PSEB Matric Urdu (in lieu of Hindi) cheat sheet

PSEB Matric Urdu Nasr lessons are drawn from the prescribed Punjab Textbook Board Urdu textbook; each lesson carries a stated moral or national/social message that exam questions usually target.

Comprehension answers should begin with the direct answer, then one supporting sentence quoted or paraphrased from the lesson - PSEB marking rewards textual evidence.

Lesson-type questions ('sabaq ka markazi khayal') expect a 3-5 sentence summary in Urdu naming the central idea and one example from the text.

Character questions ('kirdar ki khususiyat') require naming the trait first, then one incident from the lesson proving it.

Moral/message questions ('sabaq se kya seekh milti hai') are answered in the first person plural or impersonal form, e.g. 'hamein yeh seekh milti hai ke...'.

Vocabulary items from Nasr are tested as 'mushkil alfaz ke maani' - learn each difficult word with a one-word Urdu synonym rather than a sentence.

Author-name questions ('musannif ka naam') are common; memorise each lesson's author alongside the lesson title.

For 'tashreeh' of prose lines, explain the idea in your own words, then link it to the lesson's overall theme; do not merely repeat the line.

Nazm questions test three things: markazi khayal (central theme), tashreeh (explanation of couplets), and san'ati maharat (poetic devices).

Common devices to identify by name: tashbeeh (simile), isti'ara (metaphor), tajnees (word-play on similar-sounding words), radif and qafiya, and takrar (repetition).

Tashreeh answers must explain the verse's meaning in simple Urdu and then state its link to the poem's theme - two distinct parts.

Theme questions expect one sentence naming the idea plus one verse quoted as proof.

Poets' names, birthplaces and famous works are examinable; keep a short list per prescribed nazm.

Radif is the repeated word/phrase at the end of every verse line; qafiya is the rhyming word immediately before it - do not confuse the two.

For 'nazm ka unwan ka munasibat' questions, connect the title to the central idea in one clear sentence with a supporting verse.

Patriotic and national nazms are frequently paired with questions on the poet's message for youth; memorise the key verse carrying that message.

A ghazal is a series of couplets (ash'ar) sharing a radif and qafiya; each couplet (sher) is a self-contained unit of meaning.

Matla is the first couplet where both lines carry the radif/qafiya; maqta is the final couplet containing the poet's takhallus (pen name).

Each sher has two lines: misra-e-ula (first) and misra-e-sani (second); tashreeh is written per sher, not for the whole ghazal.

Ghazal themes are typically ishq (love), judai (separation), gham (sorrow) and tasawwuf (spiritual love); identify which dominates before answering.

When asked for 'markazi khayal' of a ghazal, state the dominant emotion and cite two shers as evidence.

Devices in ghazal include husn-e-ta'lil (attributing a poetic cause), mubaligha (hyperbole) and tazad (contrast/opposition of ideas).

Takhallus questions expect the poet's pen name as it appears in the maqta, not the poet's full real name.

For appreciation questions ('ghazal ki khusisiyat'), comment on language simplicity, radif choice and emotional effect - not on biography.

Ism (noun) types to distinguish: ism-e-khas (proper), ism-e-aam (common), ism-e-jins (collective) and ism-e-masdar (verbal noun).

Zameer (pronoun) categories: zaati (personal), ishari (demonstrative - yeh, woh) and mausuli (relative - jo, jo kuch).

Fe'l (verb) is classified by time: fe'l-e-mazi (past), fe'l-e-hal (present) and fe'l-e-mustaqbil (future); also by voice - ma'roof (active) and majhool (passive).

Harf (particle) covers prepositions and connectors such as mein, par, se, ko, aur, lekin - they carry no independent meaning.

Sifat (adjective) follows the noun it qualifies in Urdu and agrees with it in gender and number.

Idioms (muhavre) must be used in a sentence that makes the figurative meaning clear; literal paraphrase of the idiom is marked wrong.

For 'ghalat jumla durust karo' items, check three things in order: verb-noun agreement, gender agreement, and correct postposition.

Sentence types: khabriya (statement), istifhamiya (question), amriya (command) and nida (exclamation) - identify by the closing particle or punctuation.

Essay (mazmoon) structure: muqadma (introduction), tafseel (body with 2-3 points and examples), natija (conclusion) - three distinct paragraphs minimum.

Letter types differ in opening and closing formulas: personal letters open with 'pyare/pyari' and close with 'aapka/apki'; applications open with 'Janab-e-Ali' and close with 'Arz guzar'.

An application must state the request in the second paragraph and end with a formal closing line such as 'Is par meharbani farmayen'.

Essay word targets on PSEB papers are usually 150-200 words; exceeding the target slightly is safer than falling short.

Quotes, proverbs (kahawatein) and one personal example per body paragraph raise marks in mazmoon writing.

Letters must include the correct salutation, body, closing and signature block; missing any block loses format marks.

Formal applications should name the addressee's designation (Principal, Headmaster) rather than a personal name.

Dialogue and story-writing questions require direct speech with correct quotation marks and speaker tags.

Urdu-to-English translation is marked on meaning accuracy, not word-for-word correspondence; restructure sentences to natural English order.

Passive Urdu constructions ('likha gaya', 'kaha jata hai') translate into English passive voice - keep the tense unchanged.

Urdu idioms should be translated by their English equivalent idiom where one exists; literal translation is penalised.

Urdu-to-Punjabi translation follows Punjabi word order and uses Shahmukhi script; keep technical terms in Urdu where no Punjabi term exists.

Summarising (khulasa) rule: one-third of the original length, retaining the main idea and dropping examples and repetition.

A khulasa is written in the third person and in continuous prose - never as bullet points or as a list of sentences.

When translating, keep proper nouns in transliteration and preserve numbers and dates exactly.

For applied writing tasks (notices, telegrams, invitations), keep the prescribed format: heading, brief body, sender and date.

Unseen passage questions follow a fixed order: title suggestion, vocabulary meanings, short-answer questions, then the central idea.

Vocabulary from an unseen passage is answered by the meaning in the passage's context, not the dictionary's first sense.

Title (unwan) suggestions should be 2-5 words and capture the passage's main idea, not its opening sentence.

Short-answer questions expect one or two sentences; copying a whole long sentence from the passage often loses marks.

Central-idea (markazi khayal) answers are one or two sentences in your own words, not a quotation of the passage.

True/false and fill-in-the-blank items should be checked against the exact wording of the passage before answering.

Inference questions ('is se kya pata chalta hai') require a conclusion plus the textual clue supporting it.

Time rule for unseen passages: read once for gist, then read the questions, then reread for answers - never answer from memory of the first read.