Grammar Rules Flashcards
– above a vowel indicates…
Mid tone
‘ above a vowel indicates…
High tone
` above a vowel indicates…
Low tone
Does pitch/tone rise when asking a question?
Yes
In Punjabi, T, P and K are all…
Unaspirated
In Punjabi, T is said by…
Touching the tip of the tongue to the back of the teeth
There are different suffixes for…
Masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural words
Masculine singular words end in…
ā e.g. mūdā, āiā
Masculine plural words end in…
e e.g. mūde, āe
Feminine singular words end in…
ī e.g. kurī, āī
Feminine plural words end in…
īā e.g. kurīā, āīā
In Punjabi, there is coordination between the verb and the…
Subject
If the subject is masculine singular, then the verb suffix is…
Masculine singular
If the subject is feminine singular, then the verb suffix is…
Feminine singular
If the subject is plural, then the verb suffix is…
Plural
What is the difference between: ó jādā e and ó jādī e?
ó jādā e - he goes
ó jādī e - she goes
Ó means both he and she, so the verb suffix creates the distinction
In Punjabi, the plural form is often used to…
Show respect
Would it be more respectful to say: é merā dost e or é mere dost ne?
é mere dost ne (this is the plural form which translates to ‘they are my friends’)
What is the basic sentence structure pattern?
Subject, object, verb
In Punjabi, vowels are affected by…
Tones. Generally, words with high tone have shorter vowels and words with low tone have longer vowels.
The present tense corresponds with the…
Subject, not the object.
How many degrees of past tense are there?
Three.
Ó āiā - he came
Ó āiā e - he has come
Ó āiā sī - he had come
The past tense corresponds with the…
Object, not the subject
What is the difference between ó čá pīdā e and ó čá pīdī e?
ó čá pīdā e means he is having tea, and ó čá pīdī e means she is having tea.
What is the difference between ó pāni pīdā e and ó pānī pi riā e?
They both mean he is having water (present tense), but ó pānī pi riā e is more immediate e.g. he is having water right now
What is the difference between óne čá pītī, óne čá pītī e, and óne čá pītī sī?
These are the three types of past tense.
óne čá pītī - he/she drank tea
óne čá pītī e - he/she has drunk tea óne čá pītī sī - he/she had drunk tea
Because the verb corresponds with the object not the subject, context is important to understand if this refers to he or she
What can be added to the end of óne pānī pī (for example) to add emphasis?
Liā or giā, e.g. óne pānī pī liā
The words liā and giā change depending on…
The objects gender. If the object is masc. then the correct word is liā or giā, but if the object is feminine, the correct word is laī or gaī
Double consonants are…
Held longer than single consonants (sounds like you’re saying the letter twice)
When there is no object, the sentence structure is…
Subject, verb
How do you say a word that ends in a consonant?
There is a short release after the consonant e.g. ik sounds like ika
Double consonants make the word sound…
Longer
How is r pronounced differently depending on where it is in the word?
An r at the start of a word is rolled, and r in the middle of a word isn’t
In the present tense, gender of the verb is dependent on the…
Subject
What is the difference between sentences ending in e and si?
When a sentence ends in e, it is present tense. When a sentence ends in si, it is past tense
In the past tense, gender of verb matches the…
Object
To turn a ‘to …’ verb into a sentence…
Remove the na from the end e.g. khana (to eat) can become mae kha reha ha (I am eating - male) or mae kha rehi ha (I am eating - female)
