئے۔My friend and I went to the market. |
| 27 | لیکن | but | میں جانا چاہتا ہوں، لیکن میں مصروف ہوں۔I want to go, but I'm busy. |
| 28 | یا | or | آپ چائے یا کافی پیئیں گے؟Will you drink tea or coffee? |
| 29 | کیونکہ | because | وہ نہیں آیا کیونکہ وہ بیمار تھا۔He didn't come because he was sick. |
| 30 | اس لیے | so / therefore | بارش ہو رہی تھی، اس لیے ہم گھر رہے۔It was raining, so we stayed home. |
| 31 | اگر | if | اگر تم فارغ ہو تو مجھے فون کرو۔If you're free, call me. |
| 32 | کہ | that (complementizer) | مجھے پتا ہے کہ وہ آئے گا۔I know that he will come. |
| 33 | کیا | what | تم کیا کر رہے ہو؟What are you doing? |
| 34 | کون | who | وہ آدمی کون ہے؟Who is that man? |
| 35 | کہاں | where | تمہارا گھر کہاں ہے؟Where is your house? |
| 36 | کب | when | تم واپس کب آؤ گے؟When will you come back? |
| 37 | کیوں | why | تم اداس کیوں ہو؟Why are you sad? |
| 38 | کیسے | how | یہ کھانا کیسے بناتے ہیں؟How do you make this food? |
| 39 | کتنا | how much / how many | یہ راستہ کتنا لمبا ہے؟How long is this road? |
| 40 | بہت | very / much | یہ کھانا بہت اچھا ہے۔This food is very good. |
| 41 | بھی | also / too | میں بھی جانا چاہتا ہوں۔I also want to go. |
| 42 | ابھی | now / right away | وہ ابھی آیا ہے۔He has just arrived. |
| 43 | پھر | then / again | پہلے کھانا کھاؤ، پھر جاؤ۔Eat first, then go. |
| 44 | ہمیشہ | always | وہ ہمیشہ وقت پر آتا ہے۔He always comes on time. |
| 45 | کبھی | sometimes / ever | کیا تم نے کبھی سمندر دیکھا ہے؟Have you ever seen the sea? |
| 46 | کرنا | to do | مجھے یہ کام کرنا ہے۔I have to do this work. |
| 47 | جانا | to go | وہ اسکول جانا چاہتا ہے۔He wants to go to school. |
| 48 | آنا | to come | وہ کل واپس آئے گا۔He will come back tomorrow. |
| 49 | دیکھنا | to see / watch | مجھے فلمیں دیکھنا پسند ہے۔I like watching movies. |
| 50 | سننا | to listen / hear | مجھے موسیقی سننا پسند ہے۔I like listening to music. |
| 51 | کہنا | to say | وہ سچ کہنا چاہتا ہے۔He wants to tell the truth. |
| 52 | لینا | to take | براہ کرم یہ کتاب لے لو۔Please take this book. |
| 53 | دینا | to give | اُس نے مجھے ایک تحفہ دیا۔He gave me a gift. |
| 54 | کھانا | to eat / food | ہم رات کا کھانا ساتھ کھائیں گے۔We will eat dinner together. |
| 55 | پینا | to drink | بچے دودھ پینا پسند کرتے ہیں۔Children like drinking milk. |
| 56 | چاہنا | to want | میں سچ جاننا چاہتا ہوں۔I want to know the truth. |
| 57 | جاننا | to know | میں تمہارے بارے میں جاننا چاہتی ہوں۔I want to know about you. |
| 58 | سمجھنا | to understand | مجھے یہ سبق سمجھنا مشکل لگا۔I found this lesson hard to understand. |
| 59 | رہنا | to live / stay | وہ لاہور میں رہتا ہے۔He lives in Lahore. |
| 60 | ملنا | to meet / get | کل ہم اپنے دوستوں سے ملیں گے۔Tomorrow we will meet our friends. |
| 61 | بولنا | to speak | وہ آہستہ بولتا ہے۔He speaks slowly. |
| 62 | پڑھنا | to read / study | وہ روزانہ اخبار پڑھتا ہے۔He reads the newspaper daily. |
| 63 | لکھنا | to write | مجھے خط لکھنا پسند ہے۔I like writing letters. |
| 64 | سکنا | to be able to (auxiliary) | میں یہ کام کر سکتا ہوں۔I can do this work. |
| 65 | ایک | one | میرے پاس ایک کتاب ہے۔I have one book. |
| 66 | دو | two | اُس کے دو بھائی ہیں۔He has two brothers. |
| 67 | تین | three | میز پر تین کپ ہیں۔There are three cups on the table. |
| 68 | چار | four | میز کی چار ٹانگیں ہیں۔The table has four legs. |
| 69 | پانچ | five | میں پانچ بجے گھر پہنچوں گا۔I will reach home at five o'clock. |
| 70 | چھ | six | کلاس میں چھ طالب علم ہیں۔There are six students in the class. |
| 71 | سات | seven | ہفتے میں سات دن ہوتے ہیں۔There are seven days in a week. |
| 72 | آٹھ | eight | دکان آٹھ بجے کھلتی ہے۔The shop opens at eight o'clock. |
| 73 | نو | nine | وہ نو سال کا ہے۔He is nine years old. |
| 74 | دس | ten | میرے پاس دس روپے ہیں۔I have ten rupees. |
