🟡 Kannada for beginners · Chapter 8

Auto, shop and hotel: Kannada for daily life

Three places decide whether Bengaluru feels like home: the auto, the darshini and the corner shop. Twenty phrases cover all three — and a Kannada sentence often gets you the meter, the extra chutney and the fair price.

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The basics

Daily-life Kannada is the small set of phrases for the three places you visit every day: an auto (ಆಟೋ), a hotel — which in Karnataka means a restaurant, especially a darshini (self-service eatery) — and a shop (ಅಂಗಡಿ, angaDi).

The problem it solves: these are short, repeated, high-stakes conversations: the fare, the order, the price, the change. They're also where switching to Kannada pays off fastest — drivers and shopkeepers treat a Kannada speaker as a local, not a tourist.

The mental model: every one of these conversations is place/thing + ask + polite verb. You already have the parts: numbers (kn-005), ಬೇಕು and polite ಕೊಡಿ (kn-006), questions and directions (kn-007). This lesson snaps them together. Three verbs carry most of it: ಕೊಡಿ (koDi, give), ಹಾಕಿ (haaki, put) and ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ (nillisi, stop).

Explained

Auto: ಇಂದಿರಾನಗರಕ್ಕೆ ಬರ್ತೀರಾ? ಮೀಟರ್ ಹಾಕಿ. — Indiranagar? Meter, please. Darshini: ಒಂದು ಮಸಾಲೆ ದೋಸೆ, ಒಂದು ಕಾಫಿ ಕೊಡಿ. — One masala dosa, one coffee. Shop: ಅಣ್ಣ, ಇದು ಎಷ್ಟು? — Brother, how much is this?

Three sentences. Say them this week.

The auto

ಇಂದಿರಾನಗರಕ್ಕೆ ಬರ್ತೀರಾ?    indiraanagarakke bartiiraa?   Will you come to Indiranagar?
ಮೀಟರ್ ಹಾಕಿ              miiTar haaki                Put the meter on
ಎಷ್ಟು ಆಗುತ್ತೆ?              eshTu aagutte?              How much will it be?
ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಆಯ್ತು               jaasti aaytu                That's too much
ನಿಧಾನ / ಬೇಗ ಹೋಗಿ          nidhaana / beega hoogi      go slowly / quickly
ಬಲಕ್ಕೆ / ಎಡಕ್ಕೆ ತಗೊಳ್ಳಿ      balakke / eDakke tagoLLi     take a right / left
ಇಲ್ಲೇ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ              ille nillisi                stop right here
ಚಿಲ್ಲರೆ ಇದೆಯಾ?             chillare ideyaa?            do you have change?

What you'll hear back: ಬನ್ನಿ (come, get in), ಬರಲ್ಲ (won't come), ಮೀಟರ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು (meter + ₹20), ಒಂದೂವರೆ (1.5× — the night fare, legitimately charged late at night).

The darshini and the hotel

In Karnataka a hotel (ಹೋಟೆಲ್) is a restaurant. A darshini is the fast, standing, self-service kind: pay at the counter first, get a token, collect at the food counter.

ಒಂದು ಮಸಾಲೆ ದೋಸೆ ಕೊಡಿ     ondu masaale doose koDi     one masala dosa, please
ಎರಡು ಇಡ್ಲಿ ವಡೆ             eraDu iDli vaDe             two idli-vada
ಊಟ ಇದೆಯಾ?                uuTa ideyaa?                are meals available?
ಒಂದು ಕಾಫಿ, ಬೈಟು            ondu kaaphi, baiTu          one coffee, split in two
ಪಾರ್ಸೆಲ್                   paarsal                     takeaway
ಇನ್ನೂ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಚಟ್ನಿ            innuu swalpa chaTni          a little more chutney
ಸಾಕು                      saaku                       enough (stop serving)
ಬಿಲ್ ಎಷ್ಟು?                bil eshTu?                  how much is the bill?

ಬೈಟು (by-two) is a Bengaluru institution: one coffee or tea poured into two cups to share. ಖಾರ (khaara) = spicy, ಸಿಹಿ (sihi) = sweet, ಬಿಸಿ (bisi) = hot.

The shop

ಅಣ್ಣ / ಅಕ್ಕ, ಇದು ಎಷ್ಟು?     aNNa / akka, idu eshTu?       how much is this?
ಒಂದು ಕೆಜಿ ಈರುಳ್ಳಿ ಕೊಡಿ      ondu keji iiruLLi koDi        1 kg onions, please
ಅರ್ಧ ಕೆಜಿ / ಕಾಲು ಕೆಜಿ        ardha keji / kaalu keji        half kg / quarter kg
ಅರ್ಧ ಲೀಟರ್ ಹಾಲು           ardha liiTar haalu            half litre milk
ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಿ                kaDime maaDi                  please reduce (price)
ಕೊನೆ ರೇಟ್ ಎಷ್ಟು?           kone reeT eshTu?              what's the final rate?
ಯುಪಿಐ ಆಗುತ್ತಾ?             yupiai aaguttaa?              does UPI work?
ಕವರ್ ಬೇಡ                  kavar beeDa                   no bag, thanks

Vegetable words that save time: ಈರುಳ್ಳಿ (iiruLLi) onion, ಟೊಮೆಟೊ tomato, ಬಾಳೆಹಣ್ಣು (baaLehaNNu) banana, ಕೊತ್ತಂಬರಿ ಸೊಪ್ಪು (kottambari soppu) coriander, ಹಾಲು milk, ಮೊಸರು (mosaru) curd, ಅಕ್ಕಿ (akki) rice (raw).

