Punjabi grammar

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language native to the region of Punjab of Pakistan and India and spoken by the Punjabi people. This page discusses the grammar of Modern Standard Punjabi as defined by the relevant sources below (see #Further reading).

Word order

Punjabi has a canonical word order of subject–object–verb. It has postpositions rather than prepositions.

Transliteration

In matters of script, Punjabi uses Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi. On this grammar page Punjabi is written in "standard orientalist" transcription as outlined in Masica (1991:xv) (with one change; representing ai /ɛː/ and au /ɔː/ with ē and ō respectively). Being "primarily a system of transliteration from the Indian scripts, [and] based in turn upon Sanskrit" (cf. IAST), these are its salient features: subscript dots for retroflex consonants; macrons for etymologically, contrastively long vowels; h denoting aspirated plosives. Tildes denote nasalized vowels, while grave and acute accents denote low and high tones respectively.

Vowels and consonants are outlined in the tables below. The vowels table shows the character used in the article (ex. ī) followed by its IPA value in forward slashes (ex. /iː/). See Punjabi phonology for further clarification.

Vowels

	Front		Near-front		Central		Near-back		Back
	IPA	script	IPA	script	IPA	script	IPA	script	IPA	script
Close	iː	ਈ اِی							uː	ਊ اُو
Near-close			ɪ	ਇ اِ			ʊ	ਉ اُ
Close-mid	eː	ਏ اے							oː	ਓ او
Mid					ə	ਅ اَ
Open-mid	ɛː	ਐ اَے							ɔː	ਔ اَو
Open					aː	ਆ آ

Consonants

		Labial		Dental/ Alveolar		Retroflex		Post-alv./ Palatal		Velar		Glottal
		IPA	script	IPA	script	IPA	script	IPA	script	IPA	script	IPA	script
Nasal		m	ਮ م	n	ਨ ن	ɳ	ਣ ݨ	ɲ	ਞ ن٘ج	ŋ	ਙ ن٘گ
Plosive/ Affricate	tenuis	p	ਪ پ	t	ਤ ت	ʈ	ਟ ٹ	t͡ʃ	ਚ چ	k	ਕ ک
	aspirated	pʰ	ਫ پھ	tʰ	ਥ تھ	ʈʰ	ਠ ٹھ	t͡ʃʰ	ਛ چھ	kʰ	ਖ کھ
	voiced	b	ਬ ب	d	ਦ د	ɖ	ਡ ڈ	d͡ʒ	ਜ ج	ɡ	ਗ گ
Fricative	voiceless	(f)	(ਫ਼ ف)	s	ਸ س			ʃ	ਸ਼ ش	(x)	(ਖ਼ خ)
	voiced			(z)	(ਜ਼ ز)					(ɣ)	(ਗ਼ غ)	ɦ	ਹ ہ
Rhotic				ɾ~r	ਰ ر	ɽ	ੜ ڑ
Approximant		ʋ	ਵ و	l	ਲ ل	ɭ	ਲ਼ لؕ	j	ਯ ی

Morphology

Nouns

Punjabi distinguishes two genders, two numbers typically with an additional dual form for a small set of nouns, and six cases of direct, oblique, vocative, ablative, locative, and instrumental. The latter three cases are essentially now vestigial: the ablative occurs only in the singular, in free variation with oblique case plus ablative postposition, and the locative and instrumental are confined to a small set of common nouns. Numeral adjectives do also have locative plural forms, and toponymic proper nouns often have a locative singular form. Nouns may be further divided into extended and unextended declensional subtypes, with the former characteristically consisting of masculines ending in unaccented -ā and feminines in -ī.

The below tables displays the suffix paradigms, as outlined in Shackle (2003:600–601). Regarding the masculine, "the [extended] case-morphemes, very similar to those of the unextended declension, are added to the obl. base -e-, which is shortened to -i- (phonetically [e̯]) before back vowels and is lost before front vowels." The division between feminine unextendeds and extendeds ending in -ī looks to be now merely an etymological consideration, as there is neither a distinct oblique base nor any morphophonemic considerations.

