🟡 Kannada for beginners · Chapter 4

The basic sentence: I am, you are, this is

In Kannada 'this is my house' is just ಇದು ನನ್ನ ಮನೆ — 'this my house'. No 'is'. Half your first sentences need no verb at all.

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The basics

The basic Kannada sentence names a thing and says what it is — I'm a student, this is my bag, he's my brother — or says where something is or whether it exists — the water is here, there's no water.

The problem it solves: these identity and existence sentences are most of what you say in your first month: who you are, what you want, what's there, what isn't. Get the four building blocks right and you can say dozens of useful things with only nouns.

The mental model: Kannada word order is Subject – Object – Verb, the same as Hindi (main chai peeta hoon → naanu Tii kuDiitiini). Three rules carry this lesson:

1. 'X is Y' needs no verb: ನಾನು ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ (naanu vidyaarthi) — I (am a) student.
2. 'X is not Y' adds ಅಲ್ಲ (alla) at the end.
3. 'X is there / exists' uses ಇದೆ (ide), and 'is not there' is ಇಲ್ಲ (illa).

Explained

ಇದು ನನ್ನ ಮನೆ.          idu nanna mane.         This is my house.
ನಾನು ಇಂಜಿನಿಯರ್.         naanu injiniyar.        I'm an engineer.
ಅವರು ನನ್ನ ಅಣ್ಣ.          avaru nanna aNNa.       He's my elder brother.

No verb in any of them. Kannada lets the two nouns sit side by side and the listener fills in 'is'. You can talk from day one.

The pronouns

ನಾನು    naanu    I
ನಾವು    naavu    we
ನೀನು    niinu    you (informal, 'tu')
ನೀವು    niivu    you (respectful / plural, 'aap')
ಅವನು    avanu    he (informal)
ಅವಳು    avaLu    she (informal)
ಅವರು    avaru    he / she (respectful), they
ಅದು     adu      it, that (thing)
ಇದು     idu      this (thing)

The a- / i- split is Hindi's voh / yeh: ಅ = that, over there; ಇ = this, right here. ಅವನು (that man) / ಇವನು (this man), ಅದು / ಇದು, ಅಲ್ಲಿ (there) / ಇಲ್ಲಿ (here).

With anyone you'd call aap — a colleague, an elder — use ಅವರು (avaru) even for one person, like Hindi ve.

ಅಲ್ಲ vs ಇಲ್ಲ — the split Hindi doesn't make

Hindi uses nahin for both. Kannada uses two words:

ಅಲ್ಲ (alla) = is NOT (this thing) — denies identity.

ಇದು ನನ್ನ ಬ್ಯಾಗ್ ಅಲ್ಲ.     idu nanna byaag alla.    This is not my bag.
ನಾನು ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್ ಅಲ್ಲ.        naanu DaakTar alla.      I'm not a doctor.

ಇಲ್ಲ (illa) = there ISN'T / doesn't exist / no — denies existence.

ನೀರು ಇಲ್ಲ.               niiru illa.              There's no water.
ಟೈಮ್ ಇಲ್ಲ.               Taim illa.               No time.

Test: if English says 'is not a…', use alla. If English says 'there is no…' or 'don't have', use illa.

Bonus: ಅಲ್ವಾ? (alvaa?) at the end = 'isn't it?' — the Kannada hai na?

ಇದೆ: is there, and 'I have'

ನೀರು ಇದೆ.                     niiru ide.                   There's water.
ನೀರು ಇದೆಯಾ?                    niiru ideyaa?                Is there water?
ಮೆಟ್ರೋ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಇದೆ.               meTroo illi ide.             The metro is here.
ನನ್ನ ಹತ್ರ ದುಡ್ಡು ಇದೆ.           nanna hatra duDDu ide.        I have money.
ನನ್ನ ಹತ್ರ ಚಿಲ್ಲರೆ ಇಲ್ಲ.          nanna hatra chillare illa.    I don't have change.

'I have' = 'near me, X is' — exactly Hindi mere paas paisa hai. ಹತ್ರ (hatra) is the spoken form of ಹತ್ತಿರ (hattira, near).

For people, ಇದೆ changes with the person: ಅವರು ಇದ್ದಾರೆ (avaru iddaare, he/she is there — respectful), ನಾನು ಇದ್ದೀನಿ (naanu iddiini, I'm here). Yes/no questions add -aa: ಇದೆ → ಇದೆಯಾ?

*Noun + noun = 'is'. Not that thing = alla. Not there = illa. Is there = ide.*

• alla — 'all-a wrong identity': it's not that.
• illa — 'ill, empty shelf': there's nothing.
• ide — 'it's idle there': it exists, sitting there.
• a = away, i = in hand: ಅದು that, ಇದು this; ಅಲ್ಲಿ there, ಇಲ್ಲಿ here.
• Question? Add -aa: ಇದೆ → ಇದೆಯಾ?, ಅಲ್ಲ → ಅಲ್ವಾ?

Mistakes newcomers make

• Using ಇಲ್ಲ for 'is not a…'. ನಾನು ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್ ಇಲ್ಲ sounds like 'there is no me-doctor'. Identity takes ಅಲ್ಲ: ನಾನು ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್ ಅಲ್ಲ.
• Adding a verb to 'this is X'. Learners invent ಇದು ಮನೆ ಇದೆ. That means 'this house is there'. For 'this is a house', just say ಇದು ಮನೆ.
• Calling an elder ಅವನು / ಅವಳು. Those are informal. For your manager, landlord, someone's parent: ಅವರು.
• Putting the verb in the middle (English order). Verb goes last: ನಾನು ಆಫೀಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದೀನಿ (I office-in am), not naanu iddiini office-alli.
• Confusing ಇದು (this, pronoun) with ಈ (this, before a noun). ಇದು ಬಸ್ = this is a bus. ಈ ಬಸ್ = this bus (…goes to Majestic). Same with ಅದು / ಆ.
• Hearing ಇಲ್ಲ and thinking 'no' to your question. ನೀರು ಇಲ್ಲ answers 'no water', not 'no, I won't help'.

Thursday, 7 PM, the PG reception

Vikram from Indore has moved into a PG in BTM Layout. He's at the front desk.

Vikram: ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ. ನಾನು ರೂಮ್ ನಂಬರ್ ಹನ್ನೆರಡು. (namaskaara. naanu ruum nambar hanneraDu. — I'm room 12.) Manager: ಹೌದಾ? ಏನು ಬೇಕು? (houdaa? eenu beeku? — Oh yes? What do you need?) Vikram: ರೂಮಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನೀರು ಇಲ್ಲ. (ruuminalli niiru illa. — There's no water in the room.) Manager: ಮೋಟರ್ ಆನ್ ಮಾಡ್ತೀನಿ. ಹತ್ತು ನಿಮಿಷ. (mooTar aan maaDtiini. hattu nimisha. — I'll switch the motor on. Ten minutes.) Vikram: ಸರಿ. ಮತ್ತೆ, ಈ ಬ್ಯಾಗ್ ನನ್ನದು ಅಲ್ಲ. (sari. matte, ii byaag nannadu alla. — OK. Also, this bag isn't mine.) Manager: ಓ, ಅದು ರೂಮ್ ಹದಿಮೂರು. (oo, adu ruum hadimuuru. — Oh, that's room 13's.)

He used illa for 'no water' and alla for 'not mine' — the exact split this lesson is about. ನನ್ನದು (nannadu) = mine.

Words to know

In two minutes

• Kannada is Subject–Object–Verb, like Hindi: the verb comes last.
• 'X is Y' needs no verb: ಇದು ನನ್ನ ಮನೆ (this is my house), ನಾನು ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ (I'm a student).
• To deny identity add ಅಲ್ಲ (alla): ಇದು ನನ್ನ ಬ್ಯಾಗ್ ಅಲ್ಲ.
• To say something exists use ಇದೆ (ide); to say it doesn't, ಇಲ್ಲ (illa): ನೀರು ಇದೆ / ನೀರು ಇಲ್ಲ.
• 'I have X' = ನನ್ನ ಹತ್ರ X ಇದೆ — the same shape as Hindi 'mere paas X hai'.
• Turn a statement into a yes/no question by adding -aa: ಇದೆ → ಇದೆಯಾ?
• Use ಅವರು for any respected person, even one; ಅವನು / ಅವಳು are informal.

Test yourself

There are 9 questions, 3 puzzles and 5 recall cards for this lesson in the app — the recall cards come back on later days, just before you would forget.