# Hindi, Urdu: "Although..." "I would like to give X to Y"



## urdulearner24

These are some sentence structures which I can't really express in Urdu. Some examples of these strucutres in English are:

"Although he won the race, his legs were broken"

and

"I would like to give a message to John"

How do you express these type of sentences in Hindi/Urdu?


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## Alfaaz

_Although _- اگرچہ، ہرچند، گو، باوجودیکہ، وغیرہ

*اگرچہ *تجھ سے بہت اختلاف بھی نہ ہوا
مگر یہ دل تری جانب سے صاف بھی نہ ہوا

پروین شاکر

ہم سے *ہر چند* وہ ظاہر میں خفا ہیں لیکن
کوشش پرسش حالات چلی جاتی ہے

حسرت موہانی

*ہر چند *سہارا ہے ، تیرے پیار کا دل کو
رہتا ہے مگر ، ایک عجب خوف سا دل کو

شہرت بخاری

*گو *میں رہا رہین ستم ہائے روزگار
لیکن ترے خیال سے غافل نہیں رہا

مرزا غالب​


			
				urdulearner24 said:
			
		

> "I would like to give a message to John"


میں جان کو (ایک) پیغام دینا چاہوں گا.​


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## Qureshpor

Alfaaz said:


> میں جان کو (ایک) پیغام دینا چاہوں گا.


Thank God, I did n't respond before you, Alfaaz SaaHib. I had John with his broken legs in mind and was reading "message" as "massage"!


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## Qureshpor

urdulearner24 said:


> These are some sentence structures which I can't really express in Urdu. Some examples of these strucutres in English are:
> 
> "Although he won the race, his legs were broken".....


urdulearner 24, I am not sure if I am understanding this sentence correctly.

Do you mean, "He won the race but in the process, he broke his legs" (?) or:-

Despite the fact his legs were broken, he won the race. (?)..... which is of course unlikely!


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## littlepond

urdulearner24 said:


> "Although he won the race, his legs were broken"
> 
> How do you express these type of sentences in Hindi/Urdu?



"res to voh jeet gayaa, par pair TooT chuke the" or "res to voh jeet gayaa, par pair TooT gaye" would the simplest, most effective, most idiomatic way.

(assuming that you mean his legs were broken _after _the race)

Note: you could of course substitue the English "res" (race) with "dauRne kii pratiyogitaa," but most Hindi speakers will use the English word itself here.



urdulearner24 said:


> "I would like to give a message to John"
> 
> How do you express these type of sentences in Hindi/Urdu?



"maiN John ko ek sandesh denaa chaahuNgaa"


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## HindiMurkh

littlepond said:


> "res to voh jeet gayaa, par pair TooT chuke the" or "res to voh jeet gayaa, par pair TooT gaye" would the simplest, most effective, most idiomatic way.
> 
> (assuming that you mean his legs were broken _after _the race)
> 
> Note: you could of course substitue the English "res" (race) with "dauRne kii pratiyogitaa," but most Hindi speakers will use the English word itself here.
> 
> 
> 
> "maiN John ko ek sandesh denaa chaahuNgaa"



What about substituting res with dauR? When I was younger me and my friends would say things like "dauR lagaani hai?" Meaning do you want to race.


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## littlepond

HindiMurkh said:


> What about substituting res with dauR? When I was younger me and my friends would say things like "dauR lagaani hai?" Meaning do you want to race.



For me, "dauR" is simply running, not necessarily a running race, but you could of course substitute "res" with "dauR" as long as there is no compulsion to be technically correct. Among friends, yes, both "res lagaanii hai" and "dauR lagaanii hai" work.


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## Jashn

Would 'haalaanki'/ हालाँकि/ہالانکی be a good alternative for 'although'?


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## littlepond

Jashn said:


> Would 'haalaanki'/ हालाँकि/ہالانکی be a good alternative for 'although'?



Yes, of course, but not an "alternative," given that "although" is not a word used in Hindi.


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## Qureshpor

Jashn said:


> Would 'haalaanki'/ हालाँकि/ہالانکی be a good alternative for 'although'?


Hi Jashn. In Urdu, this word be spelt حالانکہ and in the context I would say اگرچہ "agarchih" fits the bill better as Alfaaz SaaHib has suggested.


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## amiramir

littlepond said:


> Yes, of course, but not an "alternative," given that "although" is not a word used in Hindi.




Hi lpji-- I'm not sure I quite understood your answer. I thought haalaanki more or less meant 'although' or 'even if'-- does it not? I will admit, I have never heard anyone actually use it in a sentence, so I'm not really sure how it is used in real life. 

Also would bhale hi work? Many thanks.


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## littlepond

amiramir said:


> Hi lpji-- I'm not sure I quite understood your answer. I thought haalaanki more or less meant 'although' or 'even if'-- does it not? I will admit, I have never heard anyone actually use it in a sentence, so I'm not really sure how it is used in real life.
> 
> Also would bhale hi work? Many thanks.



Hello amiramir jii, yes, "haalaaNki," which means "although," will work well in the sentence: it just makes it a touch heavy, that's all, compared to the sentence I had written. So with "haalaaNki," it would be:
"haalaaNki voh res (to) jeet gayaa, (par) us ke pair TooT gaye."

(My answer meant that "haalaaNki" is what "although" can mean; it is not an "alternative" for "although," given that "although" is not a Hindi word!)

"bhale hii" would work better if the first thing is negative, second positive, so let's recast the sentence to use that: "bhale hii us kii TaaNgeN TooT gayii hoN, par res bhii to jeet gayaa!"


