Time and Day Expressions in Urdu

In Brief

Use آج (āj) for “today,” کل (kal) for either “yesterday” or “tomorrow,” and ابھی (abhī) for “right now.” Days and parts of the day commonly take کو (ko): پیر کو means “on Monday” and رات کو means “at night.” Ask کتنے بجے ہیں؟ (kitne baje haiṅ?) for “What time is it?”

Overview

Time expressions are among the most useful A1 building blocks in Urdu. They let you arrange a meeting, describe a routine, ask when something happens, and understand basic schedules. The core vocabulary includes the days of the week, words such as آج “today,” and parts of the day such as صبح “morning” and شام “evening.”

The main difference from English is not the vocabulary but the way these words combine. Urdu usually places a postposition (a short relationship word placed after a noun) where English puts a preposition before it. Thus English “on Monday” becomes پیر کو, literally “Monday + on.” Urdu also uses one very common word, کل, for both “yesterday” and “tomorrow”; the verb and the situation normally resolve the ambiguity.

Numbers are the natural prerequisite for clock time. Once you know the basic numbers, you can use the same small set of patterns for “at three,” “for two hours,” “half past five,” and many other everyday expressions.

How It Works

Days of the week

Urdu week names are normally treated as masculine in ordinary time expressions, but beginners rarely need to mark their gender because the names usually occur unchanged.

English	Urdu	Romanization
Monday	پیر	pīr
Tuesday	منگل	maṅgal
Wednesday	بدھ	budh
Thursday	جمعرات	jumerāt
Friday	جمعہ	jum‘a
Saturday	ہفتہ	hafta
Sunday	اتوار	itvār

To state the current day, use آج + day + ہے:

• آج پیر ہے۔ — Today is Monday.
• آج جمعہ ہے۔ — Today is Friday.

To say that something happens on a day, add کو after the day:

• پیر کو — on Monday
• جمعہ کو — on Friday
• اتوار کو — on Sunday

There is no separate equivalent of English capital letters in Urdu script, so weekday names do not have a capitalization rule.

Today, yesterday, tomorrow, and now

Urdu	Romanization	Meaning
آج	āj	today
کل	kal	yesterday or tomorrow
ابھی	abhī	now, right now
اب	ab	now, from now on
پرسوں	parsoṅ	the day before yesterday or the day after tomorrow
روز	roz	every day; day

The double meaning of کل is normal, not vague Urdu. Verb tense supplies the missing direction:

• کل وہ آیا تھا۔ — He came yesterday.
• کل وہ آئے گا۔ — He will come tomorrow.

English requires two different words, so English-speaking learners often feel that something is missing. In Urdu, listeners simply combine کل with a past or future verb. If extra clarity is needed, speakers can name the weekday or date, or add another phrase that makes the time direction obvious.

ابھی often stresses immediacy: ابھی آؤ means “Come right now.” اب is broader and can mean “now” as a new stage: اب میں گھر جاؤں گا means “Now I will go home.”

Parts of the day

Urdu	Romanization	Usual meaning
صبح	subah	morning
دوپہر	dopahar	afternoon; midday
شام	shām	evening
رات	rāt	night

With a general event, کو is common:

• صبح کو — in the morning
• دوپہر کو — in the afternoon
• شام کو — in the evening
• رات کو — at night

In many natural sentences, especially with صبح and شام, کو may be omitted: both میں صبح آؤں گا and میں صبح کو آؤں گا can mean “I will come in the morning.” Do not automatically add میں because English says “in.” Urdu normally does not say صبح میں for the simple meaning “in the morning.”

Use سے ... تک for a range. سے means “from” and تک marks the endpoint “until/to”:

• صبح سے شام تک — from morning to evening
• پیر سے جمعہ تک — from Monday to Friday
• دو بجے سے پانچ بجے تک — from two o’clock to five o’clock

Asking and telling the time

The standard question is:

کتنے بجے ہیں؟ (kitne baje haiṅ?) — What time is it?