Masculine Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. unEx. Sing. +ā +ਆ +آ +ȭ +ਓਂ +ؤں +ē +ਏ +ئے Pl. +ā̃ +ਆਂ +آں +ō +ਓ +ؤ +ī̃ +ਈਂ +ئِیں Ex. Sing. -ā -ਆ -آ -ē -ਏ -ئے -iā -ਇਆ -یا -iȭ -ਇਓਂ -یوں -ē -ਏ -ئے Pl. -ē -ਏ -ئے -iā̃ -ਇਆਂ -یاں -iō -ਇਓ -یو -ī̃ -ਈਂ -ئِیں

Feminine Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. Sing. -/+ē -/+ਏ -/+ئے +ȭ +ਓਂ +ؤں +ē +ਏ +ئے Pl. +ā̃ +ਆਂ +آں +ō +ਓ +ؤ +ī̃ +ਈਂ +ئِیں

The next table of noun declensions shows the above suffix paradigms in action. Words, from Shackle (2003:600–601): ghṑṛā "stallion", sakhī "girlfriend", ghàr "house", gall "thing, matter (being talked about)".

Extended Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. Masc. Sing. ghṑṛā ਘੋੜਾ گھوڑا ghṑṛe ਘੋੜੇ گھوڑے ghṑṛiā ਘੋੜਿਆ گھوڑیا ghṑṛiȭ ਘੋੜਿਓਂ گھوڑیوں (ghṑṛe) (ਘੋੜੇ) (گھوڑے) Pl. ghṑṛe ਘੋੜੇ گھوڑے ghṑṛiā̃ ਘੋੜਿਆਂ گھوڑیاں ghṑṛiō ਘੋੜਿਓ گھوڑیو Fem. Sing. sakhī ਸਖੀ سَکھی sakhīē ਸਖੀਏ سَکِھیے Pl. sakhīā̃ ਸਖੀਆਂ سَکِھیاں sakhīō ਸਖੀਓ سَکِھیو

Unextended Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. Masc. Sing. ghàr ਘਰ گَھر ghàrā ਘਰਾ گَھرا ghàrȭ ਘਰੋਂ گَھروں ghàrē ਘਰੇ گَھرے Pl. ghàr ਘਰ گَھر ghàrā̃ ਘਰਾਂ گَھراں ghàrō ਘਰੋ گَھرو ghàrī̃ ਘਰੀਂ گَھرِیں Fem. Sing. gall ਗੱਲ گَلّ (gallē) (ਗੱਲੇ) (گَلّے) gallȭ ਗੱਲੋਂ گَلّوں gallē ਗੱਲੇ گَلّے Pl. gallā̃ ਗੱਲਾਂ گَلّاں gallō ਗੱਲੋ گَلّو gallī̃ ਗੱਲੀਂ گَلِّیں

Adjectives

Adjectives may be divided into declinable and indeclinable categories. Declinable adjectives have endings that change by the gender, number, case of the noun that they qualify. Declinable adjective have endings that are similar but much simpler than nouns' endings:

			Sing.	Pl.
Declin.	Masc.	Dir.	-ā -ਆ -آ	-ē -ਏ -ئے
		Obl.	-ē -ਏ -ئے	-ē, -iā̃ -ਏ, -ਇਆਂ -ئے، -یاں
	Fem.		-ī -ਈ -ئی	-īā̃ -ਈਆਂ -ئِیاں
Indeclin.

Indeclinable adjectives are invariable and can end in either consonants or vowels (including ā and ī ). The direct masculine singular (-ā) is the citation form. Most adjectives ending in consonants are indeclinable.

