Sindhi grammar, step by step

Sindhi is a Subject-Object-Verb language. The verb always comes at the end of the sentence. The subject opens, the object sits in the middle, and the action word closes everything.

Every noun is either masculine or feminine. Masculine nouns often end in -o and feminine nouns in -a or -ī, though some must simply be memorized.

Function words that show location, direction, and relationships come after the noun, not before it. These are called postpositions — the mirror image of English prepositions.

When a noun is followed by a postposition, its ending changes to the oblique form. Masculine -o endings shift to -e. Feminine -ī endings add -a, though the change is subtler than the masculine shift.

The verb agrees with the subject in person, gender, and number. Both the main verb form and the auxiliary change to match — even the speaker's gender affects the auxiliary.

The imperfective describes habitual actions or actions in progress. It combines the imperfective verb form with a present-tense auxiliary (tho/thī). This is the default way to describe what someone does regularly.

The perfective marks a completed action. In intransitive sentences the verb agrees with the subject's gender. In transitive sentences the verb agrees with the object's gender — and the subject takes the oblique case (a split-ergative pattern shared with Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi). No auxiliary is needed for the simple past.

Sindhi has four copulas ("to be"): "āhe" for present facts, "ho" for past, "hundo" for presumption or possibility, and "huje" for wishes or subjunctive contexts.

Sindhi has one basic negative particle: "na". It precedes the verb. With auxiliaries it commonly fuses to the auxiliary (na + tho → natho "doesn't"). Before the present copula āhē it stays separate as "na āhe" (often pronounced as a single fused "nāhē" in everyday speech).

Information questions use question words like "chā" (what), "kēru" (who), "kahā̃" (where), and "kaḍhā̃" (when). Yes/no questions use rising intonation without rearranging the sentence.

Masculine nouns change their final vowel to form the plural (often -o becomes -ā). Feminine nouns typically add -ū̃ to the singular form.

The base third-person form "hū" can refer to any gender, but specific forms exist: "hīo" for he/she/they (proximate) and "hūa" for she (remote). The formal second person "tavhī̃" is used for respect, like addressing elders.

The continuous aspect ("Actual" tense) uses the verb stem + conjunctive participle suffix -ī, followed by the perfective participle of "rahanu" (to stay/remain) which agrees in gender and number with the subject (rahyo M.SG / rahī F.SG / rahyā M.PL / rahyū̃ F.PL), then the copula. It expresses an action actively in progress at a specific moment, not a general habit.

Possession uses the particle "jo" (which agrees in gender and number with the possessed noun as jo/jī/jā/jū̃). The possessor goes in the oblique case, followed by "jo" and then the possessed noun.

Many actions are expressed as a noun or adjective plus a "light verb" like "karanu" (to do), "thīanu" (to become), or "ḍianu" (to give). The light verb carries the grammatical endings while the noun (often a Persian/Arabic loan) carries the meaning.

Sindhi grammar is SOV word order, gender agreement threading through nouns, verbs, and possessives, postpositions reshaping nouns into oblique forms, and a four-way copula system — all working together as a unified system.