Learning Punjabi pronouns might give you a hard time if you don’t come from a linguistic background where the language marks a distinct difference between a formal ‘you’ and an informal ‘you’.
Want me to explain further? Let me help you with a real anecdote from my early teens. I was visiting a Punjabi friend of mine at her home along with a Tamil-speaking friend who was new to Delhi and was trying his best to learn Hindi and Punjabi language at the same time. We were greeted at the door by her stern looking Sikh grandfather. We both greeted him with a hurried Sat sri akaal (Hello in Punjabi).
However, to my utter horror and embarrassment, my Tamil friend tried to test his Punjabi skills at the precise moment by asking, “Tu kivem hai?” instead of “tusi kivem ho?” What’s the difference, you ask? Well, in the Punjabi language, elders are always addressed with tusi (formal ‘you’) and never a tu (informal ‘you’).
Needless to say, my poor friend got a good grammar lesson on Punjabi pronouns that afternoon!
Concept Of Punjabi Pronouns And Sentences
Pronouns are words that we use besides nouns to make a sentence more symmetrical. Pronouns are usually applicable where the noun is used more frequently. One of its examples is, “Josh is a boy. He likes to play table tennis.” In this sentence, “He” is a word that acts as a pronoun. Namespaces in computing are used to identify various types of objects. The same way pronouns and all their types work.
Moreover, pronouns create a better way of expressing yourself and making you sound like a native of that language. Punjabi pronouns are easier to learn if you know the concept and differences of how to use them correctly. We all know the importance of subjects, adjectives, verbs, nouns, and adverbs in Punjabi grammar and sentences. Punjabi pronouns also play a vital role in complex Punjabi sentences and paragraphs.
Let’s discuss different types of Punjabi pronouns and their usage in other sentences.
7 Types Of Punjabi Pronouns With Examples
There are different types of pronouns depending upon their usage concerning the sentence. Let’s go through all the pronouns we possibly can.
1. Possessive Pronouns
A pronoun that indicates a possession is called a possessive pronoun. Read the below table carefully to understand more about this pronoun.
| English | Punjabi | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Mine | ਮੇਰਾ | Mērā |
| Yours | ਤੁਹਾਡਾ | Tuhāḍā |
| Hers | ਉਸਦਾ | Usadā |
| Theirs | ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦਾ | Uhanāṁ dā |
2. Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns are words that we use instead of the name of the person or animal. These are different for both genders and singular and plural nouns. In English, these types of pronouns are divided into first-person, second-person, and third-person pronouns, and the same goes for Punjabi pronouns.
Following is a brief introduction to these pronouns and their translation/pronunciation in Punjabi.
First-Person Pronouns
The First-Person pronoun belongs to the person narrating the story, e.g., I and We. You can translate these words as maiṁ or ਮੈਂ , and asīṁ or ਅਸੀਂ.
Second Person Pronouns
These pronouns refer to the person to which the story is being told. The second person pronoun is used in sentences such as “You.” In Punjabi, this word is written as ਤੁਸੀਂ and pronounced as Tusī. However, please note that this is a formal variation of the word ‘you’ in the Punjabi language. For informal situations and conversations, you can use tu or ਤੂੰ.
Third Person Pronouns
You can use this type of pronoun when you tell a story about another person. That person refers to a third person. “He, she, it, and they” is a set of all possible available third-person pronouns. We use “He” and “She” for both genders, “He” for the singular male gender, and “She” for the feminine gender.
Other additional terms like “It” and “They” are used for animals or things and plural nouns. By translating these pronouns into Punjabi, we can write ਉਹ. This single Punjabi word is used for all four third-person pronouns and is pronounced as Uha.
Cases Of Personal Pronouns
Three cases indicate the relation of personal pronouns to the word that is used. Let’s take an example. “Baisakhi occurs in April, John. You know nothing about Punjab”. “John” follows a vocative case in this sentence, while “You” forms a nominative case. In an oblique case, the pronoun can follow any role besides the subject.
3. Reflexive Pronouns
The pronoun that refers back to the subject of a clause or sentence is called a reflexive pronoun. As a reflexive pronoun, we use “myself, herself, himself, themselves, and itself” in a sentence. In Punjabi pronunciation, you can say these words as “Āpaṇē āpa nū.”
4. Indefinite Pronouns
A pronoun without a specific familiar reference is called an indefinite pronoun. An example of these pronouns is “something, anything, anyone, everyone.” These pronouns in Punjabi can be written as ਕੁਝ, ਕੁਝ ਵੀ, ਕੋਈ ਵੀ, ਹਰ ਕੋਈ and pronounced as Kujha, kujha vī, kō’ī vī, hara kō’ī, respectively.
5. Demonstrative Pronoun
Demonstrative pronouns refer to the words that we use to point out something. “These, that, this, and those” are some demonstrative pronouns. “These” and “this” are pronounced as Iha while “that” and “those” are pronounced as uha in Punjabi.
6. Interrogative Pronouns
A word that we possibly use to ask specific questions is called interrogative pronoun. These types of terms include “which, what, who, whom, and whoever” that are pronounced as Jō, kī, kauṇa, kisanū, and jō vī. In the following table, you will be able to understand these words and their usage easily.
| English | Punjabi | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| What is on the table? | ਮੇਜ਼ ‘ਤੇ ਕੀ ਹੈ? | Mēza’tē kī hai? |
| What is today’s lesson? | ਅੱਜ ਦਾ ਸਬਕ ਕੀ ਹੈ? | Aja dā sabaka kī hai? |
7. Relative Pronouns
A pronoun that heads an adjective clause is called a relative pronoun. To understand this pronoun, we can use different examples. “This is the house that John bought.” In this sentence, “that” is a relative pronoun pronounced as Uha in Punjabi.
More About Punjabi
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language widely spoken by Punjabi people around the world, mainly in Pakistan and India. Punjabi is written in India using the Gurmukhi script, which is especially referred Sikhs. That script belongs to the Indic family of scripts, but it differs greatly from the Devanagari.
In Pakistan, the Urdu script is used to write Punjabi, now known as Shahmukhi. Thus, Punjabi is one of the few languages to be written in two distinct and mutually incomprehensible scripts.
Learn Punjabi With Ling
After learning about Punjabi pronouns, you will be able to use these in your conversation. But other additional terms like a verb, nouns, adjectives, and clauses are also necessary to learn. To better understand the Punjabi language, you can use the Ling app. With the help of its mini-quizzes, practice questions, and game-based system, you can learn Punjabi conveniently.
For instance, you can read our blogs on “Greetings in Punjabi” and “Basic Punjabi Words and Phrases” to learn Punjabi deeply. If you want to learn another foreign language, check out the Ling app with 60+ language options that you can choose from!
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