Literally, کتنے means “how many,” while بجے is the clock-time form used with hours. To include “right now,” say ابھی کتنے بجے ہیں؟

For one o’clock, Urdu uses singular agreement. For other whole hours, it uses plural agreement:

Time	Urdu	Romanization
1:00	ایک بجا ہے	ek bajā hai
2:00	دو بجے ہیں	do baje haiṅ
3:00	تین بجے ہیں	tīn baje haiṅ
7:00	سات بجے ہیں	sāt baje haiṅ

To say at a clock time, use the same clock form without adding کو:

• تین بجے — at three o’clock
• سات بجے — at seven o’clock
• میں نو بجے آؤں گا۔ — I will come at nine.

Useful fractional patterns are learned as complete chunks:

Pattern	Meaning	Example
سوا + next hour	quarter past	سوا تین بجے — 3:15
ساڑھے + next hour	half past	ساڑھے تین بجے — 3:30
پونے + coming hour	quarter to	پونے تین بجے — 2:45

Notice that پونے تین names the hour being approached, not the hour already completed. This is unlike English “quarter to three” only in word order, but learners still commonly attach it to the wrong numeral.

For precise digital-style time, minutes can be added with منٹ:

• تین بج کر دس منٹ — 3:10, literally “three having struck, ten minutes”
• پانچ بج کر بیس منٹ — 5:20

At beginner level, whole hours and the three fractional patterns above will cover most everyday needs.

Hours as duration

Clock time and duration use different nouns. بجے locates an event on the clock; گھنٹہ means an hour as a length of time.

Amount	Urdu
one hour	ایک گھنٹہ
two hours	دو گھنٹے
three hours	تین گھنٹے

Compare:

• دو بجے — at two o’clock
• دو گھنٹے — for two hours / two hours

This distinction is essential: English uses “two” in both phrases, but Urdu changes the time word.

Examples in Context

Urdu	Romanization	English	Note
آج پیر ہے۔	āj pīr hai	Today is Monday.	Naming the current day
کل ہم جائیں گے۔	kal ham jāeṅ ge	We will go tomorrow.	Future verb makes کل future
کل بارش ہوئی تھی۔	kal bārish huī thī	It rained yesterday.	Past verb makes کل past
ابھی کتنے بجے ہیں؟	abhī kitne baje haiṅ?	What time is it right now?	Standard time question
ایک بجا ہے۔	ek bajā hai	It is one o’clock.	Singular clock form
چار بجے ہیں۔	chār baje haiṅ	It is four o’clock.	Plural clock form
میٹنگ تین بجے ہے۔	mīṭiṅg tīn baje hai	The meeting is at three.	No کو after clock time
میں پیر کو آؤں گا۔	maiṅ pīr ko āūṅ gā	I will come on Monday.	کو after a weekday
وہ شام کو گھر آتی ہے۔	vo shām ko ghar ātī hai	She comes home in the evening.	A habitual routine
ہم رات کو کھانا کھاتے ہیں۔	ham rāt ko khānā khāte haiṅ	We eat at night.	Part of day with کو
صبح سے شام تک کام کرتا ہوں۔	subah se shām tak kām kartā hūṅ	I work from morning to evening.	سے ... تک range; male speaker
دفتر پیر سے جمعہ تک کھلا ہے۔	daftar pīr se jum‘a tak khulā hai	The office is open from Monday to Friday.	Day range
ٹرین ساڑھے چھ بجے آئے گی۔	ṭren sāṛhe chhe baje āe gī	The train will arrive at half past six.	ساڑھے = half past
کلاس پونے نو بجے شروع ہوگی۔	klās paune nau baje shurū ho gī	The class will start at quarter to nine.	8:45
سفر میں دو گھنٹے لگے۔	safar meṅ do ghaṇṭe lage	The journey took two hours.	Duration, not clock time

Common Mistakes

Treating کل as only “tomorrow”

• Wrong idea: کل always means “tomorrow.”
• Right: کل وہ گیا تھا۔ — He went yesterday.
• Why: کل points to the adjacent day; tense and context show whether it is before or after today.

