# Urdu: what time is it?



## Anatoli

سلام

Please write in the standard Urdu script and add the romanisation (if you can).

*Hindi*: समय क्या है? (samay kyā hai?), कितने बजे हैं? (kitnē bajē h͠ai?)
Are there exact matches in Urdu?


Is سمہے (samay) used at all or you have to use وقت (waqt)?


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## lcfatima

I don't think samay is used at all in Urdu but it would be understood from Hindi film/TV. Many people also say "time" in English.

Typical ways I hear for "What time is it?"

Kya vaqt hua?
Kitne baje hai.n?


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## Anatoli

lcfatima said:


> I don't think samay is used at all in Urdu but it would be understood from Hindi film/TV. Many people also say "time" in English.
> 
> Typical ways I hear for "What time is it?"
> 
> Kya vaqt hua?
> Kitne baje hai.n?



Thank you!
My attempt to write this in Urdu:

کیا وقت ہوا؟
کتنے بجے ہیں؟


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## Idris

Time kiya ho raha hai?
Kitne baj rahe hen?


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## panjabigator

Curious, how is the word ساعات used in Urdu?  How would one say "the hour of reckoning," for example?


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## Anatoli

Thanks, guys but I was hoping to get the answers both in Urdu and romanisation.

You can use this tool to type in Urdu using Roman letters (also Hindi and a few other languages)
http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic
(Use Ω button to choose a character, which you can't enter)

I see the English "time" (ٹائم, Hindi: टाइम) is used as well. 

Can one say: ٹائم کیا ہے؟ (taim kya hai)?



> Time kiya ho raha hai?
> Kitne baj rahe hen?


Please check:
ٹائم کیا ہو رہا ہے؟
کتنے  بج  رہے  ہیں؟


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## panjabigator

Anatoli said:


> Thanks, guys but I was hoping to get the answers both in Urdu and romanisation.
> 
> I see the English "time" (ٹائم, Hindi: टाइम) is used as well.
> 
> Can one say: ٹائم کیا ہے؟



Yes, I do (and hear) this all the time.

Your transliteration of Icfatima's response is correct.


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## Anatoli

Thank you all!


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## Faylasoof

This is how we say it:

kyaa waqt hai کیا وقت ہے
kyaa waqt huwaa hai  کیا وقت ہوا ہے
kyaa waqt ho rahaa hai کیا وقت ہو رہا ہے 

kyaa bajaa hai  کیا بجا ہے 
kae baje hai.n  كئے بجے ہیں
kyaa baj rahaa hai  کیا بج رہا ہے
kae baj rahe hai.n كئے بج رہے ہیں


We don't use either of these:
ٹائم کیا ہو رہا ہے؟  
 کتنے بج رہے ہیں؟ 

For the latter, instead of _kitne_ کتنے  we always use _kae_ كئے


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## Idris

Faylasoof said:


> We don't use either of these:
> ٹائم کیا ہو رہا ہے؟
> کتنے بج رہے ہیں؟
> 
> For the latter, instead of _kitne_ کتنے we always use _kae_ كئے


 
First, I totally disagree that we don't use the ones I gave. I use them all the time. Of course, I haven't paid attention to whether others use them or not, but they sound perfectly natural to me, and that could mean others use it as well.

Second, I've _never_ heard anyone say كئے بج رہے ہیں؟ .


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## Faylasoof

When I said: 


Faylasoof said:


> We don't use either of these:
> ٹائم کیا ہو رہا ہے؟
> کتنے بج رہے ہیں؟



I'm just stating that we (speakers of the standard Urdu register of Lucknow) do not use the above.

Elsewhere, I know it can be different but we like to maintain our standards esp. by employing وقت instead of ٹائم all the time!




> Second, I've never heard anyone say كے بج رہے ہیں؟ .



This is too an example of Lakhnavi Urdu. We use this (كے بج رہے ہیں) and when we lived in Karachi, many years ago, we heard the same from not only fellow _Lakhnaviis_ but also our "rivals", the _Dehlaviis_. The situation may have changed now.

What sounds "natural" to one's ears depends very much on the environment one grows up in.


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## panjabigator

> What sounds "natural" to one's ears depends very much on the environment one grows up in.



Very true.  The interrogative <kae> that used, in my opinion is not very used in Delhi, though to be frank, I'm not very familiar with Delhi Urdu (unless everyone speaks like Ghalib).  Faylasoof, would you say that Lakhnavis also say <kahe ko> more than <kyo.n>?


