The Urdu Language
Brightlines provides professional English to Urdu and Urdu to English translation services delivered by native linguists with regional, cultural and sector‑specific expertise. Urdu translation requires human skill to preserve tone, clarity, nuance and meaning—something machine translation still cannot achieve reliably.
Overview
Urdu (اُردُو) is a major Indo‑Aryan language spoken across Pakistan, India and global diaspora communities. Despite its global reach, Urdu presents significant challenges for AI translation systems. Complex grammar, layered politeness levels, idioms, script directionality and hybrid vocabulary from Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit lead to unreliable machine‑generated output. Human expertise is essential for professional, culturally accurate communication.
Why AI Translation Is Unreliable for Urdu
AI systems struggle with Urdu due to:
- Right‑to‑left Nastaliq script is poorly handled by many models
- Complex morphology and verb agreement rules
- Honorifics and politeness levels that change meaning significantly
- Frequent idioms and poetic phrasing rooted in cultural tradition
- Borrowed vocabulary from Persian and Arabic with context‑dependent usage
- Lack of high‑quality parallel datasets for training AI systems
What We Translate
- Websites and landing pages
- Marketing and creative campaigns
- Legal, HR and compliance documentation
- Technical manuals and product materials
- eLearning and training modules
- Video scripts, captions and subtitles
- Packaging, labels and product descriptions
Industries We Support
- Marketing and communications
- Professional services
- Public sector and NGOs
- Education and eLearning
- Legal and HR teams
- Engineering and technical industries
- Healthcare and community programmes
Our Translation Process
- Native Urdu linguists with specialist knowledge
- Human‑led translation for accuracy, clarity and cultural authenticity
- No AI involvement for sensitive, creative or high‑stakes content
- Quality assurance by a second linguist
About the Urdu Language
Urdu is written in the Perso‑Arabic Nastaliq script and is known for its elegance, poetic heritage and complex stylistic features. It is widely spoken across Pakistan, India and diaspora communities in the UK, Middle East, Europe and North America.
Key characteristics include:
- Right‑to‑left script direction
- Gendered nouns and agreement rules
- Rich idiomatic and metaphorical expression
- Extensive Persian and Arabic influence
- Regional variation between formal, colloquial and hybrid registers
Why Organisations Choose Brightlines
- Native Urdu translators with domain expertise
- Accurate, culturally grounded human translation
- Specialist capability across Indian and regional languages
- ISO‑aligned quality assurance processes
- Dedicated project management
- Fast, dependable turnaround options
Our translation services - FAQ
Do you use native translators?
Yes, always. All our translators are native speakers and most are still resident in their native country. We pride ourselves on ensuring that all Brightlines’ translators are native. We do not accept applications from non-native candidates or allow them to register on our online recruitment database. All our translators are rigorously tested.
How long will the translations take?
The turnaround for the translation will depend on the word count. As a rough guide, assume that the translators can comfortably process about 2500 words of non-specialised text per day. Proofreading can effectively be completed on a basis of 4000-6000 words a day. Our minimum turnaround time is usually about three days, although it is possible to shorten this if you are in a rush for the final files and we will always be happy to discuss this with you.
What is the variation in your translators’ experience and qualifications? Are they native speakers? Will the cost increase if we use a more experienced translator?
All our translators have to go through a series of tests to make sure they are as good as they say they are, and only if they pass are they allowed to work for Brightlines. There is quite a range of experience and qualifications, but all translators have a minimum of five years’ experience. All translators translate into their mother-tongue without exception and are generally based in-country so they are up-to-date with the local language. We match translators with projects/clients depending on the subject matter, and most of our translators have industry experience in their speciality – there is no better experience than being immersed professionally in the industry they specialise in. Our costs are based on translator experience, speciality (i.e. medical, creative, scientific) and the language choice.
Which languages can you translate into?
We have an extensive database with hundreds of trusted and tested translators covering all commercial languages. If you cannot see the language or dialect you need please ask.
I don’t know the word count; can you base the quote on the number of pages?
Our pricing structure is based on a rate-per-word, but we can estimate from a page count. If we can’t see the source document then we would usually estimate between 300 – 500 words a page depending on the density of the text and the presence of photos and images.
Does the translation need to be proofread?
Brightlines is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company. This means that quality is safeguarded. We adhere to the “four-eyes principle” and translations are always checked by a second professional proofreader (who is not the translator). If the translation is for internal use and reference purposes only (i.e. not to be published, distributed or used in a court of law), or you simply don’t wish to have proofreading, we can remove the proofreading stage.
Get in touch
If you need Urdu translations, get in touch with our team, or get a quick quote.