Declinable adjective caṅgā "good" in attributive use

Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. Masc. Sing. caṅgā ghṑṛā ਚੰਗਾ ਘੋੜਾ چَنگا گھوڑا caṅgē ghṑṛē ਚੰਗੇ ਘੋੜੇ چَنگے گھوڑے caṅgē ghṑṛiā ਚੰਗੇ ਘੋੜਿਆ چَنگے گھوڑیا caṅgē ghṑṛiȭ ਚੰਗੇ ਘੋੜਿਓਂ چَنگے گھوڑیوں (caṅge ghṑṛē) (ਚੰਗੇ ਘੋੜੇ) (چَنگے گھوڑے) Pl. caṅgē ghṑṛē ਚੰਗੇ ਘੋੜੇ چَنگے گھوڑے caṅgiā̃ ghṑṛiā̃ ਚੰਗਿਆਂ ਘੋੜਿਆਂ چَنگیاں گھوڑیاں caṅgi'ō ghṑṛiō ਚੰਗਿਆਂ ਘੋੜਿਓ چَنگیو گھوڑیو Fem. Sing. caṅgī sakhī ਚੰਗੀ ਸਖੀ چَنگی سَکھی caṅgī sakhīē ਚੰਗੀ ਸਖੀਏ چَنگی سَکِھیے Pl. caṅgīā̃ sakhīā̃ ਚੰਗੀਆਂ ਸਖੀਆਂ چَنگِیاں سَکِھیاں caṅgīā̃ sakhīō ਚੰਗੀਆਂ ਸਖੀਓ چَنگِیاں سَکِھیو

Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. Masc. Sing. caṅgā ghàr ਚੰਗਾ ਘਰ چَنگا گَھر caṅgē ghàr ਚੰਗੇ ਘਰ چَنگے گَھر caṅgē ghàrā ਚੰਗੇ ਘਰਾ چَنگے گَھرا caṅgē ghàrȭ ਚੰਗੇ ਘਰੋਂ چَنگے گَھروں caṅgē ghàrē ਚੰਗੇ ਘਰੇ چَنگے گَھرے Pl. caṅge ghàr ਚੰਗੇ ਘਰ چَنگے گَھر caṅgiā̃ ghàrā̃ ਚੰਗਿਆਂ ਘਰਾਂ چَنگیاں گَھراں caṅgiā̃ ghàrō ਚੰਗਿਆਂ ਘਰੋ چَنگیاں گَھرو caṅgiā̃ ghàrī̃ ਚੰਗਿਆਂ ਘਰੀਂ چَنگیاں گَھرِیں Fem. Sing. caṅgī gall ਚੰਗੀ ਗੱਲ چَنگی گَلّ (caṅgī gallē) (ਚੰਗੀ ਗੱਲੇ) (چَنگی گَلّے) caṅgī gallȭ ਚੰਗੀ ਗੱਲੋਂ چَنگی گَلّوں caṅgī gallē ਚੰਗੀ ਗੱਲੇ چَنگی گَلّے Pl. caṅgīā̃ gallā̃ ਚੰਗੀਆਂ ਗੱਲਾਂ چَنگِیاں گَلّاں caṅgīā̃ gallō ਚੰਗੀਆਂ ਗੱਲੋ چَنگِیاں گَلّو caṅgīā̃ gallī̃ ਚੰਗੀਆਂ ਗੱਲੀਂ چَنگِیاں گَلِّیں

Indeclinable adjective xarāb "bad" in attributive use

Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. Masc. Sing. xarāb ghṑṛā ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜਾ خَراب گھوڑا xarāb ghṑṛē ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜੇ خَراب گھوڑے xarāb ghṑṛiā ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜਿਆ خَراب گھوڑیا xarāb ghṑṛiȭ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜਿਓਂ خَراب گھوڑیوں (xarāb ghṑṛē) (ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜੇ) (خَراب گھوڑے) Pl. xarāb ghṑṛē ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜੇ خَراب گھوڑے xarāb ghṑṛiā̃ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜਿਆਂ خَراب گھوڑیاں xarāb ghṑṛiō ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘੋੜਿਓ خَراب گھوڑیو Fem. Sing. xarāb sakhī ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਸਖੀ خَراب سَکھی xarāb sakhīē ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਸਖੀਏ خَراب سَکِھیے Pl. xarāb sakhīā̃ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਸਖੀਆਂ خَراب سَکِھیاں xarāb sakhīō ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਸਖੀਓ خَراب سَکِھیو

