ਕੱਲ੍ਹ

What does kallh mean in Punjabi? Kallh (ਕੱਲ੍ਹ), pronounced kullh with a doubled l, is the Punjabi word for the day next to today. With a future verb it means tomorrow, and with a past verb it means yesterday. The verb in the sentence, not the word itself, tells you which direction from today is meant.

Meaning

English needs two different words where Punjabi uses one. Kallh simply marks a distance of one day from today, in either direction. That is why a dictionary list gives kallh for tomorrow, while a past tense example in a translation guide uses the same word for yesterday. The system is economical once you see it: ajj is today, and kallh is one step away from ajj, forwards or backwards.

How can one word mean both tomorrow and yesterday?

The verb does the pointing. When the verb is in a future form, kallh looks ahead: a sentence about going to school kallh is about tomorrow, as a worked translation example shows. When the verb is in a past form, kallh looks back: a sentence about someone coming here kallh is about yesterday, as another tense example shows. Punjabi listeners read the verb first and never feel the ambiguity that surprises English speakers.

How do you say tomorrow in Punjabi?

Tomorrow in Punjabi is kallh (ਕੱਲ੍ਹ), used with a future verb. Yesterday is also kallh, used with a past verb. Learning the pair together with ajj for today gives a learner the three points of everyday time talk: the day before, this day, and the day after.

How is kallh used in a sentence?

You can say: ਕੱਲ੍ਹ with a will form of the verb for a plan tomorrow, and ਕੱਲ੍ਹ with a past form for something that happened yesterday. More examples are given below on this page, with the verb form doing the pointing in each one.