Grammar and Language Study (Vyakaran): word forms, sentence structure, idioms and vocabulary
What the Vyakaran section tests
Grammar items are short but carry easy marks: Gurmukhi orthography, parts of speech, gender and number agreement, the postpositions ਦਾ/ਦੀ/ਦੇ and ਨੇ, tense forms, sentence transformation (indirect speech, passive, simple–compound–complex), synonyms and antonyms, one-word substitution and muhavare.
Core rules
- Gurmukhi has 35 akhar - three vowel carriers (ੳ, ਅ, ੲ) and 32 consonants - plus matras. ਅੱਧਕ (ੱ) doubles the following consonant and changes meaning (ਪਤਾ vs ਪੱਤਾ); ਟਿੱਪੀ (ੰ) and ਬਿੰਦੀ (ਂ) mark nasality.
- Parts of speech: ਨਾਂਵ, ਪੜਨਾਂਵ, ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ਣ, ਕਿਰਿਆ, ਕਿਰਿਆ-ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ਣ, ਸੰਬੰਧਕ, ਯੋਜਕ, ਵਿਸਮਿਕ. Label by function in the sentence, not by the word alone.
- Possessives agree with the thing possessed: ਮੁੰਡੇ ਦਾ ਘਰ, ਮੁੰਡੇ ਦੀ ਕਿਤਾਬ, ਮੁੰਡਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਘਰ.
- With a ਨੇ subject in the perfective, the verb agrees with the object: ਕੁੜੀਆਂ ਨੇ ਗੀਤ ਗਾਏ, but ਕੁੜੀਆਂ ਨੇ ਕਹਾਣੀ ਪੜ੍ਹੀ. Without ਨੇ the verb follows the subject.
- Passive: object + past participle + ਗਿਆ/ਗਈ/ਗਏ, agent in ਪਾਸੋਂ - ਅਧਿਆਪਕ ਨੇ ਪਾਠ ਪੜ੍ਹਾਇਆ → ਅਧਿਆਪਕ ਪਾਸੋਂ ਪਾਠ ਪੜ੍ਹਾਇਆ ਗਿਆ.
Worked example
Fill in: ਬੱਚਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਮਿਠਾਈ ___ (ਖਾਧਾ / ਖਾਧੀ)। Answer: ਖਾਧੀ. Reasoning: the subject ਬੱਚਿਆਂ carries ਨੇ, so the perfective verb agrees with the object; ਮਿਠਾਈ is feminine singular, so the feminine singular ਖਾਧੀ is correct. Had the object been ਲੱਡੂ (masculine plural), the form would be ਖਾਧੇ. This one rule explains most agreement errors in the paper.
Traps that cost marks
- Hindi or Urdu interference in spelling and in the choice of ਦਾ/ਦੀ.
- Adding ਨੇ to intransitive verbs: ਉਹ ਆਇਆ, never ਉਹ ਨੇ ਆਇਆ.
- Confusing ਅਨੇਕਾਰਥਕ (one word, many meanings) with ਸਮਾਨਾਰਥਕ (synonyms).
- Giving literal meanings for muhavare: ਨੱਕ ਕੱਟਣਾ means ਬੇਇੱਜ਼ਤੀ ਕਰਨਾ, not cutting a nose.
- Half-finished transformations - change the pronoun and time word too, not only the punctuation.