Malayalam lessons

[vijayjohn]

Back when I talked about the cases in Malayalam, I said that the vocative case is kind of complicated. That's because there's a distinction between how you address people who are close by and people who are further away. When they are close by, you use the vocative case, which is identical to the nominative case except for some nouns (usually male names). But when they are further away, you use the emphatic suffix -ഏ -E. (Actually, I pretty much always use the emphatic suffix ). This suffix is the topic of today's lesson.

If you want to address somebody who is far away, all you have to do is add this suffix to the end of their name (or whatever word you use to address them):

രാമനേ! raamanE! 'Raman!'

If it's a female name (without any suffix on the end) that ends in a vowel, you add -യേ -yE:

സാറായേ! saarraayE! 'Sarah!'

Otherwise, if it ends in a vowel, then you delete it and add the usual -ഏ -E:

അമ്മേ! ammE! 'Mom!'
കറുത്തമ്മേ! karruththammE! 'Karuthamma!'

This suffix is also used to mean 'only' with emphasis when it modifies a noun phrase. For example, there is a Malayalam short story where the narrator talks about a woman who is so fancy that "she only spoke English. She only smoked cigarettes. She only drank scotch." One thing he does to convey this meaning is to add the emphatic suffix to 'English', 'cigarette', and 'scotch':

ഇംഗ്ലീഷേ imgLiishE
സിഗരെറ്റേ sigarettE
സ്കോച്ചേ skOchchE

It can also be used on the first word in a sentence to start a new thought. In this context, we might say it means something like 'you know' or 'as for...'. For example:

ഞങ്ങളേ...അമേരിക്കയീന്നാ. njangngaLE...amErikkayiinnaa. 'As for us, we're from America.' or 'We, y'know, are from America.'

Next time, I think I'll talk about how to say 'went' (and how to form the past tense of at least some verbs), which will also show how to tell someone where you went.

[vijayjohn]

Tonight, I think I'll just write a really short lesson.

The past tense for most verbs in Malayalam is formed by adding -ഇ -i to the end of the verb stem (that is, taking the -ഉക -uka off the end of the infinitive form and adding -ഇ -i). But if the stem ends in a vowel, in which case the infinitive form will end in either -കുക -kuka or -വുക -vuka, then you form the stem by taking off those endings and adding -യി -yi.

So that's also how we form the verb for 'went': പോയി pOyi (that is, പോവുക pOvuka - വുക vuka + യി yi).

And so if you wanted to say 'where are you going?' you might say എങ്ങോട്ട് പോകുന്നു? engngOTT(u) pOkunnu? but if you wanted to say 'where did you go?' you'd say എങ്ങോട്ട് പോയി? engngOTT(u) pOyi? To say something like 'I went to the store', you'd say ഞാൻ കടയിൽ പോയി njaan kaTayil pOyi.

[vijayjohn]

OK, I hope these lessons aren't overkill or anything, because I'm not sure whether anybody else is reading them anymore, but here's a new one anyway! In this one, I'll talk about how to ask somebody what they're up to, and in the next one, I think I'll start getting into numbers and phrases like 'how much?' that are useful for the purpose of buying stuff.

If you want to ask somebody what they're doing, you might use the verb meaning 'to do'. That verb is ചെയ്യുക cheyyuka. To ask "what are you doing?" (to someone of lower status than, or the same status as, you) you might say, "(നീ) എന്ത് ചെയ്യുകയാ?" (nii) enth(u) cheyyukayaa? or, for short, "എന്ത്‌ ചെയ്യാ?" enth(u) cheyyaa? ചെയ്യുകയാ cheyyukayaa follows the same pattern as other present progressive verbs, so it means 'am/are/is doing' (or in this context, just 'are doing').

But there's a more common way to ask somebody informally what they're up to: എന്തോടുക്കുവാ? enthOTukkuvaa?. I think it might come from എന്തോ എടുക്കുവാ? enthO eTukkuvaa? which would literally mean 'what are you taking?' but I'm not sure.

If you want to give a noncommittal response to either of these questions (as I often do!), you could respond with the expression ഒന്നുമില്ല onnumilla 'nothing'. In this context, it basically means "nothing much" or "nothing in particular."

[vijayjohn]

All right, I guess it's time for another Malayalam lesson, and specifically for one that introduces the word for 'how many', which is:

എത്ര? ethra?

So if you wanted to say 'how much is it?' you'd say എത്രയാ? ethrayaa? or എത്രയാണ് ? ethrayaaN(u)?

Also, if you wanted to say 'how much for X?' you'd put X in dative case and then add എത്രയാ? ethrayaa? or എത്രയാണ് ? ethrayaaN(u)? If you want to say 'what is the price for X?' you literally say 'how much is the price for X?'

'A sack of rice' in Malayalam would be ഒരു ചാക്ക് അരി oru chaakk ari (ഒരു oru means 'one' before a noun (phrase), ചാക്ക് chaakk(u) means 'bag' or 'sack', and അരി ari means 'raw/uncooked rice'), and the word for 'price' is വില vila. So, to provide an example of asking 'what is the price for X?', a casual way of asking 'how much is the price for a sack of rice?' would be:

ഒരു ചാക്ക് അരിയ്ക്ക് വിലയെത്രാ? oru chaakk ariykk(u) vilayethraa?

And once you've asked that question, you'll get an answer that you need to understand! 'One rupee' in Malayalam would be ഒരു രൂപ oru ruupa. However, the word for 'one' (as a numeral all on its own) is not the word we've seen (ഒരു oru) but rather ഒന്ന് onn(u).

The other numbers 2-10 are:
രണ്ട് raNT(u)- 2
മൂന്ന് muunn(u)- 3
നാല് naal(u)- 4
അഞ്ച് anjch(u)- 5
ആറ് aarr(u)- 6
ഏഴ് Ezh(u)- 7
എട്ട് eTT(u)- 8
ഒൻപത് onpath(u) (pronounced more like ombad(u)- 9
പത്ത് pathth(u)- 10

After any number greater than 'one', the word for 'rupees' is രൂപാ ruupaa. Notice the difference between 'rupee' and 'rupees': the singular form (rupee) is രൂപ ruupa with a short vowel at the end, and the plural form (rupees) is രൂപാ ruupaa with a long vowel at the end.

I think next time, I'll go back over that video clip from Chemmeen. At this point, a lot of the grammar in that dialog should be straightforward, and it's mostly a matter of learning some new vocabulary. This new vocabulary isn't likely to be all that useful yet, since we still haven't covered much useful vocabulary, but hopefully, it'll come in handy later (and at least it's something! ).

[Massimiliano B]

I just want to say that I'm reading every post of your Malayalam lessons! I like this language and all the Dravidian languages!

[vijayjohn]

Grazie mille, Massimiliano! It's so nice to know that someone (still) appreciates me posting all these lessons, especially since this particular language also happens to be my heritage language.

All right, now to go back to that dialog from Chemmeen as promised. Let's analyze it line by line (and we can safely ignore the word "Karuthamma" because, as I explained before, that's just the protagonist's name ):

Pareekkutty: കറുത്തമ്മ Karuthamma.

വള്ളത്തിലെ മീനെല്ലാം എനിക്കല്ലേ? vaLLaththtile miinellaam enikkallE? Aren't all the fish in the boat for me?

We've already seen the word എനിക്ക് enikk(u); it means 'to/for me'. We haven't really seen അല്ലേ allE yet; it's the interrogative form of അല്ല alla. You might remember from this lesson that അല്ല alla means 'am not', 'aren't', and 'isn't'. So അല്ലേ allE means 'ain't (I)?/am (I) not?' 'aren't...?' and 'isn't...?'

മീന്‍ miin means 'fish', and എല്ലാം ellaam means 'all'. So മീനെല്ലാം എനിക്കല്ലേ? miinellaam enikkallE? means 'aren't all the fish for me?'

The word for 'boat' in Malayalam is വള്ളം vaLLam. 'In the boat' would be വള്ളത്തില്‍ vaLLaththil. Before a noun, you say വള്ളത്തിലെ vaLLaththile. But don't worry about the words വള്ളത്തിലെ vaLLaththile or അല്ലേ allE for now; we'll talk more about both of these later and just focus on the new vocabulary words for now!

The next line in the dialogue is:

മിണ്ടൂല്ലേ? miNTuullE? Won't you talk (to me)?

മിണ്ടുക miNTuka is a verb that's usually used with ഇല്ല illa. മിണ്ടൂല്ലേ? miNTuullE? is one way of combining the words മിണ്ടും miNTum, which means something like 'will talk', and ഇല്ല. It means 'won't (you) talk?' or 'will (you) remain quiet?' I'll try to bring this word up again when we talk about negating verbs. Feel free to ignore it for now, though!

We've already learned about the next line before:

Karuthamma: ഞാന്‍ പോകട്ടെ. njaan pOkaTTe. I'll get going.

The one after that is a little more complicated:

വല്ലവരും കാണും. vallavarum kaaNum. Somebody will see (us).

വല്ലവരും vallavarum means 'somebody'; we can over this word some more later. കാണുക kaaNuka means 'to see', and കാണും kaaNum means something like 'will see'.

The dialog continues:

P: കറുത്തമ്മ Karuthamma.

K: ഓ? O? Yeah?

ഓ is another way of saying 'yes'.

P: എന്നോട് ഇഷ്ടമാണോ? ennOT ishTamaaNO? Do you love me?

Again, we've seen എന്നോട് ennOT(u) before. ആണോ aaNO is the interrogative form of ആണ് aaN(u) (just like അല്ലേ allE is the interrogative form of അല്ല alla). So ആണോ aaNO means 'am...?' 'aren't...?' or 'isn't...?' Again, we'll worry about this form later, along with അല്ലേ allE.

ഇഷ്ടം ishTam means something like 'liking'. ഇഷ്ടമാണ് means 'like(s)', as in 'I like that'. So എന്നോട് ഇഷ്ടമാണോ? ennOT ishTamaaNO? means 'do you like me?' In this case, it might be more accurately translated as 'do you love me?'

The dialogue continues, mostly with phrases we've already covered:

K: അതെ. athe. Yes.

P: എന്നോട് മാത്രം? ennOT(u) maathram? Only me?

Finally, മാത്രം maathram means 'only'. I guess you could also translate it as 'exclusively', at least in this context. The English word 'only' can't always be translated using the word മാത്രം maathram, but it does work in a lot of cases at least. For now, it's good enough to just remember that മാത്രം maathram means 'only' but may not correspond perfectly to the English word 'only'.

We've already talked about the rest of the dialog:

K: അതെ... athe... Yes...

ഞാന്‍ പോകട്ടെ. njaan pOkaTTe. I'll get going.

P: കറുത്തമ്മ Karuthamma.

K: ഇല്ല. illa. No. (I.e. I won't do/say anything).

ഞാന്‍ പോകട്ടെ. njaan pOkaTTe. I'll get going.

So the new vocabulary from this dialog is as follows:

മീന്‍ miin- fish
എല്ലാം ellaam- all
കാണുക kaaNuka- to see
ഇഷ്ടമാ(ണ്) ishTamaa(N(u))- like(s)
എന്നോട് ഇഷ്ടമാ(ണ്) ennOT ishTamaa(N(u))- like(s) me
മാത്രം maathram- only

[vijayjohn]

Today, with looots of help from this book, I'm going to try to give more rules (in fact, most of the rules) that we can use for forming the past tense forms of verbs. For a lot of verbs, all we have to do is add -(y)i, but for some other verbs, we have to add something else.

There are a lot of other rules involved in forming the past tense of a verb, and this isn't even an exhaustive list (although TBH, I'm sure this would be a lot easier to explain in linguistic terms):

a. If the infinitive form of the verb ends in a short vowel followed by -ടുക -Tuka (that is, if it ends in -അടുക -aTuka, -ഇടുക -iTuka, -ഉടുക -uTuka, -എടുക -eTuka, or -ഒടുക -oTuka), then replace the -ടുക -Tuka at the end with -ട്ടു -TTu. For example, since the verb for 'to put' is ഇടുക iTuka, the past tense form of that verb is ഇട്ടു iTTu. The verb for 'to let go' is വിടുക viTuka, so the past tense form of that verb is വിട്ടു viTTu. Finally, the verb for 'to touch' is തൊടുക thoTuka, so 'touched' is തൊട്ടു thoTTu.

b. If the infinitive ends in -യ്യുക -yyuka, then replace that ending with -യ്തു -ythu. For example, ചെയ്യുക cheyyuka means 'to do', so 'did' is ചെയ്തു cheythu. Similarly, കൊയ്യുക koyyuka means 'to harvest', so 'harvested' is കൊയ്തു koythu.

c. If it (the infinitive) ends in -അക്കുക -akkuka, then replace that ending with -അന്നു -annu, e.g. നടക്കുക naTakkuka 'to walk' - നടന്നു naTannu 'walked', കിടക്കുക kiTakkuka 'to lie down' - കിടന്നു kiTannu 'lay down'.

d. The past tense of ഇരിക്കുക irikkuka 'to sit, reside' (as in എങ്ങിനെ ഇരിക്കുന്നു? engngine irikkunnu? 'how are you?') is ഇരുന്നു irunnu.

e. Apart from that, if the infinitive ends in -ഇക്കുക -ikkuka, then replace that ending with -ഇച്ചു -ichchu, e.g. the past tense of അടിക്കുക aTikkuka 'to beat' is അടിച്ചു aTichchu.

f. If it ends in -ഉക്കുക -ukkuka or -ര്‍ക്കുക -rkkuka, then replace that ending with -ഉത്തു -uththu or -ര്‍ത്തു -rththu respectively, e.g. തണുക്കുക thaNukkuka 'to get cold' - തണുത്തു thaNuththu 'got cold', ഓര്‍ക്കുക Orkkuka 'to remember' - ഓര്‍ത്തു Orththu 'remembered'. Also, the past tense form of ഒക്കുക okkuka 'to manage/be able to' is ഒത്തു oththu ('managed, could').

