Permission with دینا and Requests in Urdu

In Brief

Urdu commonly expresses “let someone do something” with کو + the oblique infinitive + دینا: مجھے جانے دو means “Let me go.” In requests, ذرا softens what follows, while forms such as دیجیے, کر دیں, and کر دیجیے let you choose a respectful or more familiar tone.

Overview

English uses the separate verb let, but Urdu builds many permission expressions around دینا (denā, “to give”). The action being permitted appears as an oblique infinitive—the form in ـنے, used when an infinitive is followed by another word—and the person receiving permission is normally marked by کو. Thus بچوں کو کھیلنے دو is literally structured roughly as “to the children, playing, allow,” but naturally means “Let the children play.”

At B1, this pattern matters because it combines grammar you may already know: infinitives, کو, and imperative forms (verb forms used for commands and requests). It also opens the door to more natural requests. Urdu does not have one all-purpose equivalent of English please. Instead, speakers choose a verb form that fits the relationship and may add softeners such as ذرا (“just; a moment”) or مہربانی کرکے (“kindly”).

The same verb دینا also appears after a completed verb stem in requests such as یہ لکھ دیں (“Please write this down”). That is related to permission, but it is not the same construction: لکھنے دیں means “allow [someone] to write,” whereas لکھ دیں asks someone to perform and complete the writing.

How It Works

1. Giving or refusing permission

The basic pattern is:

person + کو + action in ـنے + form of دینا

The person before کو is the one who is allowed to carry out the action. A pronoun changes to its oblique form (the form used before a postposition such as کو):

Person allowed	Form with کو	Meaning
میں	مجھے	me / to me
تم	تمہیں	you / to you
آپ	آپ کو	you (respectful)
وہ	اسے / اس کو	him, her / to him, her
ہم	ہمیں	us / to us
بچے	بچوں کو	the children / to the children

The first verb is the infinitive in ـنا, changed to ـنے because دینا follows it:

Dictionary form	Permission form	Meaning in the pattern
جانا	جانے	to go
کرنا	کرنے	to do
بولنا	بولنے	to speak
کھیلنا	کھیلنے	to play
سونا	سونے	to sleep

The final form of دینا carries the command, tense, negation, or politeness:

Form	Typical force	Example	Natural meaning
دے	very familiar singular	اسے آنے دے۔	Let him/her come.
دو	familiar; used with تم	مجھے بولنے دو۔	Let me speak.
دیں	respectful; used with آپ	مجھے سمجھانے دیں۔	Let me explain.
دیجیے	explicitly courteous	بچے کو سونے دیجیے۔	Please let the child sleep.
مت دو / نہ دیں	negative	اسے باہر مت جانے دو۔	Don’t let him/her go outside.

Urdu often leaves the addressed pronoun unstated. In مجھے جانے دو, تم is understood from دو. In مجھے جانے دیں, respectful آپ is understood from دیں.

Permission can also be described rather than commanded. In that case, دینا changes for tense and agrees in the normal way:

• انہوں نے مجھے جانے دیا۔ — They let me go.
• وہ بچوں کو کھیلنے دیتی ہے۔ — She lets the children play.
• کیا آپ مجھے اندر آنے دیں گے؟ — Will you let me come in?

Notice دیا in the past example and دیتی ہے with a feminine subject. The permitted action stays in ـنے.

2. Direct requests with ordinary imperatives

A request can use the main verb itself. The ending signals the relationship:

Address level	دینا “give”	کرنا “do”	Typical use
very close/intimate	دے	کر	close friends, family; can sound abrupt elsewhere
familiar	دو	کرو	someone addressed as تم
respectful	دیں	کریں	someone addressed as آپ
especially courteous	دیجیے	کیجیے	careful, service, or formal interaction

These are not rigid translations of English please. Tone, context, and added words all matter. کتاب دیجیے is already a courteous request; adding ذرا makes it gentler: ذرا وہ کتاب دیجیے.

3. Requests with verb stem + دینا

A very common request pattern combines the verb stem (the short base left after removing ـنا) with a form of دینا:

verb stem + دو / دیں / دیجیے

• کرنا → کر دو / کر دیں / کر دیجیے
• لکھنا → لکھ دو / لکھ دیں / لکھ دیجیے
• کھولنا → کھول دو / کھول دیں / کھول دیجیے

Here دینا often adds a sense of doing something to completion or for someone’s benefit. It can also make a practical request sound more idiomatic. Compare:

Form	Usual impression
دروازہ کھولیں۔	Open the door. Respectful, but direct.
دروازہ کھول دیں۔	Please open the door. Often heard as a complete, helpful action.
دروازہ کھول دیجیے۔	Please open the door. More explicitly courteous.

