How to Ask Questions in Punjabi

Most heritage learners can understand a great deal of Punjabi and say almost nothing. The fastest way out of that trap is questions. A question keeps the other person talking, buys you thinking time, and only requires you to produce a few words yourself. The very good news is that Punjabi question words are unusually tidy — nearly all of them begin with the sound ki- or ka-, so once you learn one, the rest come easily.

The Question Words

Note the spelling details, because they carry real sound. ਕਿੱਥੇ has an addak (ੱ), so the th is doubled and clipped. ਕਦੋਂ and ਕਿਉਂ end in a bindi (ਂ), so the vowel is nasalised — that trailing hum is not optional. ਕਿੰਨਾ takes a tippi (ੰ), giving it a clear n before the n.

ਕੀ — What

ਇਹ ਕੀ ਹੈ — ih ki hai — "What is this?"

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕੀ ਕਰਦੇ ਹੋ — tusiin ki karde ho — "What do you do?"

ਕੀ ਗੱਲ ਹੈ — ki gall hai — "What's the matter?"

That last phrase is worth memorising whole. It is the standard way to ask someone what is wrong, and it comes out warm rather than nosy.

ਕੀ has a second job that surprises learners, covered in the yes-no section below.

ਕੌਣ — Who

ਉਹ ਕੌਣ ਹੈ — oh kaun hai — "Who is that?"

ਕੌਣ ਆ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ — kaun aa riha hai — "Who is coming?"

When ਕੌਣ needs a postposition after it, it changes to ਕਿਸ (kis), exactly like the oblique nouns:

ਕਿਸ ਨੂੰ ਦੱਸਾਂ — kis nu dassaan — "Whom should I tell?"

ਇਹ ਕਿਸ ਦਾ ਘਰ ਹੈ — ih kis da ghar hai — "Whose house is this?"

Because ਕਿਸ ਦਾ contains ਦਾ, it agrees with what is owned: ਕਿਸ ਦੀ ਕਿਤਾਬ (kis di kitaab), "whose book."

ਕਿੱਥੇ — Where

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਹੋ — tusiin kitthe rehnde ho — "Where do you live?"

ਬਾਥਰੂਮ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਹੈ — baathroom kitthe hai — "Where is the bathroom?"

Two useful relatives: ਕਿੱਥੋਂ (kitthon) means "from where," and ਕਿੱਧਰ (kiddhar) means "which way."

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿੱਥੋਂ ਹੋ — tusiin kitthon ho — "Where are you from?"

ਕਦੋਂ — When

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਦੋਂ ਆਏ — tusiin kadon aaye — "When did you come?"

ਖਾਣਾ ਕਦੋਂ ਤਿਆਰ ਹੋਵੇਗਾ — khaana kadon tiyaar hovega — "When will the food be ready?"

ਕਿਉਂ — Why

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿਉਂ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਏ — tusiin kiun nahin aaye — "Why didn't you come?"

ਇਹ ਕਿਉਂ ਹੋਇਆ — ih kiun hoiya — "Why did this happen?"

A gentle cultural note: a bare ਕਿਉਂ can land as blunt, much like a bare "why" in English. Softening it with ਜੀ (ji) or wrapping it in a fuller sentence keeps things warm.

ਕਿਵੇਂ — How

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੋ — tusiin kiven ho — "How are you?"

ਇਹ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਬਣਦਾ ਹੈ — ih kiven banda hai — "How is this made?"

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਹੋ is one of the two standard greetings-after-hello, alongside ਕੀ ਹਾਲ ਹੈ (ki haal hai), literally "what is the condition."

ਕਿੰਨਾ — How Much, How Many

This one is an adjective, so it agrees in gender and number with what it is measuring. This is the question word heritage learners most often get wrong.

ਕਿੰਨਾ ਪੈਸਾ — kinna paisa — "How much money?"

ਕਿੰਨੀ ਦੇਰ — kinni der — "How long?" (ਦੇਰ is feminine)

ਕਿੰਨੇ ਲੋਕ ਆਏ — kinne lok aaye — "How many people came?"

The single most useful sentence in this whole guide is probably:

ਇਹ ਕਿੰਨੇ ਦਾ ਹੈ — ih kinne da hai — "How much is this?"

ਕਿਹੜਾ (kihda, "which") works the same way: ਕਿਹੜੀ ਕਿਤਾਬ (kihdi kitaab), "which book."

Yes-No Questions, Three Ways

English forms yes-no questions by inverting the word order — "you are tired" becomes "are you tired." Punjabi never does that. The word order stays exactly as it is in the statement. You have three options instead.

Option one: change nothing but your voice. This is by far the most common in real speech. Say the statement with a rising pitch at the end and it becomes a question.

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਥੱਕੇ ਹੋ — tusiin thakke ho — "You are tired" / "Are you tired?"

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਬੋਲਦੇ ਹੋ — tusiin punjabi bolde ho — "Are you speaking Punjabi?"

Identical words, identical order. Only the melody differs. If you listen to family on the phone, you will hear that almost every yes-no question is formed this way.

Option two: put ਕੀ at the front. Here ਕੀ is not asking "what" — it is a question marker, roughly the job the inverted "do you" does in English. It is slightly more formal and very clear.

ਕੀ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਥੱਕੇ ਹੋ — ki tusiin thakke ho — "Are you tired?"

ਕੀ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਆਉਂਦੀ ਹੈ — ki tuhaanu punjabi aaundi hai — "Do you know Punjabi?"

Watch for the ambiguity. ਕੀ at the start of a sentence with no other content word usually means "what"; ਕੀ at the start of an otherwise complete sentence means "is it the case that."

Option three: add a tag. Punjabi uses ਨਾ (na) as a general-purpose tag question, equivalent to "right?" or "isn't it?"

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਆਓਗੇ ਨਾ — tusiin aaoge na — "You'll come, won't you?"

ਇਹ ਚੰਗਾ ਹੈ ਨਾ — ih changa hai na — "This is good, isn't it?"

You will also hear ਹੈ ਨਾ (hai na) as a standalone tag, and ਠੀਕ ਹੈ ਨਾ (theek hai na), "that's alright, isn't it?"

Where the Question Word Goes

Punjabi word order is subject-object-verb, and the question word simply occupies the slot of the thing it is asking about. It does not have to jump to the front the way English question words do.

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕੀ ਖਾਧਾ — tusiin ki khaadha — "What did you eat?"

Literally that is "you what ate." The verb still comes last. Compare a statement with the same shape: ਤੁਸੀਂ ਰੋਟੀ ਖਾਧੀ, "you ate roti." The question word ਕੀ has simply stepped into the object slot where ਰੋਟੀ was.

This is genuinely easier than English, because you do not restructure anything. Find the unknown, swap in the question word, keep everything else.

Answering

A bare ਹਾਂ (haan, yes) or ਨਹੀਂ (nahin, no) works, but Punjabi speakers usually add ਜੀ for politeness: ਹਾਂ ਜੀ and ਨਹੀਂ ਜੀ. With elders, the ਜੀ is close to compulsory and takes any bluntness out of a refusal.

A few more that keep a conversation moving: ਪਤਾ ਨਹੀਂ (pata nahin), "I don't know"; ਹੋ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ (ho sakda hai), "maybe"; ਬਿਲਕੁਲ (bilkul), "absolutely."

Practising

Pick one question word a day and use it on someone in your family. Start with ਕੀ ਹਾਲ ਹੈ and ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਹੋ, because you will get an answer you can predict, which builds confidence fast. Then work up to ਕਿੰਨਾ with its four endings, since that is the one that needs real practice. The dialogues page gives you full exchanges to model.