Pashto grammar
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Pashto is a S-O-V language with split ergativity. Adjectives come before nouns. Nouns and adjectives are inflected for gender (masc./fem.), number (sing./plur.), and case (direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative). The verb system is very intricate with the following tenses: present; subjunctive; simple past; past progressive; present perfect; and past perfect. In any of the past tenses (simple past, past progressive, present perfect, past perfect), Pashto is an ergative language; i.e., transitive verbs in any of the past tenses agree with the object of the sentence. The dialects show some non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms that are discarded by the literary language.
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
| Singular | Plural | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd (visible) | 3rd (invis.) | 1st | 2nd | 3rd (visible) | 3rd (invis.) | |||
| Masc. | Fem. | Masc. | Fem. | |||||||
| (English) | I | you (sing.) | he | she | he (invis.) | she (invis.) | we | you (plur.) | they | they (invis.) |
| Direct | زه zə | ته tə | دی dai | دا dā | هغه haɣa | موږ mūẓ̌ | تاسو tāsō | دوی dūy | هغوی haɣūy | |
| Indirect | ما mā | تا tā | دۀ də | دې dē | هغۀ haɣə | هغې haɣē | ||||
Demonstrative pronouns
دغه daɣa (this)
| Direct | دغه daɣa |
| Indirect | دې dē |
هغه haɣa (that)
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Masc. | Fem. | ||
| Direct | هغه haɣa | ||
| Indirect | هغۀ haɣə |
هغې haɣē |
هغو haɣō |
Possessive pronouns
Independent forms
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | زما zamā |
زموږ zamūẓ̌ |
| 2nd | ستا stā |
ستاسو stāsō |
| 3rd (visible) | د دۀ da də (masc.) د دې |
د دوی da dūy |
| 3rd (invis.) | د هغۀ da haɣə (masc.) د هغې |
د هغوی da haɣūy |
Enclitic forms
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ـمې -mē |
ـمو -mō |
| 2nd | ـدې -dē |
ـمو -mō |
| 3rd | ـیې -yē | |
Interrogative pronouns
| (English) | who | whose |
| Direct | څوک tsōk | د چا da chā |
| Indirect | چا chā |
Nouns
Case
Pashto inflects nouns into four grammatical cases: direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative. The oblique I case is used as prepositional case as well as in the past tense as the subject of transitive verbs, and the oblique II case is used as ablative case.
The following table shows the declension of the masculine noun غر (ɣar, meaning "mountain"):
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | غر ɣar | غرونه ɣrūna |
| Oblique I | غرۀ ɣrə | غرونو ɣrūnō |
| Oblique II | غره ɣara | غرونو ɣrūnō |
| Vocative | غره ɣra | غرونو ɣrūnō |
The following table shows the declension of سړی (saṛai, meaning "man"), a masculine noun with ending "ai":
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | سړی saṛai | سړي saṛi |
| Oblique I | سړي saṛi | سړيو saṛəyō |
| Oblique II | سړيه saṛəya | سړيو saṛəyō |
| Vocative | سړيه saṛəya | سړيو saṛəyō |
The following table shows the declension of ښځه (ṣ̌ədza, meaning "woman"), a feminine noun with ending "a":
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | ښځه ṣ̌ədza | ښځې ṣ̌ədzē |
| Oblique I | ښځې ṣ̌ədzē | ښځو ṣ̌ədzō |
| Oblique II | ښځې ṣ̌ədzē | ښځو ṣ̌ədzō |
| Vocative | ښځې ṣ̌ədzē | ښځو ṣ̌ədzō |
The following table shows the declension of the feminine noun ورځ (wradz, meaning "day"):
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | ورځ wradz | ورځې wradzē |
| Oblique I | ورځ wradz | ورځو wradzō |
| Oblique II | ورځه wradza | ورځو wradzō |
| Vocative | ورځې wradzē | ورځو wradzō |
Gender
There are two genders: masculine and feminine.
Number
There are two numbers: singular and plural.
Definiteness
There is no definite article. But when necessary, definiteness may be indicated by other means such as demonstratives. Likewise, it may be contraindicated by use of the word for "one", يو; as in "يو روغتون" - "a hospital".
Adjectives
The adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case.
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | Class 5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Singular | Direct | - | -ay | |||
| Oblique II | -a | -aya | -i | ||||
| Vocative | -e | ||||||
| Oblique I | - | -ə | -i | ||||
| Plural | Direct | ||||||
| Oblique/Vocative | -o | -io/-o | -yo/-o | ||||
| Feminine | Singular | Direct | -a | -əy | -e | ||
| Oblique II | |||||||
| Vocative | -e | ||||||
| Oblique I | |||||||
| Plural | Direct | ||||||
| Oblique/Vocative | -o | -əyo/-o | -yo/-o | ||||
Notes:
- In the plural, both obliques and the vocative merge into a single form.
- Singular Oblique I and plural Direct always merge into a single form.
- The above two conditions mean that there can be at most five distinct forms for masculine adjectives (but in fact, no class distinguishes more than four).
- For feminine adjectives, singular Oblique I and Vocative merge, while singular Direct and Oblique II merge; combined with mergers noted previously, there can be at most three distinct forms for feminine adjectives.
- Classes 2 and 3 have stem and stress alternations among different cases. Class 3 has a basic distinction between the masculine singular Direct, Oblique II and Vocative, with stem stress, and all other forms, with a (sometimes) different stem and with ending stress (e.g. masc. trix, fem. tarxá "bitter"; masc. sur, fem. srá "red"; masc. sor̂, fem. sār̂á "cold"; masc. run̂, fem. run̂á "light" with only one stem). Class 2 has the same stress alternation, but has three distinct stems, with stressed stem vowel 'o' or 'u' in masculine singular Direct, Oblique II and Vocative, unstressed stem vowel 'ā' in masculine singular Oblique I and plural Direct, and unstressed stem vowel 'a' in all other forms (e.g. masc. sing. pox, masc. plur. pāxǝ́, fem. paxá "ripe, cooked").
Verbs
Present tense of يم (yəm) "to be":
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | زه يم zə yəm | موږ يو mūẓ̌ yū |
| 2nd | ته يې tə yē | تاسو يئ \ ياست tāsō yəi/yāst |
| 3rd | دی دی dai dai دا ده |
دوی دي dūy di |
Past tense of يم (yəm) "to be":
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | زه وم zə wəm | موږ وو mūẓ̌ wū |
| 2nd | ته وې tə wē | تاسو وئ tāsō wəi |
| 3rd (masc.) | دی وو dai wō | دوی وو dūy wū |
| 3rd (fem.) | دا وه dā wa | دوی وې dūy wē |
Numbers
Cardinal Numbers (direct case, masc.)
- 0 صفر sifər
- 1 يو yaw
- 2 دوه dwa
- 3 درې drē
- 4 څلور tsalōr
- 5 پنځه pindzə
- 6 شپږ špaẓ̌
- 7 اووه ūwə
- 8 اته atə
- 9 نه nə
- 10 لس las
Ordinal Numbers (direct case, masc., sing.)
- 1st لومړی lumṛai
- 2nd دوهم dwaham
- 3rd دريم drəyam
- 4th څلورم tsaloram
- 5th پنځم pindzam
- 6th شپږم špaẓ̌am
- 7th اووم ūwam
- 8th اتم atam
- 9th نهم nəham
- 10th لسم lasam
External links
- Herbert Penzl, A Grammar of Pashto: A Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan
- Georg Morgenstierne, "'AFGHANISTAN vi. Paṧtō'", Encyclopaedia Iranica
- Longnow, Rosettaproject, Pashto, Southern Grammar
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