When to use it
Use it at an airport or bank to change foreign currency into rupees.
The sentence in English — “Can I exchange money here?”
In “Can I exchange money here?” ‘I’ is the subject and ‘money’ is an uncountable singular.
- Can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission; it opens the question
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- exchange
- verbexchange · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
- money
- noununcountable noun
- here
- adverbadverb of place
The sentence in Punjabi — “ਕੀ ਇੱਥੇ ਪੈਸੇ ਬਦਲੇ ਜਾ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ?”
In “ਕੀ ਇੱਥੇ ਪੈਸੇ ਬਦਲੇ ਜਾ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ?” the passive ‘ਬਦਲੇ ਜਾ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ’ (can be exchanged) makes ‘ਪੈਸੇ’ (money) the subject, so no gender for the speaker appears. In Punjabi ‘ਪੈਸੇ’ is plural.
- ਕੀ
- particlequestion word: is the service offered?
- ਇੱਥੇ
- adverb'here', at this counter
- ਪੈਸੇ
- noun'money', masculine plural
- ਬਦਲੇ
- verbਬਦਲਣਾ · form: past participle, plural · with ਜਾ forms the passive 'be exchanged'
- ਜਾ
- auxiliary verbਜਾਣਾ · form: stem · passive helper ਜਾਣਾ
- ਸਕਦੇ
- auxiliary verbਸਕਣਾ · form: masculine plural · 'can', plural for ਪੈਸੇ
- ਹਨ
- auxiliary verbਹੋਣਾ · tense: present · number: plural · 'are', plural with ਪੈਸੇ
English × Punjabi — What changes from one language to the other
English uses the active with ‘I’; Punjabi a passive with a plural ‘money’.
Example conversation
— ਕੀ ਇੱਥੇ ਪੈਸੇ ਬਦਲੇ ਜਾ ਸਕਦੇ ਹਨ?
— Can I exchange money here?
— ਹਾਂ ਜੀ, ਆਪਣਾ ਪਾਸਪੋਰਟ ਦਿਖਾਓ।
— Yes, please bring your passport.