ਚਾਲੂ ਭਵਿੱਖਤ ਕਾਲ چالو بھوکھت کال Future Continuous Tense

What will you be doing today? Except going through these conjugations, of course! Here's the conjugation pattern for future continuous tense. Simple indeed if you already know the continuity indicators and the future form of 'to be' (ਹੋਣਾ/ہونا) verb.

Supreet will be waiting for me.

ਸੁਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਮੇਰੀ ਉਡੀਕ ਕਰ ਰਹੀ ਹੋਵੇਗੀ।

سپریت میری اڈیک کر رہی ہوویگی۔

I will be writing tomorrow.

ਮੈਂ ਭਲਕੇ ਲਿਖ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੋਵਾਂਗਾ।

میں بھلکے لکھ رہا ہووانگا۔

ਨੱਚਣਾ/نچنا (to dance)

'ਅਸੀਂ' ਬਨਾਮ 'ਆਪਾਂ' 'اسیں' بنام 'آپاں' Two forms of We

Very interesting! Unlike English, Punjabi has two variants for the first person plural pronouns i.e. We, our, ours, us etc. depending on whether the listener is included in this "we/us" or not. It's quite unique to Punjabi. Here's a brief illustration using hypothetical scenarios:

ਅਸੀਂ/ਸਾਡਾ/ਸਾਨੂੰ اسیں/ساڈا/سانوں

You and your sister are informing your parents that you two siblings are going to school (ਸਕੂਲ ਜਾਣਾ/سکول جانا). Since the listener i.e. the parents are not included in this group (the one going to school), we will use ਅਸੀਂ/اسیں. So these siblings would say:

Speaker: you or your sister;
Listener: your parents

ਅਸੀਂ ਸਕੂਲ ਜਾ ਰਹੇ ਹਾਂ।
اسیں سکول جا رہے ہاں۔
We are going to school.

ਸਾਡੇ ਝੋਲ਼ੇ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਹਨ?
ساڈے جھولے کتھے ہن؟
Where are our bags?

ਸਾਨੂੰ ਕੌਣ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਆਵੇਗਾ: ਮੰਮੀ ਕਿ ਪਾਪਾ?
سانوں کون چھڈّ کے آویگا: ممی کہ پاپا؟
Who will go drop us off: Mom or Dad?

ਆਪਾਂ/ਆਪਣਾ/ਆਪਾਂ ਨੂੰ آپاں/اپنا/آپاں نوں

You and your family are going for a picnic and you all are talking among yourselves, making plans and all. Since the listeners i.e. your family is also included in this "we" (the group which is going for the picnic), ਆਪਾਂ/آپاں root is used. So you'd say:

Speaker: any family member;
Listener: the whole family

ਆਪਾਂ ਪਿਕਨਿਕ 'ਤੇ ਜਾ ਰਹੇ ਹਾਂ।
آپاں پکنک 'تے جا رہے ہاں۔
We (all) are going for a picnic.

ਆਪਣੀ ਰੋਟੀ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਹੈ?
اپنی روٹی کتھے ہے؟
Where is our food?

ਆਪਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਗੱਡੀ ਕੌਣ ਦੇਵੇਗਾ?
آپاں نوں گڈی کون دیویگا؟
Who will provide us with a car?

If one of your family member is not going to the picnic and someone who's going to is talking to that person, he'd again use the first case i.e. ਅਸੀਂ/اسیں because the listener is not included in the 'we'.

Another scenario:

• A politician, while addressing a crowd on behalf of his party, about the work he and his party members have done in the past years, would use "ਅਸੀਂ/اسیں" since the work has been carried out by him and the other members and not the audience. 

Our party did this and that.  (The party doesn't include the audience)

ਸਾਡੀ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਨੇ ਇਹ ਕੀਤਾ, ਉਹ ਕੀਤਾ।

ساڈی پارٹی نے ایہہ کیتا، اوہ کیتا۔

• The same politician while urging the audience with statements like "Let's work together for a better future" or "We all need to work towards this common goal" would use "ਆਪਾਂ/آپاں" since he's including the audience too in this usage of 'we'.

