ਤੇਰਾ

What does tera mean in Punjabi?

Tera (ਤੇਰਾ) is the Punjabi word for 'your' or 'yours' when you talk to one person you are close to: a friend, a brother or sister, or a child. It is the possessive form of tu, the familiar word for 'you'. 'Tera ghar' means 'your house', and 'eh tera hai' means 'this is yours'.

The origin of tera

Tera is built from tu, 'you', with the old possessive ending -era, so it carries the sense of 'belonging to you'. The same pattern gives mera, 'my', from main, 'I'. The ending runs back to the old Indo-Aryan languages: Wiktionary traces the root to the Sanskrit word tvam, 'you', the root behind tu itself. In Shahmukhi, the Perso-Arabic script used for Punjabi in Pakistan, tera is written تیرا.

What are the forms of tera?

Tera changes to match the thing it describes, not the person it belongs to. Before a masculine singular noun it stays tera: 'tera ghar', your house, and 'tera dost', your friend. Before a feminine noun it becomes teri: 'teri kitaab', your book, and 'teri gall', your word. Before a masculine plural noun, and whenever the noun takes an oblique case, it becomes tere: 'tere dost', your friends. Learners only need these three: tera, teri and tere.

Tera or tuhada: when to use which?

Tera is for closeness, so tuhada is the safe word everywhere else. Use tera with close friends, younger family members and children, and anyone who has invited you to drop the formalities. With elders, strangers, teachers and anyone older than you, use tuhada instead: 'tuhada ghar' sounds respectful where 'tera ghar' can sound rude. One more rule: tera is always singular. Talking to two friends, even close ones, takes tuhada, just as speaking to them takes tusi instead of tu.

Tera in everyday phrases

Tera turns up in the small phrases that fill a Punjabi day. 'Tera naam ki hai?' asks 'What is your name?', 'tera pind kithe hai?' asks 'Where is your village?', and 'eh tera hai' says 'this is yours'. A mother calls her child with 'tera khaana tayaar hai', your food is ready, and a friend asks another 'tera ki haal hai?', how are you? In songs, tera carries feeling: 'tera chehra chann jeha', your face is like the moon. Once you know tera and its partner mera, 'my', you can talk about what belongs to whom in Punjabi.