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## Jashn

Thanks @Qureshpor! I was curious about 'halanki' because, if I remember correctly, in Rupert Snell's Teach Yourself Hindi, it is given preference over 'agarche' as the word used in examples to teach how to create 'although'-type sentences. I would have to double-check to be certain I'm remembering correctly, but in any event, I seem to have absorbed it as such. I'm glad I read this thread and @Alfaaz's excellent response, or perhaps I'd still labouring under that misapprehension!

Thanks @littlepond for your input, too. I rather meant to ask whether 'halanki' was a good alternative to 'agarche' as another word for 'although', but you still managed to answer my question even though it was poorly worded!!  

So, would I be right in understanding that 'agarche' is the preferred word for Urdu, even though 'halanki' might be understood, whereas in Hindi, the two are essentially synonyms? Or have I missed the boat?


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## Qureshpor

Jashn said:


> Thanks @Qureshpor! I was curious about 'halanki' because, if I remember correctly, in Rupert Snell's Teach Yourself Hindi, it is given preference over 'agarche' as the word used in examples to teach how to create 'although'-type sentences. I would have to double-check to be certain I'm remembering correctly, but in any event, I seem to have absorbed it as such. I'm glad I read this thread and @Alfaaz's excellent response, or perhaps I'd still labouring under that misapprehension!
> 
> So, would I be right in understanding that 'agarche' is the preferred word for Urdu, even though 'halanki' might be understood, whereas in Hindi, the two are essentially synonyms? Or have I missed the boat?


You are most welcome Jashn SaaHib. حالانکہ is a very common word in Urdu but the reason why I went for اگرچہ is because my psyche told me that it was a better fit for the context OP had provided. I suspect it was the same thinking which led Alfaaz SaaHib to go for اگرچہ. Now, if you were to ask me to lay out the finer points of usage between the two words, I will have to make my grey matter work overtime!


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## aevynn

Qureshpor said:


> Now, if you were to ask me to lay out the finer points of usage between the two words, I will have to make my grey matter work overtime!



Well, I don't want to insist on making anyone's gray matter work overtime, but... I am pretty curious about what you (or anyone else!) perceives the difference in usage between _HaalaaNki_ and _agarche/agarchih_ to be  The latter is not really part of my colloquial register, and I haven't been able to place any differences in my reading adventures so far...


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## Alfaaz

Qureshpor said:
			
		

> ... Now, if you were to ask me to lay out the finer points of usage between the two words, I will have to make my grey matter work overtime!





			
				aevynn said:
			
		

> Well, I don't want to insist on making anyone's gray matter work overtime, but... I am pretty curious about what you (or anyone else!) perceives the difference in usage ...


Potentially relevant information about _Haal-aaN-keh _and _agar-cheh_ from _Urdu: An Essential Grammar_ (page 224 - currently available here):


> 1226 Concessive conjunctions
> 
> _agarce, ‘although’, ‘even though' _
> 
> When agarce introduces concessive clauses, phir bhi, ‘nevertheless’ usually
> introduces the conclusion, but is often not translated. The concessive clause
> stands first in the sentence.
> 
> اگرچہ سردی آ گئی ہے پھر بھی پنگھے چل رہے ہیں -​_agarce _sardī ā gaī hai phir bhī pankhē cal rahē haiṁ​_Even though _winter has come, the fans are still running.​
> _hālāṁke, ‘even though’ _
> 
> hālāṁke introduces concessive clauses, which may stand first or second in the
> sentence.
> 
> حالانکہ سردی آ گئی ہے پھر بھی پنگھے چل رہے ہیں -​halaṁke sardī ā gaī hai phir bhī pankhē cal rahē haiṁ​_Even though_ winter has come, the fans are still running.​​مجھے کوٹ خریدنا پڑا حالانکہ وہ خاصا (خاصّہ) مہنگا تھا -​mujhe kōṭ xarīdnā paṛā hālāṁke vo xāsã mahaṁgā thā​I had to buy a coat _even though_ it was quite expensive.​


​اردو زبان میں لفظ ’’کہ‘‘ کا درست استعمال


> ’’جب‘‘ کو ’’کہ‘‘ کے ساتھ بھی لکھا جاتا ہے (جبکہ)۔ اس کے دو مطلب ہیں۔ پہلا مطلب ’’جب‘‘ ہی ہے۔
> 
> کون لیتا تھا نام مجنوں کا
> جبکہ عہدِ جنوں ہمارا تھا
> (میر تقی میر)
> 
> غش میں حضرتؑ نے سنے جبکہ یہ زینبؔؑ کے سخن
> کھول کر دیدۂ پرخوں کو اٹھائی گردن
> (میر انیسؔ)
> 
> ’’جبکہ‘‘ کا دوسرا استعمال کسی حقیقت کو واضح کرنے کے لیے ہوتا ہے۔ اس کا ایک ہم مطلب لفظ ’’حالانکہ (حالاں کہ)‘‘ ہے۔ اس کا انگریزی زبان میں بدل ''even though'' ہے
> 
> الزامِ خود سری بھی تو ثابت کِیا گیا
> میں جبکہ خاکسار بہت دیر تک رہا
> (خالد ملک ساحل)
> 
> دوسرے مصرعے کا انگریزی زبان میں ترجمہ یوں ہوگا
> Even though I remained modest for a long time.
> 
> شکریہ،
> از قلمِ منہاجؔ علی


Let's see what other forum members suggest!


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