Our constituency experienced the most development. (The constituency includes the audience)

ਆਪਣੇ ਹਲਕੇ ਵਿਚ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਤਰੱਕੀ ਹੋਈ।

اپنے ہلکے وچ سبھ توں ودھ ترقی ہوئی۔

The conjugations with ਆਪਾਂ/آپاں follow the same pattern as those with ਅਸੀਂ/اسیں. So no worries there!

ਆਪਾਂ ਖਾਂਦੇ ਹਾਂ।
آپاں کھاندے ہاں۔
We (all) eat.

ਆਪਣਾ ਦੇਸ਼ ਮਹਾਨ ਹੈ।
اپنا دیش مہان ہے۔
Our nation is great. (spoken to speaker's fellow countrymen)

ਸਾਡਾ ਦੇਸ਼ ਮਹਾਨ ਹੈ।
ساڈا دیش مہان ہے۔
Our nation is great. (spoken to an outsider i.e. to someone not from the same nation)

ਸਧਾਰਨ ਭਵਿੱਖਤ ਕਾਲ سدھارن بھوکھت کال Future indefinite tense

We will now learn about the simple future or future indefinite tense. Some examples are:

ਮੈਂ ਬੋਲਾਂਗਾ।
میں بولانگا۔
I will speak.

ਹਰਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਅਤੇ ਜਸਪ੍ਰੀਤ ਜਾਣਗੇ।
ہرپریت اتے جسپریت جانگے۔
Harpreet and Jaspreet will go.

The conjugations here are done in three steps:
1. Remove the terminal -ਨਾ/-ਣਾ.
2. Add the conjugation character.
3. Add the suitable verb ending.
Both no. 2 and 3 depend on the gender and number of the subject as illustrated in the following table.

ਜਿੱਤਣਾ جتنا (to win)

'ਹੋਣਾ' ਦਾ ਭਵਿੱਖਤ ਰੂਪ ہونا' دا بھوکھت روپ' Future form of 'to be'

Before we start conjugating verbs in future tense, let's first learn about the method of conjugation of the very special verb 'to be':

• I will/shall be (m) - ਮੈਂ ਹੋਵਾਂਗਾ میں ہووانگا
• I will/shall be (f) - ਮੈਂ ਹੋਵਾਂਗੀ میں ہووانگی

• You will/shall be (m) - ਤੂੰ ਹੋਵੇਂਗਾ توں ہووینگا
• You will/shall be (f) - ਤੂੰ ਹੋਵੇਂਗੀ توں ہووینگی

• He will/shall be - ਉਹ ਹੋਵੇਗਾ اوہ ہووےگا
• She will/shall be - ਉਹ ਹੋਵੇਗੀ اوہ ہوویگی

• We will/shall be (m) - ਅਸੀਂ ਹੋਵਾਂਗੇ اسیں ہووانگے
• We will/shall be (f) - ਅਸੀਂ ਹੋਵਾਂਗੀਆਂ اسیں ہووانگیاں

• You will/shall be (m) - ਤੁਸੀਂ ਹੋਵੋਗੇ تسیں ہووونگے
• You will/shall be (f) - ਤੁਸੀਂ ਹੋਵੋਗੀਆਂ تسیں ہووونگیاں

• They will/shall be (m) - ਉਹ ਹੋਣਗੇ اوہ ہونگے
• They will/shall be (f) - ਉਹ ਹੋਣਗੀਆਂ اوہ ہونگیاں

Easy, right? :P

ਪੂਰਨ ਭੂਤ ਕਾਲ پورن بھوت کال Past Perfect Tense

If you've already gone through the post related to "Present perfect tense", this tense would be super easy to correlate.

Just remove the -ਨਾ/-ਣਾ ending and add the perfection indicator as well as the past form of 'to be'!

I had written.
ਮੈਂ ਲਿਖ ਚੁੱਕਾ ਸੀ।
میں لکھ چکا سی۔

We had spoken.
ਅਸੀਂ ਬੋਲ ਚੁੱਕੇ ਸੀ।
اسیں بول چکے سی۔

ਕਰਨਾ کرنا to do

This is but one method of conjugation in past perfect tense. The other one would be discussed in future posts!

