Welcome to the 8th lesson about Pashto grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Pashto and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Pashto and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Pashto.
| Prepositions - Pashto |
|---|
| and او |
| above پورته |
| under لاندی |
| before مخکی |
| after وروسته |
| in front of په وړاندې |
| behind تر شا |
| far from هاخوا |
| near نږدی |
| in په |
| inside دننه |
| outside د باندې |
| with سره |
| without پرته |
| about په اړه |
| between تر منځ |
| but خو |
| for لپاره |
| from له |
| to ته |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Pashto |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] زه له چاړه پرته خوراک کوم |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] هغه له کلیسا سره نږدې اوسیږي |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] هغه له هغې لوړ دی |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] هغه له خپل کوچني سپي سره راغلې و |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] آیا ته له ما سره راتلې شې؟ |
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules - Pashto |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] زه تا پېژنم |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] زه تا نه پېژنم |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] دا سم لفظ نه دی |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] ما مه پرېږده |
| no problem [negation + noun] کومه ستونزه نشته |
| Negative Sentences - Pashto |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] زه په فرانسوي ژبه خبرې نه کوم |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] هغې المان ته سفر نه و کړې |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] هغه له مونږ سره نه شي لیدلی |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] آیا هغه د شطرنج لوبه نه شي کولی؟ |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] مونږ به ناوخته رانه شو |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Pashto |
|---|
| how? څنګه؟ |
| what? څه؟ |
| who? څوک؟ |
| why? ولې؟ |
| where? چېرته؟ |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Pashto |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] تاسې چېرته اوسېږئ؟ |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] آیا هغه په چینايي ژبه خبرې کولی شي؟ |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] دا په څو دی؟ |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] آیا زه له تا سره مرسته کولی شم؟ |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] ستاسې نوم څه دی؟ |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Pashto. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs - Pashto |
|---|
| now اوس |
| yesterday پرون |
| today نن |
| tonight نن شپه |
| tomorrow سبا |
| soon ژر |
| quickly په تیزۍ سره |
| slowly ورو ورو |
| together يو ځای |
| very ډېر |
| almost تقریبآ |
| always تل |
| usually معمولآ |
| sometimes کله ناکله |
| rarely ډېر لږ |
| never هيڅکله نه |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Pashto |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] آیا ته اوس ما پېژنې؟ |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] زه چټکې مرستې ته اړتیا لرم |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] هغه ډېره هوښیاره ده |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] زه به تل له تا سره مینه کوم |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] آیا مونږ الماني ژبه په ګډه سره زده کولای شو؟ |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Pashto. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns - Pashto |
|---|
| I زه |
| you ته/تاسی |
| he هغه سړی |
| she هغه ښځه |
| we موږ |
| they هغوی |
| Object Pronouns - Pashto |
|---|
| me ماته |
| you تاته/تاسو ته |
| him هغه سړی |
| her هغه ښځه |
| us مونږ ته |
| them هغوی ته |
| Possessive Pronouns - Pashto |
|---|
| my زما |
| your ستا/ستاسو |
| his دهغه سړی |
| her دهغی ښځی |
| our زموږ |
| their د هغوی |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns - Pashto |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] زه ستا ملګری یم |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] ته ډېرې تېزې خبرې کوې |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] هغه درې سپي لري |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] هغه په الماني ژبه خبرې کولی شي |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] مونږ به ناوخته رانه شو |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] هغوي شیدې او ډوډۍ اخیستې وه |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns - Pashto |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] آیا ته ما ته خپل نوم ښودلی شې؟ |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] زه به تا ته پیسې درکړم |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] هغې هغه ته لیک لیکلی و |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] هغوي پرون له هغې سره ولیدل |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] آیا هغه له مونږ سره مرسته کولی شي؟ |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] هغه هغوي ته خوراک ورکړ |
| Possessive Pronouns - Pashto |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] زما نوم مایا دی |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] ستا ورور دلته اوسیږي |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] د هغه مور مونږ ته پخلی کوي |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] د هغه تفرېح د کتابونو مطالعه ده |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] پاریس ته سفر زمونږ خوب دی |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] د هغوي کور لرې نه دی |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Pashto |
|---|
| this is my house دا زما کور دی |
| that restaurant is far هغه رستورانت لرې دی |
| these apples are delicious دغه مڼې خوږې دي |
| those stars are shiny هغه ستوري ځلېدونکي دي |
I hope you learned a lot about the Pashto grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |