Essential Punjabi Nouns Simplified For Beginners In This #1 Guide

Unlike their English counterparts, Punjabi nouns can be pretty complicated to learn as they have genders, cases, and plural forms. So, it’s no surprise that they might initially seem a bit daunting. But once you get the hang of them, it’ll be easy to understand how to use them in sentences. Let’s get to know more about it in today’s post!

And even if you think that Punjabi grammar is no easy thing to master, a basic understanding of concepts like noun usage can dramatically improve your chances of expressing yourself better. In this article, we’ll cover some of Punjabi’s most frequently used nouns. We’ll also explain how these words are used and give examples to help you understand them better. Let’s get started!

All About Punjabi Nouns

Let us look at the features and then types of nouns used in the Punjabi language.

What Are The Gender Based Punjabi Nouns?

Genders are important in Punjabi nouns because they determine the verb form and the pronoun used with them. In Punjabi, there are two genders: masculine and feminine. The gender of a noun affects the form of the verb and pronoun used with it. Additionally, the gender of a noun can sometimes indicate the natural gender of the person or thing named by the noun.

Let’s look at some examples.

What Are The Number Based Punjabi Nouns?

These are the singular and plural nouns. For one, it is the singular form, and for more than one, it is the plural form. A prefix of –aa (ਆ) is mainly found when we write Punjabi for the singular nouns and changed to –ae (ਏ) for the plural.

Here are some examples for the Masculine Punjabi Nouns used in Punjabi grammar.

In the case that the nouns are already feminine, what do we do? We change the prefix to –aan (ਆਂ) to talk about their plural form.

As exceptions are in every language, you will find them in Punjabi, too! Some words remain unchanged and are the same in both their singular and plural forms. Some examples are given below:

• Man/men – Aadmi (ਆਦਮੀ)
• House/houses – Ghar (ਘਰ)
• City/cities – Shahir (ਸ਼ਹਿਰ)

What Are The Noun Cases In Punjabi?

The noun cases in Punjabi are divided into two types: the direct and the oblique form. The number and case in Punjabi nouns go together. This is why they are under the “transformation” grammatical categories. Nouns can be singular direct and singular oblique, and they can also be plural direct and plural oblique.

In regards to masculine and feminine words, all previous rules apply. Once we cite examples of some daily-use Punjabi words, it will get clearer. For nouns discussed before, let’s see how they change forms from direct to the oblique case.

• Boy – Munda (ਮੁੰਡਾ)
• Boys – Munde (ਮੁੰਡੇ)
• Man – Aadmi (ਆਦਮੀ)
• Men – Aadmi (ਆਦਮੀ)
• Girl – Kudi (ਕੁੜੀ)
• Girls – Kudiaan (ਕੁੜੀਆਂ)

To oblique case:

• Boy – Munde (ਮੁੰਡੇ)
• Boys – Mundiaan (ਮੁੰਡਿਆਂ)
• Man – Aadmi (ਆਦਮੀ)
• Men – Aadmiaan (ਆਦਮੀਆਂ)
• Girl – Kudi (ਕੁੜੀ)
• Girls – Kudiaan (ਕੁੜੀਆਂ)

The grammatical relations and word order of Punjabi nouns will need practice. The recommendation is to practice naming objects and nouns to increase your vocabulary. While doing so, give attention to the pronunciation, which will help you identify the gender, number, and case.

The most important in Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu (as they are similar languages) is to get the gender right. If not, the sentence will become pretty hysterical! As a learner, though, tones and pronunciation will come gradually and naturally with practice! Keep trying and keep following the Punjabi gender rules!

How Do You Say Noun In Punjabi?

In Punjabi, the word for “noun” is naanva (ਨਾਂਵ). It is pronounced as naa-nva where the second n is the nasal sound.

