# Urdu: Good Throw/Pass, Good Shot, Good Catch



## Todd The Bod

How would I translate these short phrases into Urdu.  I already know how to say "awesome" thanks to everyone here so I'll be substituting "awesome" for good.  But I would like to know how I would express these phrases while playing American Football, Basketball and Softball please.


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## linguist786

I think in sport commentaries, commentators would actually use "shot"/"catch"/"pass" in an Indian accent. (changing 'a' into 'e'!")

"kitna achchaa pess kiya"
"kitna achchaa cetch!"


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## Faylasoof

For a "catch" I've heard sports commentators also say:

_kyaa  gochaa!  _= what a catch!_

achchhaa gochaa_ =good catch!

The verb being _gochnaa_. 

Similarly, for a _good throw / shot_: _achchhaa phekaa / maaraa _

But it'll depend on what exactly was said in English, e.g. 

_That was a good throw!  _- impersonal.

This I think we'll have to modify in Urdu by personlizing it and including the object noun to say something like:
_ us ne ge.nd _(= ball)_ achchhaa phekaa_ = He / she threw a good ball.


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## Todd The Bod

Faylasoof, you are a walking encyclopedia!  Thank you!   Is the verb "pakaRna" ever used for "catch"?   
And can I substitute "gola" for "ge.nd" in the sentence "_us ne ge.nd _(= ball)_ achchhaa phekaa_ = He / she threw a  good ball" (for variety) as well?

Oh, I just realized you don't use the substantive in these translations.  For good throw/shot you're saying the idiomatic way to say it would be "he threw/shot well" (_achchhaa phekaa/maaraa).  _Am I reading this correctly?


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## Faylasoof

Todd The Bod said:


> ...
> Is the verb "pakaRna" ever used for "catch"?
> And can I substitute "gola" for "ge.nd" in the sentence "_us ne ge.nd _(= ball)_ achchhaa phekaa_ = He / she threw a  good ball" (for variety) as well?
> 
> Oh, I just realized you don't use the substantive in these translations.  For good throw/shot you're saying the idiomatic way to say it would be "he threw/shot well" (_achchhaa phekaa/maaraa).  _Am I reading this correctly?



Yes you can in the general meaning of catching, including _to catcha thief_! But for a ball it depends. If the ball is _flying_ and you _catch_ it then it is _gochnaa_. Same if it bounced off the ground.
 
If it is rolling on the ground and you get hold of it / stopped it then we either use the verbs _lenaa_ or _roknaa_ depending on what exactly was happening. We could use _pakaRnaa for _this too and also if we held it in our hand, say before bowling it or held on to it before giving it to someone else. It really depends on the actions involved. 

In this context I wouldn't use _gola_ for a football, cricket / tennis balls etc. We use _gola _either for a cannon shell (ball) or for those sports where the "ball" looks and feels like a cannon ball. For example, the shot put and the hammer throw. 

Yes, you understand correctly! We can't always use the substantive in Urdu-Hindi where one occurs in Englsih so we change to using a verb... and this is idiomatic.


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## Koozagar

recalling vocabulary from Cricket commentary for a good pass, a commentator would say: "buhat umda pass Shahbaz Sr. ka Shabaz Junior ko" (thats from field hockey)

shot:
"Khoobsurat shot Saeed Anwar ka square leg ki janib, char run"
"Umda shot, 4 run kai liye"
Catch:
"Tendulkar 4 run bana kar out huway, un ka catch pakra Rashid Latif nai"
"buhat umda catch..."


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## Todd The Bod

What does umda mean?


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## panjabigator

Todd The Bod said:


> What does umda mean?



Quality.  Some people also up the ante with <nihāyat 'umdā>.


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## Faylasoof

panjabigator said:


> Quality. Some people also up the ante with <nihāyat 'umdā>.


 
It actually means:

_3umdah_ عُمدَہ = excellent, really good, sumptuous, very nice, noble / grand (when used for persons)
[Arabic root: ع-م-د 
Also used in Arabic عُمدَہ _3umdah_ where it has a different usage]
Also used in this combination: _3umdah aur a3laa_, which reinforces the meaning.

.. and yes you are right  <nihāyat 3umdah> is also very common.


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## panjabigator

Faylasoof said:


> It actually means:
> 
> _3umdah_ عُمدَہ = excellent, really good, sumptuous, very nice, noble / grand (when used for persons)
> [Arabic root: ع-م-د
> Also used in Arabic عُمدَہ _3umdah_ where it has a different usage]
> Also used in this combination: _3umdah aur a3laa_, which reinforces the meaning.
> 
> .. and yes you are right  <nihāyat 3umdah> is also very common.



Thanks for the correction


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## Todd The Bod

Koozagar said:


> recalling vocabulary from Cricket commentary for a good pass, a commentator would say: "buhat umda pass Shahbaz Sr. ka Shabaz Junior ko" (thats from field hockey)
> 
> shot:
> "Khoobsurat shot Saeed Anwar ka square leg ki janib, char run"
> "Umda shot, 4 run kai liye"
> Catch:
> "Tendulkar 4 run bana kar out huway, un ka catch pakra Rashid Latif nai"
> "buhat umda catch..."


 

Last question (hopefully).  I think I understand most of the above, but not the word "janib".  Matlab?


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## panjabigator

Todd The Bod said:


> Last question (hopefully).  I think I understand most of the above, but not the word "janib".  Matlab?



<jānib>, I believe, means "towards".  Not to be confused with <janāb>. 

Edit:  None of this "hopefully" nonsense!  Questions are welcome and what keep us coming!


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## Faylasoof

panjabigator said:


> <jānib>, I believe, means "towards".  Not to be confused with <janāb>.
> 
> Edit:  None of this "hopefully" nonsense!  Questions are welcome and what keep us coming!



Absolutely! 

<jaanib جانب> means here  <Taraf طرف> = _towards, in the direction of_ etc.
But it also means _side, adjacent (to)_.


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## Todd The Bod

panjabigator said:


> <jānib>, I believe, means "towards". Not to be confused with <janāb>.
> 
> Edit: None of this "hopefully" nonsense! Questions are welcome and what keep us coming!


 

Thanks, Gator.

And I know this has been explained above, so I won't belabor the point, but I thought the alternative word to gola was indelicate.  In fact, when I told you my buddies in college had a lot of fun at my expense when I was first learning, I was referring to them calling me the diminutive of the other word all the time and when everyone would start laughing and I asked what it meant, they told me I was being compared to the great civil rights leader Gandhi Ji because my Urdu was so grammatically correct that I reminded them of his great oratory skills.  Many months later I was to learn that the word had nothing to do with Gandhi, nor with me having great Urdu oratory skills.  They were just having a little fun at the new guy's expense.  So it's going to take me a little time to get used to not using "gola" for the football or basketball.  Maybe I'll have to get satellite so I can hear some Urdu language sports commentating and then I'll get used to hearing the proper term being used in that context.  I know it's the right word if Faylasoof said it is, but it's just going to take me a little time to get used to.


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## Faylasoof

Todd, the only time we use golaa / golah (<- alternative spelling!) in sports is like this:



Faylasoof said:


> ....
> In this context I wouldn't use _gola_ for a football, cricket /  tennis balls etc. We use _gola _either for a cannon shell (ball) or  for those sports where the "ball" looks and feels like a cannon ball.  For example, the shot put and the hammer throw.
> ....



BTW, we do have _goluu_ in colloquial Urdu! This is a term of affection for someone either corpulent or cute. The the latter we also use for children esp. when we they are plump, calling them _goluu-gapchuu_!

But for all non-cannon ball looking balls used in sports we use _ge.nd گینْد ._

So, for sports: 

ge.nd idhar pheko!
Pass the ball this way!

golaa / golah idhar pheko
Throw the shot this way - for shot put etc.

But, in military use:
golaa / golah idhar pheko!
Fire the shell this way!


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## Todd The Bod

Interesting.  I think from the spelling in Urdu it must be pronounced "geyd" then with a nasalation of the "ey" sound then, right Fayla?  Total different word altogether then.  I guess kids that came here to the U.S. after having lived in Pakistan for their early years would know this, but the ones raised in the U.S. their whole lives probably don't.  This forum is a great resource!


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## Birdcall

I wondered about that too, as it's ambiguous from Hindi spelling: is it gend with a nasalized e or with a non-nasal e + half n + d? I think the current trend in colloquial Hindi is to turn vowel nasalization into vowels and full nasal consonants, unless it's completely clear from the Devanagari spelling that isn't the case, as in maa.ns माँस (meat).

Faylasoof, you wrote "pheko" for throw. Is the verb not phe.nknaa in Urdu like it is in Hindi?


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## Faylasoof

Birdcall said:


> I wondered about that too, as it's ambiguous from Hindi spelling: is it gend with a nasalized e or with a non-nasal e + half n + d? I think the current trend in colloquial Hindi is to turn vowel nasalization into vowels and full nasal consonants, unless it's completely clear from the Devanagari spelling that isn't the case, as in maa.ns माँस (meat).



In Urdu we pronouce it with, what we call a _nuun ghunnah_ - a _nasalised_ nuun  ن so we get _ge.nd_ _گینْد _; of course with a _sukuun_ on _nuun_.



Birdcall said:


> Faylasoof, you wrote "pheko" for throw. Is the verb not phe.nknaa in Urdu like it is in Hindi?


 Yes Birdcall, it is! I'm of course using it idiomatically to mean <pass> as Todd asked for a translation. We can use "do" (give) as well to mean <pass>. I can't think of any really good alternatives which exactly mean <pass>.


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## Birdcall

No, I wasn't questioning the meaning of the word, I was asking if you nasalize the e like we do.

In Hindi pakRaanaa can mean pass, and Daalnaa can mean to bowl (as in cricket).


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## Faylasoof

Birdcall said:


> No, I wasn't questioning the meaning of the  word, I was asking if you nasalize the e like we do.



Actually, I've heard both! In reality it should be nasalised! 



Birdcall said:


> In Hindi pakRaanaa can mean pass, and Daalnaa can mean to bowl (as in  cricket).



I mention _pakaRnaa_ above (post#5) and I'm trying to recall if we use Daalnaa in cricket. It has been a while since I heard any cricket commentry in Urdu.


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