ਨਾਸਕੀਕਰਨ ناسکیکرن Nasalization

Punjabi (Gurmukhi) has two symbols for indicating nasal sounds.

One of these, the dot (ਂ) is called bindi (ਬਿੰਦੀ/بندی) in Punjabi. Along with the other one, the tippi (ਟਿੱਪੀ/ٹپی ੰ ), it's a sign used for nasalization, for example, in a velar nasal (the 'n' sound in words ending in '-ing') or for a \m\ before certain consonants (-mb, -mp etc.).

As an illustration, 'big' written in Punjabi would be 'ਬਿਗ/بگ' but 'bing' is written as 'ਬਿੰਗ/بنگ'. Similarly, while 'log' is written as 'ਲੌਗ/لوگ', 'long' is written as 'ਲੌਂਗ/لونگ' with the bindi/tippi indicating that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth.

One more thing! There are rules as to which vowel sign (ਮਾਤਰਾ/ماترا) employs what nasal symbol. Also note that these symbols are for Gurmukhi script, Shahmukhi script uses only one symbol 'noonguna' (ں) for nasalization.

Bindi: used with kanna (ਾ), bihari (ੀ), laan (ੇ), dulaavan (ੈ), hora (ੋ) and kanora (ੌ).

Tippi: used with mukta (no vowel), sihari (ਿ), aunkar (ੁ) and dulainkar (ੂ). The only exception is with aunkar and dulainkar when they are used with oora (ੳ) i.e. ਉ and ਊ use bindi and not tippi.

Let's look at all the cases one by one.

ਬਿੰਦੀ/Bindi

1. ਕੰਨਾ/Kanna

ਕਾਂ (crow)
ਮਾਂ (mother)
ਸਾਂਝ (partnership/relationship)

2. ਬਿਹਾਰੀ/Bihari

ਪੀਂਘ (swing)
ਮੀਂਹ (rain)
ਅਸੀਂ (we)

3. ਲਾਂ/Laan

ਭੇਂਟ (meeting)
ਗੇਂਦ (ball)
ਸਕੇਂ (conditional form of the verb ' ਸਕਣਾ')

4. ਦੁਲਾਵਾਂ/Dulavaan

ਮੈਂ (I)

ਪੈਂਟ (pants)

ਦੁਲੈਂਕੜ (one of the vowel symbols)

5. ਹੋੜਾ/Hora

ਭੋਂ (land)

ਵਸੋਂ (settlement)

ਵਰਤੋਂ (use)

6. ਕਨੌੜਾ/Kanaura

ਲੌਂਗ (clove or nose-pin)

ਭੌਂਕਣਾ (to bark)

ਔਂਕੜ (one of the vowel symbols)

ਟਿੱਪੀ/Tippi

1. ਮੁਕਤਾ/Mukta

ਅੰਬ (mango)

ਮੰਗ (demand)

ਸੁਰੰਗ (tunnel)

2. ਸਿਹਾਰੀ/Sihari

ਲਿੰਗ (gender or male genital)

ਪਿੰਡ (village or body)

ਪਿੰਜਰ (skeleton)

3. ਔਂਕੜ/Aunkar

ਧੁੰਦ (fog)

ਸਹੁੰ (oath)

ਨਹੁੰ (nail)

4. ਦੁਲੈਂਕੜ/Dulainkar

ਕੂੰਜੀ (key)

ਬੂੰਦ (drop)

ਭੂੰਡ (drone bee)

ਅਪਵਾਦ/Exceptions

1. ਉ

ਉਂਞ (that way)

ਸਿਉਂਕ (termite)

ਵਿਉਂਤ (plan)

2. ਊ

ਮਾਊਂ (child's word for a bug)
ਮਿਆਊਂ (meow)

ਟੱਬਰ ٹبر Family

Punjabi has a unique name for every relationship be it with your daughter-in-law's mother or your husband's father's elder brother's wife (uncle of spouse). All various types of uncles and aunts and cousins and what not have a different Punjabi name!!! Let's get going then:

Family: ਟੱਬਰ/ਪਰਿਵਾਰ/ਖ਼ਾਨਦਾਨ ٹبر/پریوار/خاندان
Relation: ਰਿਸ਼ਤਾ رشتہ
Relative(s): ਰਿਸ਼ਤੇਦਾਰ رشتے دار

Father: ਪਿਤਾ/ਪਿਓ/ਬਾਪ/ਬਾਪੂ/ਅੱਬਾ/ਪਾਪਾ/ਡੈਡੀ پتا/پیو/باپ/باپو/ابا/پاپا/ڈیڈی
Mother: ਮਾਤਾ/ਮਾਂ/ਬੇਬੇ/ਅੰਮੀ/ਮੰਮੀ/ਮਾਈ/ਝਾਈ ماتا/ماں/بے بے/امی/ممی/مائی/جھائی

Brother: ਵੀਰ/ਭਰਾ/ਭਾਈ/ਬਾਈ/ਭਾ ویر/بھرا/بھائی/بائی/بھا
Brother's wife: ਭਾਬੀ/ਭਰਜਾਈ بھابی/بھرجائی

Sister's husband: ਭਣੋਈਆ/ਭਣੇਵਾਂ/ਜੀਜਾ بھنوئیا/بھنیواں/جیجا
Sister: ਭੈਣ/ਦੀਦੀ بھین/دیدی

Son: ਪੁੱਤ/ਪੁੱਤਰ/ਬੇਟਾ پتّ/پتر/بیٹا
Son's wife: ਨੂੰਹ نونہہ

Daughter's husband: ਜੁਆਈ/ਜਵਾਈ جوائی
Daughter: ਧੀ/ਪੁੱਤਰੀ/ਬੇਟੀ دھی/پتری/بیٹی

Husband: ਪਤੀ/ਖ਼ਸਮ/ਘਰਵਾਲ਼ਾ پتی/خصم/گھروالا
Wife: ਪਤਨੀ/ਰੰਨ/ਘਰਵਾਲ਼ੀ پتنی/رنّ/گھروالی

Grandfather (maternal): ਨਾਨਾ نانا
Grandmother (maternal): ਨਾਨੀ نانی

Grandfather (paternal): ਦਾਦਾ دادا
Grandmother (paternal): ਦਾਦੀ دادی

Grandson (daughter's son): ਦੋਹਤਾ دوہتا
Granddaughter (daughter's daughter): ਦੋਹਤੀ دوہتی

Grandson (son's son): ਪੋਤਾ/ਪੋਤਰਾ پوتا/پوترا
Granddaughter (son's daughter): ਪੋਤੀ/ਪੋਤਰੀ پوتی/پوتری

Father's elder brother: ਤਾਇਆ تایا
Father's elder brother's wife: ਤਾਈ تائی

Father's younger brother: ਚਾਚਾ چاچا
Father's younger brother's wife: ਚਾਚੀ چاچی

Father's sister's husband: ਫੁੱਫੜ پھپھڑ
Father's sister: ਭੂਆ بھوآ

Mother's brother: ਮਾਮਾ ماما
Mother's brother's wife: ਮਾਮੀ مامی

Mother's sister's husband: ਮਾਸੜ ماسڑ
Mother's sister: ਮਾਸੀ ماسی

Sister's son: ਭਾਣਜਾ بھانجا
Sister's son's wife: ਭਾਣਜ-ਨੂੰਹ بھانج-نونہہ

Sister's daughter's husband: ਭਾਣਜ-ਜੁਆਈ بھانج-جوائی
Sister's daughter: ਭਾਣਜੀ بھانجی

Brother's son: ਭਤੀਜਾ بھتیجا
Brother's son's wife: ਭਤੀਜ-ਨੂੰਹ بھتیج-نونہہ

Brother's daughter's husband: ਭਤੀਜ-ਜੁਆਈ بھتیج-جوائی
Brother's daughter: ਭਤੀਜੀ بھتیجی

