UPMSP High School Punjabi key terms

The prose branch of Punjabi literature, covering essays, short stories, biographies and sketches. In this exam it is tested through comprehension of passages and knowledge of prescribed prose lessons, their themes, characters and authors.

Poetry in Punjabi. Candidates must read a poem, grasp its central idea, tone and imagery, and recognise the poet and the poetic devices used. Appreciation questions ask for meaning and feeling rather than paraphrase alone.

Grammar: the rules governing how Punjabi words are formed, inflected and combined into sentences. Exam items test identification and correction of forms rather than abstract rule recitation, so applied practice matters most.

Composition or creative writing: essays, letters, applications, reports and paragraph writing. Marks depend on relevance, organisation, correct spelling and grammar. Practise a fixed structure with introduction, body and conclusion.

An unseen prose passage not from the textbook. Questions test main idea, inference, vocabulary in context and ability to summarise. Read twice before answering and locate evidence in the passage for each answer.

Questions based directly on prescribed textbook lessons, asking about content, characters, sequence of events and the author's message. Answers should stay close to the text and use the lesson's own expressions where possible.

The central idea or gist of a passage or poem. Stating it correctly earns the first marks in comprehension; supporting details should then be drawn from the text rather than invented from general knowledge.

A summary or précis of a passage, poem or lesson, written in your own words and much shorter than the original. A good summary keeps the main argument and drops examples, repetition and decorative detail.

Characterisation: how a writer builds a figure through action, speech, appearance and the reactions of others. Literature questions often ask you to describe a character with evidence from the lesson.

The theme or subject of a literary work, distinct from its plot. Naming the theme means stating the human issue it raises, such as poverty, migration, patriotism or social reform, and how the writer treats it.

The aesthetic emotion a reader experiences from a literary work, such as veer ras (heroism), karun ras (pathos) or shringar ras (love and beauty). Identifying the dominant ras is a standard appreciation question in poetry.

Poetic ornament: a deliberate device that heightens expression, such as simile (upma), metaphor (rupak) or alliteration (anupras). Candidates should both name the device and quote the line that contains it.

Simile: comparison of two things that share a quality, signalled by words such as 'ਵਾਂਗ', 'ਜਿਵੇਂ' or 'ਸਮਾਨ'. Distinguish it from rupak, where the two are fused without a comparison word.

Metaphor: the direct identification of one thing with another, with no comparison marker. If the line says the beloved is a lamp of the house rather than is like a lamp, the device is rupak.

The joining of two sounds or words where the ending of the first and the beginning of the second combine into one form. Exam questions ask you to split a joined word or to join two given words correctly.

Compound formation, where several words merge into a single compact word carrying a combined sense. Candidates must recognise the underlying words and the relation between them, for example a possessive or descriptive compound.

Word classes in Punjabi: noun (naav), pronoun (sarvnaam), verb (kriya), adjective (visheshan), adverb (kriya-visheshan) and indeclinables. Grammar items require labelling a highlighted word in its sentence context.

Grammatical gender. Punjabi nouns are masculine or feminine, and the choice affects verb and adjective endings. Errors here are common in composition, so learn the gender of new nouns as you meet them.

Grammatical number, singular or plural. Punjabi marks plural in several ways, and the verb must agree with its subject in number and person. Agreement errors are a frequent source of lost marks in writing sections.

Case relationship: the role a noun plays in a sentence, such as doer, object, instrument, recipient or possessor. Punjabi signals these largely through postpositions like 'ਨੇ', 'ਨੂੰ', 'ਤੋਂ' and 'ਦਾ/ਦੀ'.

The verb of a sentence, expressing the action or state. Candidates must identify tense, aspect and agreement, and choose the correct auxiliary form for the subject's person, gender and number.

A prefix-like element attached to a root to change its meaning, as in forms built on 'ਉਪ', 'ਅਨ' or 'ਪਰ'. Questions ask you to identify the upsarg or to form a new word using one.

Word meaning, including synonyms (samanarthi) and opposites (vilom). In comprehension, a word's meaning must be given as used in the passage, not its most common dictionary sense.

Sentence correction: spotting and repairing errors of agreement, case, tense, word order or redundant words. Read the given sentence aloud to hear the fault, then rewrite it fully rather than underlining the error.

An idiom whose meaning cannot be derived from its individual words. Questions ask for the meaning of a given idiom or for a sentence using it correctly; literal translation usually gives the wrong answer.

A proverb: a fixed, often rhymed saying that carries folk wisdom. Candidates should explain its wider sense and, where asked, use it appropriately in a sentence about everyday life.

An essay written in the composition section on a given topic. A strong answer has a clear introduction, two or three developed paragraphs and a conclusion, with concrete examples rather than vague generalities.

Letter writing, both informal letters to relatives and formal letters such as applications or complaints. Format carries marks: sender's address, date, salutation, body, closing and signature must be placed correctly.

Advertisement writing: a short, persuasive text for a product, service or public message. It needs a catchy heading, key features in brief points and contact details, all within a tight word limit.

Brief writing tasks such as notices, reports, messages or captions, where the word limit is strict. Marks are lost for exceeding the limit, so plan the content before starting and count sentences.

The cultural setting of a text: Punjabi customs, festivals, kinship terms, rural life and historical memory. Questions may ask how a lesson reflects Punjabi society, so link details to customs rather than summarising plot.

Folklore: folk songs, tales, riddles and sayings passed on orally. Prescribed lessons sometimes draw on it, and questions ask you to identify folk elements and explain what they reveal about community values.

Biography: an account of a real person's life, common in the prose syllabus. Questions focus on key events, the subject's achievements and the qualities the writer highlights as admirable or instructive.

A memoir or reminiscence, written in the first person about remembered people and events. Recognising this form helps you answer questions about the narrator's viewpoint and emotional tone.

Autobiography: the writer's own life account. Distinguish it from biography by the first-person voice and personal reflection; questions may ask what the writer reveals about their own character or struggles.

Metre or verse form in Punjabi poetry, governing line length, stress and rhyme. Naming the metre is sometimes required, but more often you must explain how rhythm supports the poem's mood.

Rhyme at the end of verse lines. Identifying the rhyme scheme helps in quoting lines accurately and in explaining how sound patterns reinforce the poem's emotional effect.