Do not confuse the two structures:

Structure	Urdu	Meaning
infinitive in ـنے + دینا	مجھے لکھنے دیں۔	Let me write.
verb stem + دینا	یہ لکھ دیں۔	Please write this (down).

4. Softeners: ذرا and مہربانی کرکے

ذرا literally has meanings such as “a little” or “for a moment,” but before an imperative it is a conversational softener. It makes a request less bare:

• ذرا سنیے۔ — Excuse me / Please listen a moment.
• ذرا یہاں دستخط کر دیجیے۔ — Please sign here.

It does not repair a socially inappropriate verb form. With a stranger, ذرا سنو may still sound too familiar; ذرا سنیے or ذرا سنیں fits better.

مہربانی کرکے means “kindly” or “please” and is useful in polite speech, notices, and instructions:

• مہربانی کرکے دروازہ بند کر دیں۔ — Please close the door.

You may also hear مہربانی after a request, as in یہ کام کر دیں، مہربانی. This is understandable and conversationally elliptical, but مہربانی کرکے before the request is the clearer full pattern.

Examples in Context

Urdu	English	Note
مجھے جانے دو!	Let me go!	Familiar دو; forceful because of context and intonation.
بچوں کو کھیلنے دو۔	Let the children play.	The children are the permitted actors.
اسے اپنی بات مکمل کرنے دیں۔	Let him/her finish speaking.	Respectful request to the listener.
مجھے ایک سوال پوچھنے دیجیے۔	Please allow me to ask a question.	Courteous and somewhat formal.
بچے کو باہر مت جانے دو۔	Don’t let the child go outside.	Familiar negative with مت.
انہیں ابھی سونے دیں۔	Let them sleep now.	انہیں can mean “them” or respectful “him/her.”
کیا آپ مجھے اندر آنے دیں گے؟	Will you let me come in?	An indirect question often sounds gentler than a command.
انہوں نے ہمیں جلدی جانے دیا۔	They allowed us to leave early.	Past-tense statement, not an imperative.
ذرا وہ کتاب دیجیے۔	Please give me that book.	ذرا softens a courteous imperative.
ذرا آہستہ بولیں۔	Please speak a little more slowly.	Respectful request without auxiliary دینا.
یہ کام کر دیں، مہربانی۔	Please do this work.	Polite کر دیں; final مہربانی adds courtesy.
مہربانی کرکے کھڑکی بند کر دیجیے۔	Please close the window.	Full courteous formula.
میرا فارم بھی جمع کر دیں۔	Please submit my form too.	دیں presents it as a helpful completed action.
مجھے پہلے سمجھانے دیں، پھر فیصلہ کیجیے۔	Let me explain first, then decide.	Permission pattern followed by a courteous command.
اسے لکھنے نہ دیں؛ آپ خود لکھ دیں۔	Don’t let him/her write it; please write it yourself.	Clear contrast between لکھنے دیں and لکھ دیں.

Common Mistakes

Using the plain infinitive before دینا

• Wrong: مجھے جانا دو۔
• Right: مجھے جانے دو۔
• Why: Before دینا in the permission construction, the infinitive changes from ـنا to the oblique ending ـنے: جانا → جانے.

Leaving out کو for the person receiving permission

• Wrong: میں جانے دو۔
• Right: مجھے جانے دو۔
• Why: The permitted person is normally marked with کو. With میں, the combined form is مجھے, not میں کو.

Mixing up “let do” and “please do”

• Wrong for “Please write this”: یہ لکھنے دیں۔
• Right: یہ لکھ دیں۔
• Why: لکھنے دیں means “let [someone] write.” For a request to complete the action, use the stem لکھ + دیں.

Combining آپ with a familiar command

• Wrong: آپ مجھے جانے دو۔
• Right: آپ مجھے جانے دیں۔ / آپ مجھے جانے دیجیے۔
• Why: آپ takes respectful plural-style verb forms. دو belongs with familiar تم.

Treating ذرا as a complete equivalent of “please”

• Wrong in a formal situation: ذرا یہ کرو۔
• Right: ذرا یہ کر دیجیے۔ / ذرا یہ کر دیں۔
• Why: ذرا softens the request, but the verb still needs the appropriate address level.