Dir. Obl. Voc. Abl. Loc./ Instr. Masc. Sing. xarāb ghàr ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰ خَراب گَھر xarāb ghàr ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰ خَراب گَھر xarāb ghàrā ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰਾ خَراب گَھرا xarāb ghàrȭ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰੋਂ خَراب گَھروں xarāb ghàrē ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰੇ خَراب گَھرے Pl. xarāb ghàr ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰ خَراب گَھر xarāb ghàrā̃ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰਾਂ خَراب گَھراں xarāb ghàrō ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰੋ خَراب گَھرو xarāb ghàrī̃ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਘਰੀਂ خَراب گَھرِیں Fem. Sing. xarāb gall ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਗੱਲ خَراب گَلّ (xarāb gallē) (ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਗੱਲੇ) (خَراب گَلّے) xarāb gallȭ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਗੱਲੋਂ خَراب گَلّوں xarāb gallē ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਗੱਲੇ خَراب گَلّے Pl. xarāb gallā̃ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਗੱਲਾਂ خَراب گَلّاں xarāb gallō ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਗੱਲੋ خَراب گَلّو xarāb gallī̃ ਖ਼ਰਾਬ ਗੱਲੀਂ خَراب گَلِّیں

All adjectives can be used attributively, predicatively, or substantively. Those used substantively are declined as nouns rather than adjectives. Finally, additional inflections are often marked in colloquial speech: feminine singular vocative nī sóṇīē kuṛīē! "hey pretty girl!".

Postpositions

The aforementioned inflectional case system goes only so far on its own but rather serves as that upon which is built a system of particles known as postpositions, which parallel English's prepositions. It is their use with a noun or verb that requires the noun or verb to take the oblique case, and they are the locus of grammatical function or "case-marking" then lies:

	Transliteration	Gurmukhi	Shahmukhi	NotesMay use dē
Used alone	dā	ਦਾ	دا	genitive marker; declines like an adjective. Example: "X dā/dī/etc. Y" means "X's Y", with dā/dī/etc. agreeing with Y.
	nū̃	ਨੂੰ	نُوں	marks the indirect object (dative marker), or, if definite, the direct object (accusative marker).
	nē	ਨੇ	نے	ergative case marker; applicable to subjects of transitive perfective verbs.
	tō̃	ਤੋਂ	توں	ablative marker, "from"
	vall	ਵੱਲ	وَلّ	orientative marker; "towards"
	takk, tāī̃	ਤੱਕ, ਤਾਈਂ	تَکّ، تائِیں	terminative marker, "until, up to"
	vikhē	ਵਿਖੇ	وِکھے	locative marker, "at (a specific location)", e.g. Hōshiārpur vikhē, "at Hoshiarpur" (a city). Often colloquially replaced with 'tē
May use a secondary preposition	vicc	ਵਿੱਚ	وِچّ	inessive marker, "in." Often contracted to 'c
	nāḷ	ਨਾਲ਼	نالؕ	comitative marker, "with"
	uttē	ਉੱਤੇ	اُتّے	superessive marker, "on" or "at." Often contracted to 'tē
	kōḷ	ਕੋਲ਼	کولؕ	possessive marker; "with" (as in possession) e.g. kuṛī (dē) kōḷ, "in the girl's possession."
	bārē	ਬਾਰੇ	بارے	"about"
	laī	ਲਈ	لَئی	benefactive marker; "for"
	vargā	ਵਰਗਾ	وَرگا	comparative marker; "like" (in resemblance)
	vāngū, vāng	ਵਾਂਗੂ, ਵਾਂਗ	وانگُو، وانگ	comparative marker; "like" (in manner)
	tarh̤ā̃ (tárā̃)	ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ	طَرْحاں	comparative marker; "like" (non-specific)
	duāḷē	ਦੁਆਲ਼ੇ	دوالؕے	"around, surrounding" ex. manjē (de) duāḷē, "around the bed."
	binnā̃, bājhō̃	ਬਿੰਨਾਂ, ਬਾਝੋਂ	بِنّاں، باجھوں	abessive marker; "without"
	nēṛē	ਨੇੜੇ	نیڑے	"near"
	lāgē	ਲਾਗੇ	لاگے	apudessive marker; "adjacent/next to"
	vickār, gabbē	ਵਿਚਕਾਰ, ਗੱਬੇ	وِچکار، گَبّے	intrative marker, "between, middle of"
	mājh (mā́j)	ਮਾਝ	ماجھ	"in the midst of"
	andar	ਅੰਦਰ	اَن٘در	"inside"
	bāhar (bā́r)	ਬਾਹਰ	باہر	"outside"

