EkGuru › Learn Punjabi › Punjabi › How to read the script

How to read Punjabi script — a step-by-step guide

Written by: authorship not independently recorded. Maintained by Prakash. Reviewed by: not recorded. Updated: 2026-10-03. Editorial policy and corrections.

Draft: not yet reviewed by a native speaker. Existing availability and indexing are preserved by owner instruction; that is not an editorial approval. Suggest a correction.

🔊 Tap any speaker button to hear the words on this page spoken. Too fast or slow? Use the speed button at the bottom-right of the page.

Gurmukhi has 35 core letters — the ਪੈਂਟੀ ਅਖਰ🔊🔊 (paintī akhar, 'the 35'). It runs left to right with no headline bar, and its letters look rounder than Devanagari. Six dotted letters (ਸ਼ ਖ਼ ਗ਼ ਜ਼ ਫ਼ ਲ਼🔊🔊) cover Persian sounds, and nasalization is marked with ਬਿੰਦੀ🔊🔊 (ਂ🔊🔊) and ਟਿੱਪੀ🔊🔊 (ੰ🔊🔊): ਮਾਂ🔊🔊 (mān, mother) needs its bindi — drop it and the word breaks. Across the border, Pakistani Punjabi is written in Shahmukhi (Perso-Arabic) — same language, different script. Punjabi is tonal: ਘ ਝ ਢ ਧ ਭ🔊🔊 and ਹ🔊🔊 colour the pitch of nearby vowels — listen more than you read at first. Below is the path that gets you from "those are just shapes" to reading a real Punjabi sentence, in six steps you can work through in a fortnight of short sessions.

Step 1 — Meet the vowels

The Gurmukhi has 10 vowels, shown below with the sound each one makes.

Read the table left to right, out loud. Do not try to memorise it in one pass: recognition first, recall later. Two passes today and two tomorrow beats an hour tonight.

Step 2 — Meet the consonants

Then the 41 consonants. This is the part people find intimidating, and it is mostly an illusion created by an unfamiliar script: the table below gives you the sound of every letter, in words you already know.

Step 3 — Read numbers first

Numbers are the ideal first reading exercise: short, repetitive, and you already know what they mean from the counting page. Read these out loud without looking at the Hindi or English column, then cover the last column and read them again. If you can read 1–10, you can read a price board.

Step 4 — Read real words

Now real vocabulary. These twelve words are the ones you will use most; read the Punjabi column first and only then check the pronunciation column.

Step 5 — Read a whole sentence

Reading words is one skill; reading a sentence is a second one. Start with the word order you already know — ਮੈਂ ਰੋਟੀ ਖਾਂਦਾ ਹਾਂ🔊🔊। — then read slowly, then at speaking speed.

Read each phrase below aloud three times. When you can read them without pausing, you have crossed from decoding to reading.

Step 6 — Make it a habit

1. Five minutes reading the letter tables aloud, every day.
2. Five minutes typing the words you learned in the practice typing trainer.
3. Once a week, re-read a page you have already studied and notice how much faster it goes.
4. Never read only in your head: the mouth learns the script faster than the eye does.

When reading starts to feel routine, push on to the grammar basics and the speaking-alone plan — reading is the door, not the room.

More guides in this course

• Beginner's guide — PunjabiHow to learn from scratch, and the honest first 30 days.
• Alphabet, letter by letter — PunjabiEvery letter with the sound it makes.
• Grammar basics — PunjabiWord order, verbs and the sentence ladder.
• Phrases for travel — PunjabiStations, hotels, fares and the phrases you will use.
• Numbers 1 to 100 — PunjabiCounting, prices and time — with the counting pattern.
• Most common words — PunjabiThe highest-frequency words, in eight groups, with pronunciation for each.
• Common mistakes — PunjabiThe traps learners fall into in this language, and the fix for each one.
• vs Hindi — PunjabiWhat Hindi speakers already know, and what trips everyone else up.
• Practise speaking alone — PunjabiShadowing, self-talk and a routine you can keep without a tutor.