Punjabi grammar
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.
I
ਮੈਂ
maiṅ
First person singular.
You (informal)
ਤੂੰ
tūṅ
Close friends, younger siblings, children — and God in prayer.
You (formal/plural)
ਤੁਸੀਂ
tusīṅ
Elders, strangers, and plural "you". Always takes the plural verb.
He / She (that one)
ਉਹ
uh
Third person, distant. The same word serves for he, she and they — the verb shows which.
He / She (this one)
ਇਹ
ih
Third person, near the speaker.
We
ਅਸੀਂ
asīṅ
First person plural.
They
ਉਹ
uh
Same form as "he/she"; takes the plural verb ਹਨ (han).
Learn 1,000+ Punjabi words, phrases & lessons on the Bhasha app
Daily 5-minute lessons, audio from native speakers, progress tracking and 1,000+ words. Free to start — first 8 units unlocked, no card required.
- ✓ Native-speaker audio
- ✓ Offline lessons
- ✓ Progress sync
- ✓ Ad-free for kids
More Punjabi grammar lessons
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 sentence structure — building a basic sentence
Punjabi follows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. Adjectives come before the noun, and postpositions come after it.
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.