Grammar and Language Usage (Qawaid)
Qawaid: grammar and usage
BSEB Urdu Qawaid tests kalma ki iqsaam (ism, fail, harf), ism ki qismain (ism-e-khas, ism-e-aam, ism-e-zameer, ism-e-ishara, ism-e-mausool), fail ki qismain (fail-e-mazi, fail-e-muzare, fail-e-amr, fail-e-nahi), jins, waahid/jam'a, mutradif, mutazad, muhawara and zarbul-masal. You must also correct a jumla and identify mubtada/khabar.
Rules worth memorising
- Ism-e-khas names a particular person/place; ism-e-aam is common.
- Ism-e-zameer replaces a noun (main, tum, woh); ism-e-ishara points (yeh, woh).
- Fail-e-mazi = past; fail-e-muzare = present/future; fail-e-amr = command; fail-e-nahi = prohibition.
- Mubtada = subject; khabar = predicate.
- Mutradif = synonyms; mutazad = opposites.
- Muhawara is figurative; zarbul-masal is a proverb.
Worked example
Sentence: 'Ali ne kitaab padhi.' Parse: Ali = ism-e-khas; ne = harf; kitaab = ism-e-aam; padhi = fail-e-mazi. Mubtada: Ali; khabar: kitaab padhi. Reasoning: 'ne' marks the transitive past subject in Urdu; it is not a fail. 'Padhi' agrees with kitaab (feminine object), not with Ali - this agreement is a common exam point.
Traps
Do not call every unfamiliar word ism-e-khas. Do not treat 'ne' as a verb. Do not give a literal meaning for a muhawara such as 'aankh ka tara' (dear one), not 'eye's star'. In correction questions, change the smallest element that fixes the sentence.