# Hindi-Urdu: draw



## amiramir

Hello,

What do we say in everyday speech for 'to draw' as in:

I drew a cat on the piece of paper. [I would just use banaaya, but there must be something better)

To draw a face, one starts by drawing a circle.

I didn't recognize any of the suggestions on shabdkosh as spoken speech, but that's because I'm pretty sure my family would say draw karna.

Thank you.


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## Aryaved

I guess if you really wanted to say "draw" in Hindi colloquially you could say "Chitra bananaa" which would mean making a picture. I know that "aakarshit karana" can be used also. I guess depends on the register you want to use.


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## littlepond

amiramir said:


> What do we say in everyday speech for 'to draw' as in:
> 
> I drew a cat on the piece of paper. [I would just use banaaya, but there must be something better)
> 
> To draw a face, one starts by drawing a circle.



Well, "banaanaa" or "khiiNchnaa" are the only usual, colloquial options you have at hand. The second sentence is more interesting, as here you can distinguish between the two words: "chaihraa banaane ke liye, ek golaa/golaakaar khiiNchne se shuruuaat karo" (or, more normal, "chaihraa banaane ke liye, ek gole se shuruuaat karo").


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## Dib

Aryaved said:


> I guess if you really wanted to say "draw" in Hindi colloquially you could say "Chitra bananaa" which would mean making a picture. I know that "aakarshit karana" can be used also. I guess depends on the register you want to use.



Isn't aakarshit karnaa = attract?

====

My experience is same as what littlepond jii mentioned. I think, as long as the context is clear, people would simply use banaanaa. If it is not clear enough, it can be clarified by adding tasviir/pikchar (e.g. billii kii tasviir banaayii).

khiiNchnaa, I have heard mosly in context of lines: draw a straight line = ek siidhii laa'in/lakiir khiiNcho. I don't know in exactly which other contexts it can be used. I guess circle (as in littlepond jii's example) is also within the scope of a line. But can it be used for more complicated sketches? E.g. a human figure? Or a cat, for that matter?


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## littlepond

Dib said:


> khiiNchnaa, I have heard mosly in context of lines: draw a straight line = ek siidhii laa'in/lakiir khiiNcho. I don't know in exactly which other contexts it can be used. I guess circle (as in littlepond jii's example) is also within the scope of a line. But can it be used for more complicated sketches? E.g. a human figure? Or a cat, for that matter?



You are quite right, Dib jii: that's why I used "khiiNchnaa" for circle (a geometric shape) in the second sentence. However, one _can_ khiiNch a human figure or cat: it would imply more of a sketch rather than a drawing.


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## littlepond

Dib said:


> Isn't aakarshit karnaa = attract?



That is also the only meaning I know of "aakarshit karnaa".


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## Aryaved

Dib said:


> Isn't aakarshit karnaa = attract?
> 
> ====
> 
> My experience is same as what littlepond jii mentioned. I think, as long as the context is clear, people would simply use banaanaa. If it is not clear enough, it can be clarified by adding tasviir/pikchar (e.g. billii kii tasviir banaayii).
> 
> khiiNchnaa, I have heard mosly in context of lines: draw a straight line = ek siidhii laa'in/lakiir khiiNcho. I don't know in exactly which other contexts it can be used. I guess circle (as in littlepond jii's example) is also within the scope of a line. But can it be used for more complicated sketches? E.g. a human figure? Or a cat, for that matter?



That's my bad...I was thinking of the double meaning of "to draw" (as in being drawn towards) and hence misstyped 'aakarshit karna'


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## amiramir

This is all very helpful advice, thank you.


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## Sheikh_14

Based upon what you guys have already stated how would you refer to act of drawing as a noun rather than to draw as a verb? Lastly little pond jee what do you mean by golaakaar? Golaa alone obviously means any round object be it a cannon or a kabab.


