Urdu Script, Spelling and Vocabulary
Script basics
Urdu is written right to left. Most letters change shape according to position: initial, medial, final or isolated. Some letters never join to the following letter: ا د ذ ر ز ژ و. Distinguish ہ (choti he) from ھ (do chashmi he), and ں (noon ghunna) from ن. Hamza, tashdeed and madd are not decoration; they change pronunciation and sometimes meaning, so copy them in spelling questions.
Spelling and vocabulary
- Learn each new word with its gender and plural: لڑکا → لڑکے; کتاب → کتابیں.
- Keep a mutradif (synonym) and mutazad (antonym) column for exam vocabulary.
- Check homophones by meaning, not sound: 'خواہش' is spelled خ و ا ہ ش, with choti he, not do chashmi he.
- In a sentence, the postposition often controls case: 'میز پر' (on the table) versus 'میز سے' (from the table).
Worked example
Question: correct the spelling 'خواھش'. The error is the do chashmi he (ھ). The standard spelling uses choti he: خواہش. Reason: the word does not carry the aspirated sound that ھ marks. A spelling answer should show the corrected word, not just circle the error.
Traps
Writing ھ for ہ; dropping noon ghunna; using a wrong plural with a correct-looking singular; ignoring hamza in words such as 'مسئلہ'; treating all non-connecting letters as identical.