• Overview of Punjabi Grammar

Agreement

In a sentence, when two units inflect for similar grammatical categories, then those units are said to be in concord with each other. We will provide below two main types of concord or agreement that exist in the Punjabi sentences:

Noun and Modifier Agreement

The modifiers of a noun in a noun phrase agree with the noun in terms of three grammatical categories – gender, number, and case. Provided below are some examples to show this concord, modifiers are highlighted in these phrases/clauses. With the transliteration of the words taking part in this agreement, gender (M-Masculine, F-Feminine), number (S-Singular, P-Plural), and case (D-Direct, O-Oblique) information has been provided for better understanding.

  1. ਕਾਲਾ ਘੋਡ਼ਾ
    kālā_MSD ghōṛā_MSD
    Black horse
  2. ਕਾਲੇ ਘੋਡ਼ੇ
    kālē_MPD ghōṛē_MPD
    Black horses
  3. ਕਾਲੇ ਘੋਡ਼ੇ ਨੇ ਪਾਣੀ ਪੀਣਾ ਹੈ ।
    kālē_MSO ghōṛē_MSO nē pāṇī pīṇā hai.
    Black horse has to drink water.
  4. ਕਾਲੀ ਘੋਡ਼ੀ
    kālī_FSD ghōṛī_FSD
    Black mare
  5. ਕਾਲੀਆਂ ਘੋਡ਼ੀਆਂ
    kālīāṃ_FPD ghōṛīāṃ_FPD
    Black mares

From the above examples, it can be noted that the modifiers change with the gender, number, and case of their nouns. In the first example, ਘੋਡ਼ਾ ghōṛā ‘horse’ is masculine, singular, and direct case form, so does its modifier ਕਾਲਾ kālā ‘black’. In the second example, the noun is in plural form along with its modifier. In the third sentence, ਘੋਡ਼ੇ ghōṛē ‘horse’ is masculine, singular, and oblique case form, and its modifier is also in the same form. In the last two examples, ਘੋਡ਼ੀ ghōṛī ‘mare’ and ਘੋਡ਼ੀਆਂ ghōṛīāṃ ‘mares’ are in singular and plural numbers, respectively, both are in direct case and feminine gender, their modifiers ਕਾਲੀ kālī ‘black’ and ਕਾਲੀਆਂ kālīāṃ ‘black’ are in the same forms as their headwords.

The modifiers can also follow a noun or act as a verb compliment; the concord is same irrespective of the position in the sentence, as apparent from the following sentences:
  1. ਮੁੰਡਾ ਸੋਹਣਾ ਹੈ ।
    muṇḍā_MSD sōhṇā_MSD hai.
    The boy is handsome.
  2. ਕੁਡ਼ੀਆਂ ਸੋਹਣੀਆਂ ਹਨ ।
    kuṛīāṃ_FPD sōhṇīāṃ_FPD han.
    The girls are beautiful.

