When to use it
Use it when someone explained too quickly, such as how a ticket machine works.
“I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?” · The sentence in English
In “I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?” ‘didn't’ negates the past and ‘-s’ marks the plural.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- didn't
- contractiondo · tense: past · contraction of "did not"; makes the negative in the past
- understand
- verbunderstand · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "didn't" the verb stays in its base form
- the
- determinerdefinite article
- instructions
- nounplural noun
- can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun
- repeat
- verbrepeat · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
“ਮੈਨੂੰ ਹਦਾਇਤਾਂ ਸਮਝ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਈਆਂ, ਕੀ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਦੁਬਾਰਾ ਦੱਸ ਸਕਦੇ ਹੋ?” · The sentence in Punjabi
In “ਮੈਨੂੰ ਹਦਾਇਤਾਂ ਸਮਝ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਈਆਂ, ਕੀ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਦੁਬਾਰਾ ਦੱਸ ਸਕਦੇ ਹੋ?” understanding is something that ‘comes to me’ (ਮੈਨੂੰ ਸਮਝ ਆਉਣਾ), so the verb ‘ਆਈਆਂ’ (came) is feminine plural for ‘ਹਦਾਇਤਾਂ’ (instructions), not for the speaker. Repeat is ‘ਦੁਬਾਰਾ ਦੱਸਣਾ’ (tell again).
- ਮੈਨੂੰ
- pronounਮੈਨੂੰ ਸਮਝ ਆਉਣਾ = understanding comes to me
- ਹਦਾਇਤਾਂ
- nounplural of ਹਦਾਇਤ 'instruction'
- ਸਮਝ
- noun'understanding'
- ਨਹੀਂ
- particlenegation; with the past: didn't
- ਆਈਆਂ
- verbਆਉਣਾ · tense: past · form: feminine plural · 'came'; feminine plural for ਹਦਾਇਤਾਂ
- ਕੀ
- particleopens the request in the second half
- ਤੁਸੀਂ
- pronounrespectful 'you', for whoever explained
- ਦੁਬਾਰਾ
- adverb'again'
- ਦੱਸ
- verbਦੱਸਣਾ · form: stem · 'tell, explain'
- ਸਕਦੇ
- auxiliary verbਸਕਣਾ · form: plural, respectful · respectful plural with ਤੁਸੀਂ
- ਹੋ
- auxiliary verbਹੋਣਾ · tense: present · person: 2nd · the final ਹੋ of the request
What changes from one language to the other · English × Punjabi
English says ‘I understand’; Punjabi says understanding comes to me, and repeating is telling again.
Example conversation
— ਮੈਨੂੰ ਹਦਾਇਤਾਂ ਸਮਝ ਨਹੀਂ ਆਈਆਂ, ਕੀ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਦੁਬਾਰਾ ਦੱਸ ਸਕਦੇ ਹੋ?
— I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?
— ਜ਼ਰੂਰ, ਹੁਣ ਹੌਲੀ-ਹੌਲੀ ਦੱਸਾਂਗੇ।
— Of course, I'll go slowly.