Tips For Beginners: How To Practice Punjabi Nouns

1. Start with everyday nouns – You can begin your learning journey with common nouns you use daily, like “house,” “pen,” and “watch.” To make things easier, try sticking sticky notes on objects with their names in Punjabi.
   • This is my house – Eh mera ghar hai (ਇਹ ਮੇਰਾ ਘਰ ਹੈ) where ghar is Punjabi for “house.”
   • This is a pen – Eh ik kalam hai (ਇਹ ਇੱਕ ਕਲਮ ਹੈ) where kalam is Punjabi for “pen.”
2. Learn singular and plural Forms – Practice how nouns change from singular to plural and how to make Punjabi words plural.
   • One apple – Ik seb (ਇੱਕ ਸੇਬ)
   • Two apples – Do seb (ਦੋ ਸੇਬ)
   • Many apples – Bahut saare seb (ਬਹੁਤ ਸਾਰੇ ਸੇਬ)
3. Practice with definite and indefinite nouns – Learn how to use “a” and “the” correctly.
   • I saw a cat – Main ik billi vekhi (ਮੈਂ ਇੱਕ ਬਿੱਲੀ ਵੇਖੀ)
   • The cat is sleeping – Billi so rahi hai (ਬਿੱਲੀ ਸੋ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ)
4. Group Punjabi nouns by category – Organize nouns into categories like food, people, and places.
   • Apple, banana, orange – Seb, kela, santara (ਸੇਬ, ਕੇਲਾ, ਸੰਤਰਾ)
   • Teacher, student, doctor – Adhyapak, vidyarthi, daktar (ਅਧਿਆਪਕ, ਵਿਦਿਆਰਥੀ, ਡਾਕਟਰ)
5. Use Punjabi nouns in simple sentences – Create easy sentences with nouns to reinforce learning by understanding the Punjabi sentence structure rules.
   • She is reading a book – Oh ik kitab paṛh rahi hai (ਉਹ ਇੱਕ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਪੜ੍ਹ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ)
   • The dog is barking – Kutta bhaunk raha hai (ਕੁੱਤਾ ਭੌਂਕ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ)
6. Focus on gender forms – As we already discussed above, Punjabi nouns have gender, so practice using the correct form.
   • Boy – Munda (ਮੁੰਡਾ)
   • Girl – Kudi (ਕੁੜੀ)
   • The boy is playing – Munda khed riha hai (ਮੁੰਡਾ ਖੇਡ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ)
   • The girl is playing – Kudi khed rahi hai (ਕੁੜੀ ਖੇਡ ਰਹੀ ਹੈ)
7. Test yourself with “What is This?” questions – Ask yourself questions to reinforce learning. You can remove the sticky notes from the objects in your room and ask your friend to play this game with you wherein they can point their finger at an object and ask you “What is this?” and you have to say the name of the object in Punjabi. Fun, right?
8. Use language learning apps – If you do not have any Punjabi-speaking person available to help you in your learning journey in the capacity you would like, why not make learning apps your buddy? Apps like Ling provides interactive exercises to practice Punjabi nouns. Repeating exercises and listening to native pronunciation help reinforce learning and improve recall. The icing on the cake is that it is one of the most innovative apps to learn Punjabi with incredible features!

Frequently Asked Questions About Punjabi Nouns

What Are The Genders Of Punjabi Nouns?

Punjabi nouns are categorized into two on the basis of gender – masculine nouns like pankhaa (ਪੱਖਾ – fan), hatth (ਹੱਥ – hand), and feminine nouns like sadak (ਸੜਕ – road) and baag (ਬਾਗ – garden).

What Do We Call Pronouns In Punjabi?

In Punjabi, pronouns are called parnaanva (ਪੜਨਾਂਵ). They replace nouns or naanva (ਨਾਂਵ) to indicate the subject or object of a sentence.

Is Sikh A Proper Noun?

Yes, Sikh is a proper noun because it is a religion like Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Therefore, the word Sikh should always be written with a capital first letter S. For example, “A Sikh man is sitting there,” or “I am a Sikh woman.”

Let’s Summarize Punjabi Nouns For Beginners

Punjabi nouns are essential for building a solid language foundation. As you have already read above, this guide covers gender-based nouns (masculine and feminine) and number-based nouns (singular and plural). This is to help you understand how nouns change based on gender and quantity. It also explains noun cases and how they affect sentence structure.

You also learned the Punjabi word for “noun” and got answers to common questions about Punjabi nouns, including proper nouns like “Sikh.” Practical tips for beginners provided in this guide are some of the most effective ways to help you practice and use Punjabi nouns confidently in daily conversations.

Want To Know Punjabi? Check Out Ling!

Do not let the fear of grammar stop you from learning a language. Languages and cultures are beautiful, and the more you spend time understanding them and the people who use them, the more you appreciate our world.

What is the reason, though, that you are looking at nouns in the Punjabi language? Are you traveling to Pakistan or living in India? Are you constantly around this language at work and want to know more? We have an idea for you. Try out the Ling app, the language-learning gamified app.

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