Punjabi grammar
Punjabi sentence structure — building a basic sentence
Punjabi follows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. Adjectives come before the noun, and postpositions come after it.
I eat rice
ਮੈਂ ਚੌਲ ਖਾਂਦਾ ਹਾਂ
maiṅ chaul khāndā hāṅ
Literally "I rice eat" — the verb comes last.
The big house
ਵੱਡਾ ਘਰ
vaḍḍā ghar
Adjectives precede the noun, same order as English.
in the market
ਬਜ਼ਾਰ ਵਿੱਚ
bazār vich
Postpositions follow the noun, the reverse of an English preposition.
She is reading a book
ਉਹ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਪੜ੍ਹ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ
uh kitāb paṛh rahī hai
Subject → object → verb, in that fixed order.
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More Punjabi grammar lessons
Punjabi personal pronouns
Punjabi has two levels of "you" — ਤੂੰ (tūṅ) for intimates and ਤੁਸੀਂ (tusīṅ) for respect or plural. Unlike Hindi, there is no middle "tum" level.
Punjabi present tense verbs
Punjabi's habitual present adds -ਦਾ/-ਦੀ/-ਦੇ (-dā/-dī/-de, agreeing with gender and number) to the verb stem, followed by a form of ਹੈ (hai). Where Hindi says "kartā", Punjabi says "kardā". Conjugated here for ਕਰਨਾ (karnā, "to do").
Punjabi negation with ਨਹੀਂ
ਨਹੀਂ (nahīṅ) is Punjabi's everyday negator, placed before the verb. In fast speech it is often shortened to "ni".
Punjabi postpositions
Like Hindi, Punjabi places small words after the noun instead of before it — but the words themselves differ: ਨੂੰ (nūṅ) instead of "ko", ਤੋਂ (toṅ) instead of "se".
Punjabi question words
Punjabi wh-questions use a fixed set of question words placed where the answer would go; ਕੀ (kī) at the start of a sentence also turns it into a yes/no question.
Punjabi numbers 1–10
The Punjabi numerals 1 through 10. Gurmukhi also has its own digits (੧ ੨ ੩ …), still seen in gurdwaras and on older signage.