*Notes

da becomes na in Pahari-pothwari and hindko

nu becomes kī or kū in lehnda. Kī in Pahari-pothwari and some jatki and hindko sub dialects all other lehnda dialects use kū.

Tõ is thū’n in Pahari-pothwari

Other postpositions are adverbs, following their obliqued targets either directly or with the inflected genitive linker dē; e.g. kàr (dē) vicc "in the house", kṑṛe (dē) nāḷ "with the stallion". Many such adverbs (the ones locative in nature) also possess corresponding ablative forms by forming a contraction with the ablative postposition tȭ; for example:

• vicc "in" → viccȭ "from in, among", for instance, jantē (dē) viccȭ or jantē 'cȭ, "from among the people" and
• nāḷ "with"→ nāḷȭ "compared to", for instance, kṑṛē (dē) nāḷȭ, "compared to the stallion."

Pronouns

Personal

Punjabi has personal pronouns for the first and second persons, while for the third person demonstratives are used, which can be categorized deictically as near and remote. Pronouns do not distinguish gender.

The language has a T-V distinction in tū̃ and tusī̃. This latter "polite" form is also grammatically plural.

1st pn. 2nd pn. Sing. Pl. Sing. Pl. Direct mẽ ਮੈਂ مَیں asī̃ ਅਸੀਂ اَسِی tū̃ ਤੂੰ تُوں tusī̃ ਤੁਸੀਂ تُسی Ergative (Oblique) asā̃ ਅਸਾਂ اَساں tẽ ਤੈਂ تَیں tusā̃ ਤੁਸਾਂ تُساں Dative mennū̃ ਮੈਨੂੰ مَینُوں sānnū̃ ਸਾਨੂੰ سانُوں tennū̃ ਤੈਨੂੰ تَینُوں tuā̀nnū̃ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ تُہانُوں Ablative metthȭ ਮੈਥੋਂ مَیتھوں sātthȭ ਸਾਥੋਂ ساتھوں tetthȭ ਤੈਥੋਂ تَیتھوں tuā̀tthȭ ਤੁਹਾਥੋਂ تُہاتھوں Genitive mērā, mērē, mērī, mērīā̃ ਮੇਰਾ, ਮੇਰੇ, ਮੇਰੀ, ਮੇਰੀਆਂ میرا، میرے، میری، میرِیاں sāḍḍā, sāḍḍē, sāḍḍī, sāḍḍīā̃ ਸਾਡਾ, ਸਾਡੇ, ਸਾਡੀ, ਸਾਡੀਆਂ ساڈا، ساڈے، ساڈی، ساڈِیاں tērā, tērē, tērī, tērīā̃ ਤੇਰਾ, ਤੇਰੇ, ਤੇਰੀ, ਤੇਰੀਆਂ تیرا، تیرے، تیری، تیرِیاں tuā̀ḍḍā, tuā̀ḍḍē, tuā̀ḍḍī, tuā̀ḍḍīā̃ ਤੁਹਾਡਾ, ਤੁਹਾਡੇ, ਤੁਹਾਡੀ, ਤੁਹਾਡੀਆਂ تُہاڈا، تُہاڈے، تُہاڈی، تُہاڈِیاں

