Time and Day Expressions in Urdu

Overview

Time expressions are essential CEFR A1 vocabulary for scheduling, describing routines, and understanding when events happen. Urdu has a complete system for expressing days of the week, parts of the day, clock time, and temporal relationships.

A notable feature of Urdu is that کل kal means both "yesterday" and "tomorrow" — context (and tense) disambiguates. Similarly, پرسوں parsoṅ means both "the day before yesterday" and "the day after tomorrow."

How It Works

Days of the Week

Urdu	Transliteration	English
پیر	pīr	Monday
منگل	mangal	Tuesday
بدھ	budh	Wednesday
جمعرات	jum'arāt	Thursday
جمعہ	jum'a	Friday
ہفتہ	hafta	Saturday
اتوار	itvār	Sunday

Parts of the Day

Urdu	Transliteration	Meaning
صبح	subah	morning
دوپہر	dopahar	noon/afternoon
شام	shām	evening
رات	rāt	night

Temporal Words

Urdu	Transliteration	Meaning
آج	āj	today
کل	kal	yesterday/tomorrow
پرسوں	parsoṅ	day before/after yesterday/tomorrow
ابھی	abhī	right now
پہلے	pahle	before/earlier
بعد میں	ba'd meṅ	later/afterwards

Telling Time

Urdu	Transliteration	Meaning
ایک بجا ہے	ek bajā hai	It's one o'clock
دو بجے ہیں	do baje haiṅ	It's two o'clock
ساڑھے تین بجے	sāṛhe tīn baje	3:30
پونے چار	paune chār	3:45 (quarter to four)
سوا پانچ	savā pāṅch	5:15 (quarter past five)

Examples in Context

Urdu	Transliteration	English	Note
آج پیر ہے۔	āj pīr hai	Today is Monday.	Day statement
کل ہم جائیں گے۔	kal ham jāeṅge	We will go tomorrow.	Future context = tomorrow
ابھی کتنے بجے ہیں؟	abhī kitne baje haiṅ?	What time is it right now?	Asking time
صبح سے شام تک کام کرتا ہوں۔	subah se shām tak kām kartā hūṅ	I work from morning to evening.	Time range
جمعہ کو چھٹی ہے۔	jum'a ko chuṭṭī hai	Friday is a holiday.	Day + کو for "on"
رات کو سوتا ہوں۔	rāt ko sotā hūṅ	I sleep at night.	Time + کو
دوپہر کا کھانا	dopahar kā khānā	lunch	Noon's food
ہفتے میں سات دن ہوتے ہیں۔	hafte meṅ sāt din hote haiṅ	There are seven days in a week.	General fact

Common Mistakes

Confusing کل as Yesterday vs Tomorrow

• Wrong: Not checking tense for disambiguation
• Right: کل with past tense = yesterday; with future = tomorrow
• Why: Only context and verb tense clarify which meaning is intended.

Forgetting کو with Days and Times

• Wrong: پیر میں جائیں گے
• Right: پیر کو جائیں گے
• Why: Days of the week take کو (not میں) to mean "on Monday."

Usage Notes

The Pakistani work week traditionally runs Sunday through Thursday, with Friday as the weekly holiday. Saturday schedules vary. Understanding this helps in scheduling contexts.

Practice Tips

• Learn to tell time using بجنا (to strike/ring for hours) — it's the standard time-telling verb.
• Practice the days of the week in order, then use them in sentences with کو.
• Describe your daily routine using time expressions: صبح اٹھتا ہوں, دوپہر کو کھانا کھاتا ہوں.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Counting — Numbers needed for telling time