Compound Sentences

The structure of compound sentences in Urdu differs in some respects from that of English.

In Urdu, there is no indirect speech. The only way to render someone's words is to quote them. The direct speech follows the main sentence and is usually introduced by the conjunction کہ ki 'that'. No sequence of tenses is required:

اس نے کہا کہ میں یہ کام ھر شام کرتا ھوں

us ne kahaa ki maiN yah kaam har shaam kartaa huuN

'He said that he did this work every evening'

(literally: He said that "I do this work every evening")

میں نے اس سے پوچھا کہ تم کہاں تھے ؟

maiN ne us se puuchaa ki tum kahaaN the?

'I asked him where he had been'

(literally: I asked him that "Where have you been?")

The conjunction کہ ki is also used to introduce subordinate clauses of several types, including those expressing wishes, commands, necessity, and logical results. The verb in such subordinate clauses is in the subjunctive mood:

میں چاھتا ھوں کہ آپ یہ کتاب پڑھیں

maiN caahtaa huuN ki aap yah kitaab paRheN

'I want you to read this book'

(literally: I want that you should read this book)

ھم نے حکم دیا کہ وہ اپنا کام کرے

ham ne hukm diyaa ki vah apnaa kaam kare

'We ordered him to do his own work'

(literally: We made order that he should do his own work)

ضروری ھے کہ وہ اچھی طرح پڑھیں

zaruurii hai ki vah acchii tarah paRheN

'It is necessary for them to study well'

(literally: Necessary is that they should study well)

وہ اِتنا اچھا ڈرائور نہیں ھے کہ یہ گاڑی چلائے

vah itnaa acchaa Draaivar nahiiN hai ki yah gaaRii calaae

'He is not a good driver enough to drive this car'

(literally: He is not such a good driver that he should drive this car)

In subordinate clauses of purpose that are introduced by the conjunction تاکہ taaki, the verb is also in the subjunctive form:

وہ کالج میں پڑھتا ھے تاکہ وکیل بنے

vah kaalij meN paRhtaa hai taaki vakiil bane

'He studies in a college to become a lawyer'

(literally: He studies in a college in order that he should become a lawyer)

In Urdu, compound sentences with relative clauses are formed according to different rules depending on their type.

Restrictive relative clauses are used to single out the object they are modifying from all other objects of the similar type (for example, 'The man who is standing there is a student'). This is the only function of such clauses, whereas relative clauses without restrictive meaning give some additional information about the object (for example, 'A strange man, who was a student, entered the room').

Sentences containing restrictive relative clauses have a unique structure which is quite different from that in English. In such sentences, the subordinate clause usually precedes the principal one and begins with a relative pronoun, a relative pronominal adverb, or a pronominal adjective. That is followed by the noun qualified by the subordinate clause (if it is present in the sentence). The principle clause is introduced by a demonstrative pronoun or a pronominal adverb:

جو آدمی اندر آیا ھے وہ افسر ھے

jo aadmii andar aayaa hai vah afsar hai

'The man who has come in is an officer'

(literally: Which man has come in, he is an officer)

جہاں وہ رھتا ھے وہاں میں کام کرتا ھوں

jahaaN vah rahtaa hai vahaaN maiN kaam kartaa huuN

'I work where he lives'

(literally: Where he lives, there I work)

اِتنا وہ کماتا ھے جتنا وہ کمانا چاھتا ھے

jitnaa vah kamaanaa cahtaa hai itnaa vah kamaataa hai

'He earns as much as he wants'

(literally: As much as he wants to earn, this much he earns)

The qualified noun may occur in the sentence twice - both in the subordinate and in the principal clause:

جو اخبار میز پر ھے وہ اخبار میرا ھے

jo akh'baar mez par hai vah akh'baar meraa hai

'The newspaper on the table is mine'

(literally: Which newspaper is on the table, that newspaper is mine)

In the subordinate clause, the noun qualified may function not only as a subject but also as an object (either direct or indirect). If the noun functions as an indirect object, both the noun and the relative pronoun take the oblique form. The noun may be followed by a postposition:

جس آدمی سے تم بات کروگے وہ میرا دوست ھے

jis aadmii se tum baat karoge vah meraa dost hai

'The man you will talk to is my friend'

(literally: Which man-with you will do talk, he is my friend)

If the noun functions as the direct object of a transitive verb in one of the perfective tenses (the Preterit, the Perfect or the Pluperfect), it and the relative pronoun must be in the direct case:

جو کام اس نے کیا وہ مشکل ھے

jo kaam us ne kiyaa vah mushkil hai

'The work he did is hard'

If a relative clause has no restrictive meaning, the compound sentence is formed according to rules similar to those in English:

میں نے ایک آدمی کو دیکھا جس کے کپڑے پرانے تھے

maiN ne ek aadmii ko dekhaa jis ke kapRe puraane the

'I have seen a man, whose clothes were old'