Demonstrative Relative Interrogative Near Remote Sing. Pl. Sing. Pl. Sing. Pl. Sing. Pl. Direct ḗ ਇਹ ایہہ ṓ ਉਹ اوہ jō, jin ਜੋ, ਜਿਨ جو، جن koṇ, kin ਕੌਣ, ਕਿਨ کوݨ، کن Oblique is, es ਇਸ, ਏਸ ایس énnā̃ ਇਹਨਾਂ ایہناں us, os ਉਸ, ਓਸ اوس ónnā̃ ਉਹਨਾਂ اوہناں jī, jis ਜੀ, ਜਿਸ جی، جس jinnā̃ ਜਿੰਨਾਂ جناں kī, kis ਕੀ, ਕਿਸ کیہ،کس kinnā̃ ਕਿੰਨਾਂ کناں

The dative & ablative personal pronouns are analyzed as the oblique forms merging with suffixes, e.g. tusā̃ + nū̃ > tuhānū̃.

Unlike other pronouns, genitive pronouns essentially function in a manner similar to regular adjectives, declining in agreement with their direct objects. Moreover, koṇ and jō are colloquially replaced by kḗṛā "which?" jḗṛā "which". Indefinites include kōī (obl. kisē) "some(one)" and kújj "some(thing)". The reflexive pronoun is āp, with a genitive of āpṇā. The pronominal obl. -nā̃ also occurs in ik, iknā̃ "some", hōr, hōrnā̃ "others", sáb, sábnā̃ "all".

Derivates

Based on table in Shackle (2003:604). Indefinites are extended forms of the interrogative set; e.g. kitē "somewhere", kadē "sometimes". The multiple versions under "Manner" are dialectal variations.

		Interrogative	Relative	Demonstrative
				Near	Remote
Date		kiddaṇ	jiddaṇ	huṇ	oddaṇ
Time	Regular	kad	jad		tad
	Emphatic	kadē	jadē	huṇē	tadē
	Ablative	kadō̃	jadō̃		oddō̃
					tadō̃
Place	Regular	kitthē	jitthē	etthē	otthē
	Ablative	kitthō̃	jitthō̃	etthō̃	ōtthō̃
Direction	Regular	kíddar	jíddar	éddar	óddar
	Ablative	kíddᵃrō̃	jíddᵃrō̃	éddᵃrō̃	óddᵃrō̃
Manner		kiddā̃	jiddā̃	eddā̃	oddā̃
		kiñj	jiñj	eñj	oñj
		kiwē̃	jiwē̃	ewē̃	owē̃
Reason		kiũ	jiũ	eũ	oũ
Quality		kío jíā	(jío) jíā	éo jíā	óo jíā
Quantity		kinnā	jinnā	ennā	onnā
Size		kiḍḍā	jiḍḍā	eḍḍā	oḍḍā

The second row in Manner are often still spelt in their archaic forms (kiññ, jiññ, eññ, and oññ) in Gurmukhi.

The demonstrative prefixes e and o vary from [ɪ~e~ɛ] and [ʊ~o~ɔ] respectively (resulting in varied spellings) depending on dialect.

Pronominal suffixes

Some varieties of the Majhi dialect of Punjabi (documented thus far in Lahore, and the Gujrat district) have pronominal suffixes that are appended to verbs, and which replace dropped pronominal arguments.

Person	Singular	Plural
2	-ī	-jē
3	-s(ū)	-ne

Verbs

Overview

The Punjabi verbal system is can be described largely in terms of aspect and mood. Most Punjabi verbs do not inflect for tense—the only verb which does is the copular verb ਹੈ / ہے. Some linguists have described aspectual forms of Punjabi verbs as being inflections for tense; however, this assessment is flawed as these verb forms can be used the same way in sentences which refer to any time with respect to the situation of the speaker or writer.

