Grammar, Vocabulary and Text Types
What this domain tests
This domain underpins all others: grammatical accuracy, vocabulary range, and control of text types. Expect direct grammar items as well as grammar assessed through writing.
Concepts to master
- Gender and agreement: nouns carry gender, and adjectives, verbs, and postpositions must agree. This is the single largest source of error for background learners.
- Verb forms: tense, aspect, and agreement with subject and object. Know the difference between habitual, continuous, and perfective forms.
- Postpositions: Punjabi uses postpositions after the noun, and they govern case. Choosing the wrong one changes meaning.
- Sentence structure: Punjabi is verb-final, so English word order transferred directly produces unnatural sentences.
- Honorific and plural forms of verbs, which interact with respect.
- Vocabulary range: synonyms, collocations, and idiomatic expressions.
- Text types: letter, article, speech, diary, report, narrative, and notice, each with conventions.
Traps to watch
- English word order creeping into Punjabi sentences.
- Adjective agreement forgotten when the adjective is far from the noun.
- Wrong postposition with verbs of motion or transfer.
- Mixing formal and informal verb forms in the same text.
Worked example
If the subject is a respected elder, the verb should take the respectful form rather than the casual one. A sentence that is grammatically “correct” but socially wrong still loses marks in a register-sensitive task.
Rule of thumb
When proofreading, check in this order: verb at the end, subject–verb agreement, adjective agreement, postposition choice, register consistency.