Place-ge bartiiraa? · Ondu X koDi · Idu eshTu? · Saaku.

Three verbs do most of the work:

• ಕೊಡಿ (koDi) — give — every order and every purchase ends here. Think 'code-y: give me the code'.
• ಹಾಕಿ (haaki) — put — the meter, sugar, a stamp: ಮೀಟರ್ ಹಾಕಿ, ಸಕ್ಕರೆ ಹಾಕಬೇಡಿ (no sugar).
• ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ (nillisi) — stop (the vehicle) — 'nil speed'.

And the two-word safety net: ಸಾಕು (enough) and ಬೇಡ (don't want). With them you can refuse anything politely.

Mistakes newcomers make

• Opening with ನೀನು or a bare command. ಬಾ! ಮೀಟರ್ ಹಾಕು! to a driver twice your age is rude. Use ಬರ್ತೀರಾ? ಮೀಟರ್ ಹಾಕಿ and call him ಅಣ್ಣ or ಸಾರ್.
• Saying the place without -ಗೆ / -ಕ್ಕೆ. 'Indiranagar bartiiraa?' works, but ಇಂದಿರಾನಗರಕ್ಕೆ sounds local. Places ending in -a take -ಕ್ಕೆ; most others take -ಗೆ (ಮೆಜೆಸ್ಟಿಕ್‌ಗೆ, ಮಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರಂಗೆ).
• Sitting at a darshini and waiting for a waiter. You order and pay at the counter. A full-service hotel has waiters; a darshini doesn't.
• Saying ಇಲ್ಲ to stop the server. ಇಲ್ಲ means 'there isn't'. To stop more food coming, say ಸಾಕು (enough).
• Bargaining with a fixed-price store. Bargain at markets and street stalls (KR Market, Gandhi Bazaar), not at supermarkets, pharmacies or darshinis.
• Arguing in English when the fare goes wrong. Calm Kannada works better: ಮೀಟರ್ ಹಾಕಿ, ಸಾರ್ — or just take the next auto.

Monday, 8:50 AM: auto, then darshini

Rahul from Bhopal, late for a 9:30 standup.

Rahul: ಅಣ್ಣ, ಕೋರಮಂಗಲಕ್ಕೆ ಬರ್ತೀರಾ? (aNNa, koramangalakke bartiiraa?) Driver: ಮೀಟರ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಮೂವತ್ತು. (miiTar meele muuvattu. — Meter plus 30.) Rahul: ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು ಕೊಡ್ತೀನಿ. ಬೇಗ ಹೋಗಿ, ಸಾರ್. (ippattu koDtiini. beega hoogi, saar. — I'll give 20. Go quickly, please.) Driver: ಸರಿ, ಬನ್ನಿ. (sari, banni. — OK, get in.) … twenty minutes later … Rahul: ಇಲ್ಲೇ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ. ಎಷ್ಟು ಆಯ್ತು? (ille nillisi. eshTu aaytu? — Stop here. How much?) Driver: ನೂರ ಹತ್ತು. (nuura hattu. — 110.)

At the darshini counter: Rahul: ಒಂದು ಇಡ್ಲಿ ವಡೆ, ಒಂದು ಕಾಫಿ. ಪಾರ್ಸೆಲ್ ಬೇಡ. (ondu iDli vaDe, ondu kaaphi. paarsal beeDa. — One idli-vada, one coffee. Eating here.) Cashier: ಅರವತ್ತು. ಟೋಕನ್ ತಗೊಳ್ಳಿ. (aravattu. Tookan tagoLLi. — 60. Take the token.)

Two transactions, no English — and he was at his desk by 9:25.

Words to know

In two minutes

• Auto: place + -ಗೆ/-ಕ್ಕೆ + ಬರ್ತೀರಾ?, then ಮೀಟರ್ ಹಾಕಿ; finish with ಇಲ್ಲೇ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ and ಎಷ್ಟು ಆಯ್ತು?
• Expect ಬನ್ನಿ (get in), ಬರಲ್ಲ (won't come) or ಮೀಟರ್ ಮೇಲೆ … (meter plus …); late at night, 1.5× (ಒಂದೂವರೆ) is the legal fare.
• A 'hotel' is a restaurant; at a darshini, pay at the counter first and collect with a token.
• Order with number + item + ಕೊಡಿ: ಒಂದು ಮಸಾಲೆ ದೋಸೆ ಕೊಡಿ. Stop the server with ಸಾಕು.
• Shop: ಇದು ಎಷ್ಟು? → ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಆಯ್ತು → ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಿ → ಕೊನೆ ರೇಟ್? — at markets, not fixed-price stores.
• Address drivers and shopkeepers as ಅಣ್ಣ / ಅಕ್ಕ / ಸಾರ್, always with ನೀವು-forms.
• ಕೊಡಿ (give), ಹಾಕಿ (put) and ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ (stop) carry most daily transactions.

Test yourself

There are 9 questions, 4 puzzles and 5 recall cards for this lesson in the app — the recall cards come back on later days, just before you would forget.