Everyday Punjabi: Your Whole Day in Phrases ਰੋਜ਼ ਦਾ ਕੰਮ

Waking, eating, leaving, coming back. The most repeated sentences in anyone's day, which makes them the fastest to make automatic.

What to know before you use these

The most repeated sentences you will ever say — Because they recur every single day, these are the fastest phrases to make automatic — and the ones that make you sound like a speaker rather than a student.
Family commands are bare and warm — "Roti laa dio", "battian band kar dio". No please is needed or expected; the "-o" ending is already carrying the respect.
Try narrating one hour — Describe an ordinary hour of your day out loud in Punjabi. Wherever you stall is exactly what to learn next — a better study list than any syllabus.

All 20 phrases

Cover:

I wake up early in the morning

ਮੈਂ ਸਵੇਰੇ ਜਲਦੀ ਉੱਠਦਾ ਹਾਂ

Main savere jaldi uthda haan

Get up, it's morning

ਉੱਠ ਜਾ, ਸਵੇਰ ਹੋ ਗਈ

Utth ja, saver ho gayi

💡 ਤੂੰ form — the classic family wake-up call

They say

ਅੱਜ ਮੈਂ ਬਹੁਤ ਥੱਕ ਗਿਆ ਹਾਂ

Ajj main bahut thakk gia haan — I'm really tired today

The tea is ready

ਚਾਹ ਬਣ ਗਈ ਹੈ

Chaah ban gayi hai

I do paath in the morning

ਮੈਂ ਸਵੇਰੇ ਪਾਠ ਕਰਦਾ ਹਾਂ

Main savere paath karda haan

💡 ਪਾਠ = daily prayer or scripture reading, e.g. Japji Sahib

I'm getting ready for work

ਮੈਂ ਕੰਮ ਲਈ ਤਿਆਰ ਹੋ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ

Main kamm layi tiaar ho riha haan

What's made to go with the roti today?

ਅੱਜ ਰੋਟੀ ਨਾਲ ਕੀ ਬਣਾਇਆ ਹੈ?

Ajj roti naal ki banaia hai?

💡 the everyday way to ask what's for dinner — meaning the sabzi or daal

I'm off to work

ਮੈਂ ਕੰਮ 'ਤੇ ਚੱਲਿਆ ਹਾਂ

Main kamm te challia haan

I'll be home by six

ਮੈਂ ਛੇ ਵਜੇ ਤੱਕ ਘਰ ਆ ਜਾਵਾਂਗਾ

Main chhe vaje takk ghar aa jaavaanga

Have you showered?

ਤੂੰ ਨਹਾ ਲਿਆ?

Tu nahaa lia?

💡 ਤੂੰ form — asked within the family

Turn off the lights

ਬੱਤੀਆਂ ਬੰਦ ਕਰ ਦਿਓ

Battian band kar dio

Lock the door

ਦਰਵਾਜ਼ੇ ਨੂੰ ਜਿੰਦਰਾ ਲਾ ਦਿਓ

Darvaaze nu jindra laa dio

💡 ਜਿੰਦਰਾ = padlock/lock; ਕੁੰਡੀ = the latch

I have to wash clothes today

ਅੱਜ ਮੈਂ ਕੱਪੜੇ ਧੋਣੇ ਨੇ

Ajj main kapprhe dhone ne

Let's go for a walk

ਚਲੋ ਸੈਰ ਕਰਨ ਚੱਲੀਏ

Chalo sair karan challiye

💡 the evening ਸੈਰ is an institution among Punjabi elders

They say

ਅੱਜ ਮੈਂ ਬਹੁਤ ਥੱਕ ਗਿਆ ਹਾਂ

Ajj main bahut thakk gia haan — I'm really tired today

I'm really tired today

ਅੱਜ ਮੈਂ ਬਹੁਤ ਥੱਕ ਗਿਆ ਹਾਂ

Ajj main bahut thakk gia haan

Serve the food

ਰੋਟੀ ਲਾ ਦਿਓ

Roti laa dio

💡 'lay the roti' — the call that dinner should be served

Did you water the plants?

ਬੂਟਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਪਾਣੀ ਦੇ ਦਿੱਤਾ?

Bootian nu paani de ditta?

I'm going to sleep now

ਮੈਂ ਹੁਣ ਸੌਣ ਲੱਗਾ ਹਾਂ

Main hun saun lagga haan

Wake me up at seven

ਮੈਨੂੰ ਸੱਤ ਵਜੇ ਜਗਾ ਦੇਣਾ

Mainu satt vaje jagaa dena

They say

ਉੱਠ ਜਾ, ਸਵੇਰ ਹੋ ਗਈ

Utth ja, saver ho gayi — Get up, it's morning

The milk has boiled over!

ਦੁੱਧ ਉੱਬਲ ਗਿਆ!

Duddh ubbal gia!

💡 the classic Punjabi kitchen panic

They say

ਗੈਸ ਹੌਲੀ ਕਰ ਦਿਓ

Gas hauli kar deo — Turn the gas down

Sweep the floor

ਝਾੜੂ ਫੇਰ ਦੇ

Jhaarhu pher de

💡 informal — 'pherna' is the verb used with ਝਾੜੂ

Other situations

Smaller topics — meeting someone new, the weather, shopping, work, family — live in the full phrasebook, alongside every phrase on this page. See the phrasebook index for the whole set, or the dialogues for these phrases inside whole conversations.