Subject/Object and Verb Agreement

The main verb phrase often is in concord with either the subject or object of the sentence. If the subject of the sentence is in direct case then the verb agrees with it, otherwise it agrees with the object in that sentence. If there is no object, or if none of the subject and object is in direct case, then the verb is in masculine, singular, and third person form, by convention. In Punjabi, the subject and verb has concord in terms of gender, number, and person. The following examples illustrate this fact (verb phrase is highlighted). In these examples, the transliterated forms of the words taking part in the agreement are marked with gender (M-Masculine, F-Feminine, B-Both, X-No inflection shown), number (S-Singular, P-Plural, B-Both, X-No inflection shown), and person (F-First, S-Second, T-Third, X-No inflection shown) information.
  1. ਮੁੰਡਾ ਪਾਣੀ ਪੀਂਦਾ ਹੈ ।
    muṇḍā_MSX pāṇī pīndā_MSX hai_BST.
    The boy drinks water.
  2. ਕੁਡ਼ੀ ਪਾਣੀ ਪੀਂਦੀ ਹੈ ।
    kuṛī_FSX pāṇī pīndī_FSX hai_BST.
    The girl drinks water.
  3. ਮੈਂ ਜਾ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ ।
    maiṃ_BSF jā rihā_MSX hāṃ_BBF.
    I am going.
  4. ਉਹ ਜਾ ਰਹੇ ਹਨ ।
    Uh_BXX jā rahē_MPX han_BPT.
    They are going.
  5. ਮੁੰਡੇ ਨੇ ਸੰਤਰਾ ਖਾਧਾ ।
    muṇḍē nē santarā_MSX khādhā_MSX.
    The boy ate orange.
  6. ਕੁਡ਼ੀ ਨੇ ਸੰਤਰੇ ਖਾਧੇ ।
    kuṛī nē santarē_MPX khādhē_MPX.
    The girl ate oranges.
  7. ਮੁੰਡੇ ਨੇ ਜਾਣਾ ਹੈ ।
    muṇḍē nē jāṇā_MSX hai_BST.
    The boy has to go.
  8. ਕੁਡ਼ੀ ਨੇ ਜਾਣਾ ਹੈ ।
    kuṛī nē jāṇā_MSX hai_BST.
    The girl has to go.
In sentence 8, the verb phrase is in masculine, singular, and third person form in concord with the subject - ਮੁੰਡਾ muṇḍā ‘boy’. In sentence 9, the verb phrase is in feminine, singular, and third person form as per its subject - ਕੁਡ਼ੀ kuṛī ‘girl’. In sentence 10, the verb phrase is in masculine, singular, and first person form in accordance with ਮੈਂ maiṃ ‘I’. In sentence 11, the verb phrase is in masculine, plural, and third person form as per its subject ਉਹ uh ‘they’. In sentences 12 and 13, the verb phrase is in agreement with the objects of these sentences, ਸੰਤਰਾ santarā ‘orange’ – masculine, singular, and third person, and ਸੰਤਰੇ santarē ‘oranges’ – masculine, plural, and third person, respectively. In the last two sentences 14 and 15, the subject is not in direct case and there is no object, therefore the verb phrase is in default form i.e. masculine, singular, and third person form.

If a sentence has a compound subject (or object, for that matter), i.e. formed of more than one noun joined by connective ਅਤੇ atē ‘and’, then the rules of agreement will be:
  • When two or more singular/plural feminine nouns are joined, the whole is treated as feminine plural, e.g.
    1. ਕੁਡ਼ੀ ਅਤੇ ਬੱਚੀ ਘਰ ਜਾ ਰਹੀਆਂ ਹਨ।
      kuṛī_FSX atē baccī_FSX ghar jā rahīāṃ_FPX han_BPT.
      The girl and child are going home.

  • When two or more masculine singular/plural nouns are joined, or one masculine singular and other feminine singular are joined then the whole is treated as masculine plural, e.g.
    1. ਮੁੰਡਾ ਅਤੇ ਕੁਡ਼ੀ ਸ਼ਹਿਰ ਗਏ।
      muṇḍā_MSX atē kuṛī_FSX shahir gaē_MPX.
      The boy and girl went to the city.
    2. ਮੁੰਡਾ ਅਤੇ ਬੱਚਾ ਸ਼ਹਿਰ ਗਏ।
      muṇḍā_MSX atē baccā_MSX shahir gaē_MPX.
      The boy and child went to the city.

  • When two plural nouns of different genders are joined, the whole is treated as per the gender and number of the last element, e.g.
    1. ਚਾਰ ਆਦਮੀ ਅਤੇ ਦੋ ਔਰਤਾਂ ਆਈਆਂ।
      cār_XPX ādmī_MXX atē dō_XPX aurtāṃ_FPX āīāṃ_FPX.
      Four men and two women came.
    2. ਦੋ ਔਰਤਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਚਾਰ ਆਦਮੀ ਆਏ।
      dō_XPX aurtāṃ_FPX atē cār_XPX ādmī_MXX āē_MPX.
      Two women and four men came.
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