| 75 | آدمی | man / person | وہ آدمی میرا استاد ہے۔That man is my teacher. |
| 76 | عورت | woman | یہ عورت ڈاکٹر ہے۔This woman is a doctor. |
| 77 | گھر | house / home | ہمارا گھر بازار کے قریب ہے۔Our house is near the market. |
| 78 | وقت | time | میرے پاس وقت نہیں ہے۔I don't have time. |
| 79 | دن | day | آج بہت گرم دن ہے۔Today is a very hot day. |
| 80 | سال | year | وہ اس سال بارہ سال کا ہو گیا۔He turned twelve years old this year. |
| 81 | کام | work | اُس کے پاس بہت کام ہے۔He has a lot of work. |
| 82 | پیسہ | money | میرے پاس زیادہ پیسہ نہیں ہے۔I don't have much money. |
| 83 | دوست | friend | وہ میرا بہترین دوست ہے۔He is my best friend. |
| 84 | چیز | thing | یہ کیا چیز ہے؟What thing is this? |
| 85 | جگہ | place | یہ بہت خوبصورت جگہ ہے۔This is a very beautiful place. |
| 86 | پانی | water | براہ کرم مجھے پانی دو۔Please give me water. |
| 87 | خاندان | family | میرا خاندان بڑا ہے۔My family is big. |
| 88 | اسکول | school | بچے اسکول جاتے ہیں۔The children go to school. |
| 89 | کتاب | book | یہ کتاب بہت دلچسپ ہے۔This book is very interesting. |
| 90 | بڑا | big | یہ بہت بڑا گھر ہے۔This is a very big house. |
| 91 | چھوٹا | small | اُس کا کمرہ چھوٹا ہے۔His room is small. |
| 92 | اچھا | good | یہ خیال بہت اچھا ہے۔This idea is very good. |
| 93 | برا | bad | یہ کام کرنا برا ہے۔Doing this is bad. |
| 94 | نیا | new | اُس نے نیا موبائل خریدا۔He bought a new mobile phone. |
| 95 | پرانا | old | یہ گھر بہت پرانا ہے۔This house is very old. |
| 96 | زیادہ | more / much | یہاں لوگ زیادہ ہیں۔There are a lot of people here. |
| 97 | کم | less / few | آج کام کم ہے۔There is little work today. |
| 98 | خوش | happy | وہ آج بہت خوش ہے۔He is very happy today. |
| 99 | اداس | sad | وہ آج اداس ہے۔He is sad today. |
| 100 | خوبصورت | beautiful | یہ منظر بہت خوبصورت ہے۔This view is very beautiful. |
The ones English speakers get wrong
A different script, not a different grammar
Urdu and Hindi share essentially the same grammar and a huge amount of everyday vocabulary; spoken Urdu and Hindi are often mutually intelligible. The real differences are the script (Urdu is written right to left in a Perso-Arabic script) and a heavier layer of Persian and Arabic vocabulary in Urdu, especially in formal or literary registers.
تم vs. آپ
Urdu has more than one word for "you", and the choice signals respect. تم (tum) is informal, used with close friends, children, or family. آپ (aap) is the respectful, polite form used with elders, strangers, and in professional settings. Defaulting to آپ is the safer choice until you know someone well.
Gender agreement runs through the sentence
Urdu verbs, adjectives, and possessive markers (کا/کی/کے) change form to agree with the gender and number of the noun they attach to, not the speaker. "اچھا لڑکا" (good boy) becomes "اچھی لڑکی" (good girl); "میرا گھر" (my house, masc.) becomes "میری کتاب" (my book, fem.). It takes practice to hear which noun each word is agreeing with.
Postpositions instead of prepositions
Where English puts a word before the noun ("in the house"), Urdu puts it after ("گھر میں"). Common ones like میں (in), پر (on), سے (from/by), کو (to), and تک (until) come after the noun they govern, which takes some rewiring if you're used to English word order.
ہے, ہیں, تھا, تھی, تھے: one verb, many faces
The verb "to be" changes constantly: ہے (is, singular), ہیں (are, plural or polite singular), تھا (was, masc.), تھی (was, fem.), and تھے (were). These small words carry number, gender, and tense all at once, and mixing them up is one of the most common beginner mistakes.
What to do next
A list this size is about two weeks of light daily review, and it is the difference between decoding Urdu and following it.