Language
The national language of Pakistan is Urdu – a language very similar to Hindi. But the official language is English - this means that all the official documents are in English. The educated part of the society actually starts to learn English at the same time as Urdu and it’s absolutely normal that two Pakistanis speak to each other in English. Apart from these, the most common languages are Punjabi and Sindhi.
In most of cases, English is good enough for foreigners in Pakistan. This means daily life, basic shopping, going around, socializing with friends and definitely at work (all the companies work in English). It’s rather easy to catch basic words and phrases of Urdu and using these, life gets comfortable.
Find below a very, very basic Urdu phrase-book.
| English | Transliteration |
| Hello (used esp. when answering the phone) | salaam, hello |
| Hello | assalām ‘alaikum |
| Hello (reply) | wālaikum assalām |
| Hello (short) | salām |
| Goodbye | khuda hāfiz |
| See you later | phir milenge |
| How are you? | kya Haal hai? |
| I am fine | main theek hoon |
| Fine, and you? (more formal reply) | main theek hoon, aap? |
| What is your name? | āpka nam kya hai? |
| My name is ___ . | mera nam __..._ hai. |
| Yes | hān |
| No/not | nahīn |
| Do you speak English? | āpko angrezi ātī hai? |
| Is there someone here who speaks English? | yahaan kisī ko angrezī ātī hai? |
| I don't know Urdu. | mujhe urdu nahīn ātī |
| I speak some Urdu. | mujhe thoRi urdū ātī hai |
| I don't understand. | nahin samjha |
| Speak softly | āhista boliye |
| Come again? | dubara bolain? |
| What does "..." mean? | "..." ka kya matlab hai? |
| How do you say "..."? | "..." kaise kehte hain? |
| Where are you from? | āp kahan se hain? |
| I'm from ... | main ... se hūn |
| Please | barai mehrbāni |
| Thank you | śukriya |
| Thank you very much | bahut bahut śukriya |
| You're welcome (lit. don't mention it) | Koi bat nahin. |
| Excuse me (getting s.o.'s attention) | suniye |
| Pardon me/I'm sorry | mā'af kijiye |
| Where is the toilet? | ghasalkhāna? |
| Good!, nice, etc. | khoob |
| Just one minute | ek minit |
Numbers:
1 aik
2 dou
3 teen
4 char
5 panch
6 chhe
7 saat
8 aath
9 nau
10 das
20 bees
30 tees
40 chalees
50 pachaas
60 saath
70 sattar
80 assi
90 naway
100 aik sou