Recognizing Borrowed Broken Plurals

Level 6

لفظ → الفاظ; حرف → حروف.

How It Works

Urdu retains a range of established Arabic-origin plural forms. The plural may add or change sounds within the word rather than attaching one ordinary Urdu ending.

Learn the singular, plural, meaning and register together. کتابیں and کتب can both refer to books, but کتب belongs more readily to formal wording. A familiar borrowed plural need not be rare in everyday use.

An already plural form normally needs no extra -وں: write الفاظ کے. Historical origin is not enough to decide number, however. اخبار is normally singular when it means a newspaper in Urdu, so اس اخبار میں is a singular phrase.

Examples (4)

  1. ان الفاظ کے معنی مختلف ہیں۔

    These words have different meanings.

    الفاظ is already plural and remains unchanged before کے.

  2. اس صفحے پر حروف بہت چھوٹے ہیں۔

    The letters on this page are very small.

    حروف is the established plural of حرف.

  3. نئی کتب کی فہرست تیار ہے۔

    The list of new books is ready.

    کتب carries plural meaning in formal wording.

  4. اس اخبار میں ایک دلچسپ مضمون ہے۔

    There is an interesting article in this newspaper.

    اخبار has a singular newspaper meaning here despite its historical plural form.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding another plural ending to الفاظ.

    ان الفاظوں کے معنی بتائیے۔
    ان الفاظ کے معنی بتائیے۔

    In this standard plural use, الفاظ stays unchanged before کے.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Recognizing Borrowed Broken PluralsLevel 6

Learn This First

Distinguish a borrowed plural from an ordinary oblique plural ending.