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## Faylasoof

Actually, PG  I've heard <kahe ko> in Lucknow but more from those who like to break into Awadhi rather than those who stick to standard Urdu. My own Lakhnavii circle sticks to <kyo.n> except when we want to sound _different!_

.. and about the Dehlaviis and the use of <_kae baj rahe hai.n _كے بج رہے ہیں>, I'm specifically talking about my parents generation. Now things are different for both Delhi and Lucknow, though the latter has managed a little better in keeping its standards, albiet restricted to old and established families. The street langauge in both varies greatly from the schools of Urdu that either city gave birth to, thanks to partition.

BTW, to hear real Dehlavi Urdu you really have to go looking for people in the old part of the city - Shahjahanbad. But even that is not so easy, as according to William Dalrymple, those families who spoke this dilaect, and whom he had met earlier, have either moved elsewhere or else passed on to the next world!


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## xcessdenied

well, most people also use incorrect grammar when speaking in general e.g. instead of saying
"kia waqt hua hai"/ "kia waqt ho raha hai"

the most common sentence that I've heard is "waqt kia hoa hai" "
وقت کیا ہوا ہے 
As for the word "ساعت", it is used when we have to use the notion of "instant" or "moment" and right now I cannot think of anything else but the following verse:
اک عمر ہے اپنی ہر ساعت 
امروز ہے اپنا ہر فردا


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## lcfatima

I never realized kahe ko (I only hear people saying this as kae ko) was standard at all. Interesting. I associate this usage with Indian Hyderbadis.


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## BP.

@Idris, when any of us says we from now on, take it to mean 'me, my family and people in the area the bespoke are from'!

We in turn use _kaahe _pretty often but never _kaahe ko_!
And yes, kitne is ka2e.

So in lieu of 'کتنے بج رہے ہیں؟ ' we'd say
_ka2e baje kaa waqt huaa hae_
or
_kyaa bajaa hae_
and less often (though it is becoming more common)
_ka2e baje hae.n_

@PG, we did discuss _saa3at _in another thread, so here I'd stop at concurring with @xcessdenied, although the notion of _saa3at _could be dilated w.r.t what would be an 'instant'.


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## Qureshpor

I have heard the following "Lakhnavii" scenario as well with regard to time. There are some people of various backgrounds staying in a "sarai" amongst whom are a Lakhnavii couple. The husband enquires from his wife.

Hafiizan, kyaa vaqt ho gayaa ho gaa?

And to the amazement of other people, she says..

aasmaan se sitaare ek ek kar ke ruKhsat ho rahe haiN. kuchh nasiim-i-saHar chalne lagii hai. kaliyaaN chaTaKhne lagii haiN aur parinde chahchahaane lage haiN. maiN jaanuuN subH ho rahii hai!!


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## eskandar

panjabigator said:


> Curious, how is the word ساعات used in Urdu?  How would one say "the hour of reckoning," for example?


After looking at how a few different Urdu translations of the Qur'an rendered the Arabic الساعة which is often used with that meaning, I saw that most of them did not use the word ساعت at all but instead قیامت or دن قیامت / روز قیامت , or قیامت کی گھڑی . In some places it remained simply ساعت ie "the Hour".


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## BP.

eskandar said:


> After looking at how a few different Urdu translations of the Qur'an rendered the Arabic الساعة which is often used with that meaning, I saw that most of them did not use the word ساعت at all but instead قیامت or دن قیامت / روز قیامت , or قیامت کی گھڑی . In some places it remained simply ساعت ie "the Hour".


روزِ قیامت and others like it would be a direct translation of یوم القیامہ. However I think قیامت کی گھڑی conveys the idea of الساعة, because I believe الساعة is a lot more specific measure of time than an hour and should be seen as 'the moment'. I know 'the hour' has come to be a standard phrase, but we can always change it.


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## Faylasoof

BelligerentPacifist said:


> روزِ قیامت
> and others like it would be a direct translation of یوم القیامہ. However I think قیامت کی گھڑی conveys the idea of الساعة, because I believe الساعة is a lot more specific measure of time than an hour and should be seen as 'the moment'. I know 'the hour' has come to be a standard phrase, but we can always change it.



If we take a more literal meaning, then yes it is قیامت کی گھڑی = the hour of reckoning!

 But for  Doomsday / Judgement day / Day of Reckoning,  Urdu uses all these روز قیامت \ یوم  قیامت \  قیامت كا دن as well as
  روز ِ كبریا , روز ِ  حشر , روزِ جَزا and یومِ حساب . These too can be taken to mean 'the hour of reckoning' in a less literal manner.


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