Using بجے for a duration

• Wrong: میں دو بجے پڑھتا ہوں۔ when you mean “I study for two hours.”
• Right: میں دو گھنٹے پڑھتا ہوں۔ — I study for two hours.
• Why: دو بجے means “at two o’clock.” Use گھنٹہ/گھنٹے to measure duration.

Adding کو after a clock time

• Wrong: میں تین بجے کو آؤں گا۔
• Right: میں تین بجے آؤں گا۔ — I will come at three.
• Why: بجے already forms the “at [time]” expression. A weekday, however, normally does take کو: پیر کو.

Using the plural form at one o’clock

• Wrong: ایک بجے ہیں۔
• Right: ایک بجا ہے۔ — It is one o’clock.
• Why: One takes singular بجا ہے; two and above take بجے ہیں.

Translating “in the morning” word for word

• Wrong: صبح میں آؤں گا۔ for the ordinary time expression.
• Right: صبح آؤں گا۔ or صبح کو آؤں گا۔ — I will come in the morning.
• Why: English “in” does not require Urdu میں here. Learn the whole Urdu expression rather than matching each preposition.

Misreading پونے تین

• Wrong: treating پونے تین as 3:45.
• Right: پونے تین is 2:45, a quarter before three.
• Why: The numeral identifies the coming hour.

Usage Notes

In everyday speech, context often does work that English makes explicit. A family discussing tomorrow’s plans may use کل repeatedly without any risk of confusion. If a sentence has no clear tense—on a short calendar label, for example—speakers may restate the date or day rather than rely on کل.

Urdu has both formal and conversational ways to give precise time. تین بج کر دس منٹ is explicit and useful in announcements. In casual conversation, speakers may shorten predictable wording, especially when everyone already knows that clock time is being discussed. Learners should first master the complete forms.

The word جمعہ has special cultural importance as Friday, the day of congregational prayer for Muslims, but grammatically جمعہ کو follows the same weekday pattern as پیر کو or اتوار کو.

Romanization is only a pronunciation aid. Urdu spelling does not consistently display short vowels, so forms such as بدھ and جمعہ are best learned with audio and as complete spoken words.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master these details at A1, but you will encounter them later.

Urdu can distinguish a repeated day from one particular day through a larger phrase. ہر پیر کو means “every Monday,” while اگلے پیر کو means “next Monday.” پچھلے پیر کو means “last Monday.” The adjectives اگلا “next” and پچھلا “previous” change form in some grammatical environments, so learn these expressions first as useful chunks.

Duration can also be framed with سے. دو گھنٹے سے means “for two hours” when an activity began earlier and is still relevant: میں دو گھنٹے سے انتظار کر رہا ہوں means “I have been waiting for two hours” when spoken by a man. This requires an ongoing verb construction and is more advanced than simply stating دو گھنٹے as a quantity.

The pair ابھی and ابھی ابھی can express different degrees of immediacy. ابھی ابھی often means “just now”: وہ ابھی ابھی گیا ہے — “He has just left.” Depending on context, ابھی can also mean “in a moment” rather than literally this second, just as English “right now” is sometimes pragmatically flexible.

In literary, religious, or highly Persianized vocabulary, you may meet alternatives for familiar time words. They are not necessary for everyday beginner communication. The common forms in this article should remain your active vocabulary; treat rarer synonyms as recognition vocabulary until context makes their register clear.

Practice Tips

1. Build a seven-day schedule. Write one real activity for each day using [day] کو, such as پیر کو کلاس ہے. Saying the lines aloud will make کو automatic.
2. Practice contrasting pairs. Say دو بجے and دو گھنٹے, then change the number. This trains the difference between a point on the clock and a duration.
3. Use a clock at random. Look at five times each day and say them in Urdu. Begin with whole hours, then add سوا, ساڑھے, and پونے. For کل, make one past sentence and one future sentence so that both meanings stay active.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Counting — supplies the numbers needed for hours, minutes, and durations.
• Next step: لگنا Expressions (Time, Feelings, Beginnings) — extends duration expressions with patterns such as “it took two hours.”