Father-in-law: ਸਹੁਰਾ سہرا
Mother-in-law: ਸੱਸ سسّ

Husband's elder brother: ਜੇਠ جیٹھ
Husband's elder brother's wife: ਜੇਠਾਣੀ جیٹھانی

Husband's younger brother: ਦਿਉਰ دیور
Husband's younger brother's wife: ਦਰਾਣੀ درانی

Husband's sister's husband: ਨੰਦੋਈਆ نندوئیا
Husband's sister: ਨਨਾਣ ننان

Wife's brother: ਸਾਲ਼ਾ سالا
Wife's brother's wife: ਸਾਲ਼ੇਹਾਰ سالیہار

Wife's sister's husband: ਸਾਂਢੂ سانڈھو
Wife's sister: ਸਾਲ਼ੀ سالی

Child's father-in-law: ਕੁੜਮ کڑم
Child's mother-in-law: ਕੁੜਮਣੀ کڑمنی

Spouse's mother's father: ਨਨਿਆਹੁਰਾ ننیاہرا
Spouse's mother's mother: ਨਨੇਸ ننیس

Spouse's father's father: ਦਦਿਆਹੁਰਾ ددیاہرا
Spouse's father's mother: ਦਦੇਸ ددیس

Spouse's father's brother: ਪਤਿਆਹੁਰਾ پتیاہرا
Spouse's father's brother's wife: ਪਤੀਸ پتیس

Spouse's father's sister's husband: ਫਫਿਆਹੁਰਾ پھپھیاہرا
Spouse's father's sister: ਫਫੇਸ پھپھیس

Spouse's mother's brother: ਮਮਿਆਹੁਰਾ ممیاہرا
Spouse's mother's brother's wife: ਮਮੇਸ ممیس

Paternal grandfather's father: ਪੜਦਾਦਾ پڑدادا
Paternal grandfather's mother: ਪੜਦਾਦੀ پڑدادی

Son of grandson: ਪੜਪੋਤਾ/ਪੜੋਤਾ پڑپوتا/پڑوتا
Daughter of grandson: ਪੜਪੋਤੀ/ਪੜੋਤੀ پڑپوتی/پڑوتی

Maternal grandfather's father: ਪੜਨਾਨਾ پڑنانا
Maternal grandfather's mother: ਪੜਨਾਨੀ پڑنانی

Son of granddaughter: ਪੜਦੋਹਤਾ پڑدوہتا
Daughter of granddaughter: ਪੜਦੋਹਤੀ پڑدوہتی

Paternal grandfather's grandfather: ਨਕੜਦਾਦਾ نکڑدادا
Paternal grandfather's grandmother: ਨਕੜਦਾਦੀ نکڑدادی

Grandson of grandson: ਨਕੜਪੋਤਾ/ਨਕੜੋਤਾ نکڑپوتا/نکڑوتا
Granddaughter of grandson: ਨਕੜਪੋਤੀ/ਨਕੜੋਤੀ نکڑپوتی/نکڑوتی

Maternal grandfather's grandfather: ਨਕੜਨਾਨਾ نکڑنانا
Maternal grandfather's grandmother: ਨਕੜਨਾਨੀ نکڑنانی

Grandson of granddaughter: ਨਕੜਦੋਹਤਾ نکڑدوہتا
Granddaughter of granddaughter: ਨਕੜਦੋਹਤੀ نکڑدوہتی

The next stage relations are ਪਕੜਦਾਦਾ (Paternal grandfather's grandfather's father...are you kidding me!!!), ਪਕੜਦਾਦੀ, ਪਕੜਨਾਨਾ, ਪਕੜਨਾਨੀ, ਪਕੜੋਤਾ, ਪਕੜੋਤੀ, ਪਕੜਦੋਹਤਾ, ਪਕੜਦੋਹਤੀ.

Phew!! That was something. Imagine the scene of a Punjabi family reunion!!

But fret not. Most of the times, a simple Uncle Ji and Auntie Ji would do though calling someone by the exact relation has its own charm.

P.S.: Don't forget to put Ji (ਜੀ/) after every word for relative. It's what would separate a sophisticate from a rube.