The copular verb has two tense forms which can be described as "remote" and "non-remote," as they indicate a metaphorical distance or closeness to the situation. "Past" and "present" can be understood as default assumptions for the times which the remote and non-remote tenses refer to respectively, however, these temporal references are not required of these tenses. Rather, time can largely be understood to exist extralinguistically in Punjabi. The remote forms of the copula, ਸੀ / سی, do not resemble the non-remote forms ਹੈ / ہے phonetically. The copula does not behave like a full lexical verb in Punjabi and does not form part of serial verb constructions; rather than taking on the meaning of the existential verb 'to be' or 'to become' ਹੋਣਾ / ہونٌا, it means 'being' without any aspectual component. The copula is also not obligatory in a Punjabi clause. A full lexical verb in Punjabi on the other hand, does exhibit grammatical aspect. Due the close meaning of ਹੋਣਾ / ہونٌا and the copula, they are sometimes described as forms of the same lexeme; however, because they are directly derived from two distinct Sanskrit words and do not function alike grammatically, they are better described as two different but complementary words.

Finite verbal agreement is with the nominative subject, except in the transitive perfective, where it can be with the direct object, with the erstwhile subject taking the ergative construction -ne (see postpositions above). The perfective aspect thus displays split ergativity.

Tabled below on the left are the paradigms for the major Gender and Number termination (GN), along the line of that introduced in the adjectives section. To the right are the paradigms for the Person and Number termination (PN), used by the subjunctive (which has 1st pl. -īe) and future (which has 1st pl. -ā̃).

(GN) Sing. Pl. Masc. -ā -ē Fem. -ī -īā̃

(PN) 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Sing. -ā̃ -ē~ -ē Pl. -ā̃/īē -ō -aṇ

Copula

The Punjabi copula functions as a class of its own and does not share the properties of full lexical verbs in the language, nor does it take on the role of an auxiliary verb. Unlike these other word classes, the copula does not form a part of verb phrases, and where it is present alongside a full verb construction it generally makes a semantic distinction related to the notion of existence, rather than predicating for the act of being. For this reason, it can be said that the Punjabi copula is not wholly verbal in function.

Number	Singular			Plural
Person	1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
Pronoun	mẽ	tū̃	ḗ/ṓ	asī̃	tusī̃	ḗ/ṓ
Present-tense copula	hā̃	hẽ	he	hā̃	hō	han
Past-tense copula	sā̃	sẽ	sī	sā̃	sō	san
Subjunctive copula	hōvā̃	hōvẽ	hōvē	hōvā̃	hōvō	hōṇ

• Two infrequent inflected forms of the present-tense copula he are haō (plural second person), distinguishing the standard hō for T-V distinction usage, and heṇ (plural third person). In addition, two past tense copulas, hesī and hesaṇ are used respectively with singular and plural forms of third persons. These forms, like the uninflected forms he and sī, can be used with both the genders.
• In the spoken language, the past tense copula sī can remain completely uninflected, and remain applicable for all three persons and both numbers. Some less frequently used forms of sī are saō, sāō, and sau, used as 2nd-person plural copulas, distinguishing the standard sō for T-V distinction usage.

Some non-standard major dialects such as Doabi decline the past-tense and present-tense copulas more along number and gender than for number and person:

Gender	Masculine				Feminine
Number	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Present-tense copula	hegā		hegē		hegī		hegīā̃
Past-tense copula	sīgā		sīgē		sīgī		sīgīā̃

Conjugations

Personal Forms of "hoṇā (to be)"

mood	tense	singular						plural
		1P – mẽ		2P – tū̃		3P – é, ó		1P – asī̃		2P – tusī̃		3P – é, ó
		m.	f.	m.	f.	m.	f.	m.	f.	m.	f.	m.	f.
indicative	present	hā̃		hẽ		he		hā̃		hō		han
	imperfect	sā̃		sẽ		sī		sā̃		sō		san
	perfect	hōiā	hōī	hōiā	hōī	hōiā	hōī	hōē	hōīā̃	hōē	hōīā̃	hōē	hōīā̃
	future	hōvā̃gā	hōvā̃gī	hōvē̃gā	hōvē̃gī	hōvēgā	hōvēgī	hōvā̃gē	hōvā̃gīā̃	hōvōgē	hōvōgīā̃	hōṇgē	hōṇgīā̃
presumptive	all	hā̃gā	hā̃gī			hōgā	hōgī	hā̃gē	hā̃gīā̃	hōvō̃ge	hōvō̃gīā̃	hōgē	hōgīā̃
subjunctive	present	hā̃		hẽ		hō		hā̃		hōvō̃		hō
	future	hōvā̃		hovē̃		hōvē		hōvā̃		hōvō		hōṇ
contrafactual	past	hundā	hundī	hundā	hundī	hundā	hundī	hundē	hundīā̃	hundē	hundīā̃	hundē	hundīā̃
imperative	present	—		hō		—		—		hōō		—
	future	—		hōī̃		—		—		hōiō		—

