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Lesson Transcript

Assalam u Alaikum mera naam Afrah hai.
Hi, My name is Afrah. Welcome to UrduPod101.com’s “3 minat mein Urdu”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Urdu.
In the last lesson, you learned how to ask "Who" questions in Urdu.
This time, we are going to ask questions with the word "Why?"
Imagine your boss is giving you a call because you are not at work today... He will certainly ask you Tum aaj DafTar kyun nahin aaye?
[slowly] Tum aaj DafTar kyun nahiin aaye?
So let’s break down this question:
First we had Tum which is the informal “you”
Aaj means “today”
And DafTar means “office”
Then we have kyun which is the basic translation of "Why" in Urdu.
And finally we have nahin aaye, which is the negative form of the verb aana meaning “to come” in the present tense. It can be translated as “not coming”.
So in Urdu, kyun means "Why", and is used to ask the reason for something.
So for example, if your boss is asking you Tum aaj Daer se kyun aaye? He is asking "Why are you late today?"
Another common usage of kyun is to ask the objective of something. But in this case, we can also use kis liye.
Actually kis liye? is closer to the meaning of "What for?" In Urdu, we often say yah kis liye banaa hai? which literally means "What is it made for?"
Now it’s time for Afrah’s Advice.
A famous expression in Pakistan is kyun nahin? which means, as in English, "Why not?" You can use it to accept a proposition if you agree. For example, if a friend asks you suddenly "What about going to the cinema tonight?" You can answer kyun nahin? meaning "Why not?"
Before ending this lesson, Let’s review all the ways to say "Why" in Urdu:
- kyun is the basic translation of "Why," as in Tum Daer se kyun aaye? meaning "Why are you late?"
- kis liye? is used to ask the objective of something as in yah kis liye banaa hai? meaning "What is it made for?"
Finally, kyun nahin? is "Why not?"
Congratulations! This lesson is the last lesson of this video series. But it’s hopefully not the last you learn about the Urdu language! To take your language ability to the next level, check out UrduPod101.com, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Urdu.
Bye bye! Alvida!!

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