Punjabi Verbs and Talking About Time

The infinitive: -ਣā

Dictionary forms end in -ਣਾ -ṇā: ਜਾਣਾ jāṇā 'to go', ਖਾਣਾ khāṇā 'to eat'. Drop -ṇā to get the stem (ਜਾ-, ਖਾ-), then hang the right ending on the stem for the form you want.

Irregular but common: ਹੋਣਾ hoṇā 'to be/become', ਪੈਣਾ paiṇā 'to fall/lie', ਮਿਲਣਾ milṇā 'to meet'.

Habitual: things you do (and are doing as a habit)

The habitual is built as stem + ਦਾ/ਦੀ/ਦੇ (dā/dī/de) + ਹੈ/ਹਨ/ਹਾਂ/ਹੋ. The -dā ending agrees with the subject's gender and number:

The same -dā word is the 'present tense' — 'I go' and 'I am going (habitually)' collapse into one form. Context and time words do the rest.

Progressive: happening right now

For something happening right now, insert ਰਿਹਾ/ਰਹੀ/ਰਹੇ (rihā/rahī/rahe) between the stem and the helper — again agreeing with the subject:

Past: -ਆ/-ਈ/-ਏ on the stem

For simple completed actions, the stem takes -ਆ -ā / -ਈ -ī / -ਏ -e agreeing with the subject for intransitive verbs (go, come, sit, sleep). There's no separate 'was' — the ending does the work:

Transitive verbs in the past get more complex (the object can drive agreement — a 'ergative' pattern you'll meet in intermediate study). For now, collect the intransitive shapes above and the handy transitive form main khādhā 'I ate'.

Future: -ੂੰਗਾ/-ੂੰਗੀ

The future ending is -ਊਂਗਾ -ūṁgā / -ਊਂਗੀ -ūṁgī (agreeing with the speaker's gender for 'I', -oge for polite you):

Time anchors — words that carry the 'when'

Since verb endings care about gender more than about a strict tense grid, Punjabi leans on time words placed early in the sentence to pin down when something happens:

Don't force English tenses onto Punjabi

English asks 'past, present, or future?' first. Punjabi asks 'is it habitual, in progress, done, or coming?' — and then checks the subject's gender. When you translate in your head, don't search for a one-to-one tense: think shape of the action + time word.

Mini practice