Overloading every polite request

• Awkwardly heavy in an ordinary exchange: ذرا مہربانی کرکے یہ کتاب دے دیجیے، مہربانی۔
• Natural: ذرا یہ کتاب دیجیے۔ or مہربانی کرکے یہ کتاب دے دیجیے۔
• Why: One suitable respectful verb form, perhaps with one softener, is usually enough.

Usage Notes

Politeness comes from the whole expression

English speakers often look for a single word meaning please. Urdu distributes politeness across the pronoun, verb ending, softener, intonation, and situation. آپ, a respectful ending such as ـیں or ـیجیے, and a calm tone usually matter more than inserting one courtesy word.

دیجیے and other ـیجیے forms are clearly courteous, but دیں and کریں are also fully respectful and extremely common. The longer form is not automatically “more correct.” It can sound more careful, more insistent, or more formal depending on tone.

Requests can become more indirect

A question often reduces the force of a request:

• کیا آپ مجھے جانے دیں گے؟ — Will you let me go?
• کیا آپ یہ کام کر دیں گے؟ — Would you do this work?

The future-looking دیں گے literally asks whether the listener will do it. In context, it functions much like an English would you...? request, although the politeness systems do not match word for word.

Script and pronunciation

The written sequence may hide boundaries that are clearer in speech. Keep the two verbs separate: کر دیں (kar dẽ), جانے دیں (jāne dẽ). The nasal vowel in دیں marks the respectful/plural form; confusing it with دے changes the address level.

Context can change the force

مجھے جانے دو can be a neutral request among familiar people, an emotional plea, or a sharp command meaning “Leave me alone / let me go.” Punctuation cannot fully show this; voice and situation do much of the work. Likewise, جانے دیں can literally mean “let [someone] go,” but as a fixed conversational expression it can also mean “let it go,” “never mind,” or “leave it.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The auxiliary دینا belongs to a wider Urdu system of compound verbs—two-verb combinations in which the second verb adds completion, direction, benefit, or attitude rather than keeping its full dictionary meaning. In خط لکھ دو, the basic action is لکھنا (“write”), while دینا can suggest completing it for the requester. This added shade is real, but it is flexible: context often matters more than a single English gloss.

A useful advanced contrast is دینا versus لینا. Broadly, دینا often presents an action as directed away from the doer or done for another person, while لینا often presents it as taken on or done for oneself. For example, یہ لکھ دیں asks someone to write it, while میں یہ لکھ لوں؟ can mean “Shall I write this?” or “May I write this?” Do not turn this tendency into a rigid rule; compound verbs develop idiomatic meanings.

Permission can also be expressed with nouns and more formal verbs, especially in official language:

• اجازت دینا — to give permission
• اجازت ملنا — to receive/be granted permission
• اجازت ہے؟ — Is it permitted? / May I?

Compare مجھے اندر آنے دیں (“Let me come in”) with کیا مجھے اندر آنے کی اجازت ہے؟ (“Am I allowed to come in?”). The first directly addresses the person who can allow the action. The second asks about permission as a condition and may sound more formal or institutional.

Negative commands vary too. مت is common with direct familiar commands (مت جانے دو), while respectful speech commonly uses نہ with دیں (جانے نہ دیں). In public notices, formal wording may use اجازت نہ دیں (“do not permit”).

Finally, جانے دیجیے is sometimes not literal permission at all. It can politely close a topic: “Let it be,” “Forget it,” or “Never mind.” Learners should recognize this conversational meaning even when no person is visibly being allowed to go anywhere.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-part permission sentences. Choose a person (مجھے, اسے, بچوں کو), an action in ـنے (جانے, بولنے, کھیلنے), and an appropriate form of دینا. Say each sentence once with دو and once with دیں to practise register.
2. Make contrast pairs. Put لکھنے دیں beside لکھ دیں, کھانے دیں beside کھا دیں, and کرنے دیں beside کر دیں. Translate both aloud so the ـنے versus stem distinction becomes automatic.
3. Listen for relationship cues. In Urdu conversations, note whether a speaker uses دو, دیں, or دیجیے, and whether ذرا appears. Identify the relationship before translating the sentence.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Imperative Forms — review familiar, respectful, and courteous command forms before choosing between دو, دیں, and دیجیے.