Tatabahasa - Grammar and Language Structures
The grammar section checks morphology and syntax: gender and number of nouns, the postposition system, verb agreement and tense, case (ਕਾਰਕ), pronouns and honorifics, plus correct Gurmukhi spelling with matras. Punjabi marks most grammatical relations with postpositions placed after the noun, not before it as in English.
Core rules
- Two genders only (ਪੁਲਿੰਗ / ਇਸਤਰੀ ਲਿੰਗ). Adjectives and verbs agree: ਚੰਗਾ ਮੁੰਡਾ ਆਇਆ / ਚੰਗੀ ਕੁੜੀ ਆਈ / ਚੰਗੇ ਮੁੰਡੇ ਆਏ.
- Common postpositions: ਦਾ/ਦੀ/ਦੇ (of), ਨੂੰ (to, object marker), ਨੇ (ergative), ਤੋਂ (from), ਵਿੱਚ (in), ਉੱਤੇ (on), ਨਾਲ (with), ਲਈ (for), ਤੱਕ (until).
- Perfective transitive verbs take ਨੇ before the subject: ਮੁੰਡੇ ਨੇ ਪੱਤਰ ਲਿਖਿਆ।
- The copula changes with person and number: ਹਾਂ, ਹੈ, ਹਨ; past ਸੀ, ਸਨ; future ਹੋਵੇਗਾ, ਹੋਵੇਗੀ.
- Respect is shown by plural verb forms: ਪਿਤਾ ਜੀ ਘਰ ਆਏ.
- Spelling matters: ਿ (small) versus ੀ (long), the addak ੱ doubling a consonant, tippi ੰ and bindi ਂ for nasals, and the halant ੍ joining consonants.
Worked example
Correct the sentence: ਮੁੰਡਾ ਰੋਟੀ ਖਾਧੀ। The verb ਖਾਧੀ is feminine, but ਰੋਟੀ is its object, so the verb agrees with the object here - that part is fine. The real error is the missing ergative marker: a perfective transitive clause needs ਨੇ. Correct: ਮੁੰਡੇ ਨੇ ਰੋਟੀ ਖਾਧੀ। Reasoning: identify the verb first, decide whether it is transitive and perfective, then check whether the subject carries ਨੇ; after that check agreement with the object.
Traps that cost marks
- Prepositions placed before nouns, as in English.
- Wrong genitive form: ਦਾ with a feminine noun instead of ਦੀ.
- Omitting ਨੇ in the perfective, or adding it where the verb is intransitive.
- Confusing ਹੈ and ਹਨ, or singular verb with an honorific subject.
- Matra errors that change the word entirely.