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## Alfaaz

Urdu:

_to draw, sketch, paint, etc; to make a drawing, sketch, painting, etc._:

بنانا - _banaanaa_
تصویر/خاکہ بنانا - _taSwiir/xaakah banaanaa_
کھینچنا -_ khaiNchnaa_
مصوّری کرنا _- musawwirii karnaa_
_etc._
_drawing, sketching, painting; photography_ - تصویر کشی - _taSwiir-kashii_

_drawing; sketching - _خاکہ کشی -_ xaakah-kashii_

_drawn - _مصوّر، کشیدہ_ - musawwar, kashiidah_

Possible translations of the example sentences in the opening post:

میں نے کاغذ پر بلی کی تصویر بنائی - _maiN ne kaaghaz par billii kii taSwiir banaa'ii._

چہرہ بنانے/چہرے کا خاکے کھینچنے کے لیے شخص دائرہ بنا کر آغاز کرتا ہے - _(chahrah banaane/chahre kaa xaakah khaiNchne) ke liye shaxS daa'irah banaa kar aaghaaz kartaa hai._


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## Sheikh_14

Xaakah-kashii is I believe the term that best fulfills the criterion above. An interesting question which does arise from this thread is using Indic means how would you forge a noun form for verbs such as banaanaa and khenchnaa. For xaakah-khenchnaa how about xaakah-khenchii for the act of doing so? Terms such as khench aa khenchii already exist and are featured in Platts. For banaanaa perhaps something along the lines of banaa'ii? For instance when an act is ritualised and relates to peenaa or dikhaanaa it morphs to dikhaa'ii and pilaa'ii (muNh-dikhaa'ii and duudh pilaa'ii being examples). The act of cooking pakaanaa is referred to as pakaa'ii. Yeh chaawal pakaa'ii meN baRe ache haiN is very commonly heard amongst Rice industrialists' etc.

kaghazii tasweer khenchnaa for to draw is also possible and would make sense.


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## littlepond

Sheikh_14 said:


> Based upon what you guys have already stated how would you refer to act of drawing as a noun rather than to draw as a verb? Lastly little pond jee what do you mean by golaakaar? Golaa alone obviously means any round object be it a cannon or a kabab.



"billii kaa chitr (drawing as noun, the thing produced), billii kii chitrkaarii (drawing as noun, the activity)"

I mean "round-shaped form, round shape" by "golakaar", Sheikh jii, since to draw a face, you need to make a round form (a circle), not a round object itself.


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## amiramir

Coming back to the second question in the original post-- i.e. drawing a circle, how would we say: I drew a circle around all the right answers...

For the colloquial register, we had the suggestion above of golaa khiinchnaa. What about gheraa? Is that colloquial? Would gher lenaa work?

(I am also struggling with 'around')-- MaiN ne sahii javaaboN (ke ird-gird?) gole khiinche? MaiN se sahii javaab gher liye?

Thank you.


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## littlepond

That's a difficult one, @amiramir jii, as I can only imagine that happening in an exam paper, and I don't remember any Hindi paper in my school life that asked for circling answers! (In fact, hardly any multiple-choice questions, if at all.)

I would suggest something like "gol,golaa,sarkal,chakr lagaanaa."

For example, "maiN ne sabhi sahii javaaboN par golaa/sarkal lagaa diyaa."

Note that "gher lenaa" means to surround someone or something, beseige someone or something (often with a hostile intention). For example, "gunDoN ne use poorii tarah/tareh gher liyaa."


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## Qureshpor

Would n't "gol" lean more towards "round" in an adjectival sense and "golaa" mean "a ball" or "a sphere" instead of a "circle"? What about "gheraa" for circle?


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## littlepond

"gol," normally adjectival, can be used as a noun, too. As for "gheraa," it can of course be used sometimes to denote a circle, but I don't think it's suitable in this context.
For "gheraa," it works more in contexts like someone saying, "gheraa banaa lo, is ke andar hii khel hogaa."


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## aevynn

amiramir said:


> Coming back to the second question in the original post-- i.e. drawing a circle, how would we say: I drew a circle around all the right answers...



This might just be my rather Hinglishized language use, but I probably would have said _sarkal karnaa_ in this multiple-choicey context --- eg, _maiNne sabhii sahii javaaboN ko sarkal kiyaa_


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## littlepond

aevynn said:


> This might just be my rather Hinglishized language use, but I probably would have said _sarkal karnaa_ in this multiple-choicey context --- eg, _maiNne sabhii sahii javaaboN ko sarkal kiyaa_



Yes! Now I realise that I too would have said the same thing! Sometimes, the obvious is lost from mind when looking at another language.


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