Pythagorean fuzzy sets (briefly, PFSs) were created as an upgrade to intuitionistic fuzzy sets (briefly, IFSs) which helped to address some problems that IFSs couldn’t solve. The definition of q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets (briefly, q-ROFS) is then declared to generalize and solve PFS and IFS failures. Using the concept of PF $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood, Zhan et al. defined the description of the covering through the Pythagorean fuzzy rough set (briefly, CPFRS). Hussain et al. also developed the concept of q-ROF $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood to build the concept of covering through q-rung orthopair fuzzy rough sets (Cq-ROFRS). To enhance the results in Zhan et al.’s and Hussain et al.’s method and in a related context, the concept of PF complementary $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood is constructed. Hence, using PF $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood and PF complementary $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood, three novel kinds of CPFRS are investigated and the related characteristics are analyzed. The interrelationships between Zhan et al.’s approach and our approaches are also discussed. Besides, the concept of q-ROF complementary $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood is examined. Three new Cq-ROFRS models are differentiated using the principles of q-ROF $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood and q-ROF complementary $$\beta $$
β
-neighborhood. As a result, the related properties and relationships between these various models and Hussain et al.’s model are established. Because of these correlations, we may consider our approach to be a generalization of Zhan et al.’s and Hussain et al’s approaches. Finally, we developed applications to solve MADM problems using CPFRS and Cq-ROFRS, as well as variances of the two methods using numerical examples are presented.