Forms

The sample verb is intransitive naccṇā "to dance", and the sample inflection is 3rd. masc. sing. (PN = e, GN = ā) where applicable.

	Non-aspectual	Aspectual
Non-finite	Root * nacc Dir. Infinitive/ Gerund/ Obligatory *-ṇ-ā naccṇā Obl. Infinitive *-(a)ṇ naccaṇ Abl. Infinitive *-ṇ-ȭ naccṇȭ Conjunctive *-kē nacckē Agentive/ Prospective *-(a)ṇ-vāḷ-GN naccaṇvāḷā, naccaṇⁱāḷā	Adjectivals. Perfective *-GN hō-GN nacciā hōiā Imperfective *-d-GN hō-GN naccdā hōiā Adverbial. Obl. of adjectival. Imperfective *-d-ē, -d-iā̃ naccdē, naccdiā̃
Finite	Contingent Future *-PN naccē Definite Future *-PN-g-GN naccēgā Imperatives. Sing. Pl. Present nacc naccō Aorist naccī̃ nacciō	Aspectuals plotted against copulas. Perfective Habitual Continuous *-(i)-GN *-d-GN * ráí-GN Present h-? nacciā he naccdā he nacc ríā he / naccdā piā he Past s-? nacciā sī naccdā sī nacc ríā sī / naccdā piā sī Subjunctive ho-v-PN nacciā hōvē naccdā hōvē Presumptive ho-v-PN-g-GN nacciā hōvēgā naccdā hōvēgā Contrafactual hun-d-GN nacciā hundā naccdā hundā Unspecified nacciā naccdā

References

• Bhatia, Tej K. (1993). Punjabi: A Cognitive-Descriptive Grammar. London: Routledge.

Works cited

• Masica, Colin (1991), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.
• Shackle, Christopher (2003), "Panjabi", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, pp. 581–621, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5.

Further reading

• Duni Chandra (1964), ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਦਾ ਵਿਆਕਰਣ (in Punjabi), Chandigarh: Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Wikidata Q112679423
• Sumeer Mittal; Navdeep Singh Sethi; Sanjeev Kumar Sharma (20 August 2014). "Part of Speech Tagging of Punjabi Language using N Gram Model". International Journal of Computer Applications. 100 (19): 19–23. doi:10.5120/17634-8229. ISSN 0975-8887. Wikidata Q113385537.
• Mangat Rai Bhardwaj (2016). Panjabi: A Comprehensive Grammar. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-79385-9. LCCN 2015042069. OCLC 948602857. OL 35828315M. Wikidata Q112671425.
• Gurinder Singh Mann; Gurdit Singh; Ami P. Shah; Anne Murphy; Gibb Schreffler (2011). Introduction to Punjabi: Grammar, Conversation and Literature (PDF). Patiala: Publication Bureau, Punjabi University. ISBN 978-81-302-0296-9. OL 30810656M. Wikidata Q112671008.
• Buta Singh Brar (2012), ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ: ਸਰੋਤ ਤੇ ਸਰੂਪ (in Punjabi), India: Waris Shah Foundation, ASIN B074DTDXZT, LCCN 2013311323, OCLC 824536318, Wikidata Q113384298
• Harjeet Singh Gill (1973), Linguistic Atlas of the Punjab, Patiala: Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, LCCN 75901385, OCLC 1223029350, Wikidata Q112690863