g. The past tense of നില്‍ക്കുക nilkkuka 'to stand/wait' is നിന്നു ninnu ('stood/waited'). Note that the l is not pronounced in this verb, or in the verbs discussed below under "h."

h. Apart from that, if the infinitive ends in -ല്‍ക്കുക -lkkuka, then replace that ending with -റ്റു -ttu, e.g. തോല്‍ക്കുക thOlkkuka 'to lose' - തോറ്റു thOttu 'lost'.

i. If it ends in -ള്‍ക്കുക -Lkkuka, then replace that ending with -ട്ടു -TTu, e.g. കേള്‍ക്കുക kELkkuka 'to hear' - കേട്ടു kETTu 'heard'. The L in these verbs is not always pronounced; usually, the word for 'to hear' sounds more like കേക്കുക kEkkuka.

j. If it ends in -യുക -yuka, then replace that ending with -ഞ്ഞു -njnju, e.g. പറയുക parrayuka 'to say' - പറഞ്ഞു parranjnju 'said'.

k. If it ends in -രുക -ruka, then replace that ending with -ര്‍ന്നു -rnnu, e.g. തീരുക thiiruka 'to end' - തീര്‍ന്നു thiirnnu 'ended'.

l. If it ends in -ലുക -luka or -ല്ലുക -lluka, then replace that ending (whichever of the two it is) with -ന്നു -nnu, e.g. അകലുക akaluka 'to move away' - അകന്നു akannu 'moved away', കൊല്ലുക kolluka 'to kill' - കൊന്നു konnu.

m. However, the past tense of ചൊല്ലുക cholluka 'to narrate' may be either ചൊന്നു chonnu or ചൊല്ലി cholli ('narrated').

n. If the infinitive ends in -രിക -rika, the present progressive form still ends in -രുന്നു -runnu, and the past tense of the verb is formed by replacing -രിക -rika with -ന്നു -nnu. There are only two verbs I know for which this happens, but let's just discuss the one we've seen so far: വരിക varika 'to come' - വന്നു vannu 'came'.

o. The past tense of കാണുക kaaNuka 'to see' is കണ്ടു kaNTu 'saw'.

p. The past tense of തിന്നുക thinnuka 'to eat' is തിന്നു thinnu 'ate'.

[vijayjohn]

OK, today, I'll talk about how to negate verbs using ഇല്ല illa (which is actually really easy), how to say 'was', and how that helps you form both past progressive verbs (like 'was doing') and pluperfect verbs (like 'had done'). But before I do any of that, I just want to point out that in the last lesson, I translated കാണുക kaaNuka even though we already learned that word in the lesson before that! I don't know why it was so important for me to point that out just now. I just felt like it, I guess.

So, if you want to form the negative of any verb, basically all you have to do is delete the last vowel (if the word ends in a vowel) and then add ഇല്ല illa. For example, since പോയി pOyi means 'went', if you wanted to say 'didn't go', you just say പോയില്ല pOyilla. That's all there is to it for verbs in the past tense or present progressive, which, in fact, are the only ways of forming verbs that we've learned so far. Negating other verbs is a bit more complicated, but we'll probably cover that later.

Now, we've talked about how to form the past tense for various verbs, but we never talked about how to say 'was' (that is, the past tense form of 'be'). The way you do that is by starting with the word for 'became', which is ആയി aayi (the past tense form of ആവുക aavuka). (Actually, that may not really be where the verb for 'was' comes from, but hey, it works, and this is a useful word you need to know anyway! ) Then you add the past tense form of ഇരിക്കുക irikkuka 'to sit', which, as I said in the last lesson, is ഇരുന്നു irunnu 'sat'. So 'was' in Malayalam is ആയിരുന്നു aayirunnu.

This word is useful for forming some other verbs. For example, let's say you want to form the past progressive (or past continuous) form of a verb. That is to say, you want to say 'was doing', 'was seeing', 'was going', or something along those lines. To do that, all you have to do is add ആയിരുന്നു aayirunnu 'was' to the infinitive and put y in the middle (just so you don't have two vowels right next to each other). For example, 'to do' in Malayalam is ചെയ്യുക cheyyuka, so 'was doing' would be ചെയ്യുകയായിരുന്നു cheyyukayaayirunnu.

In casual speech or informal contexts and such, people often drop the ukay part of such verbs (just like they say things like ചെയ്യാ cheyyaa instead of ചെയ്യുന്നു cheyyunnu 'am/are/is doing'). So for instance, for 'was doing', they would just say ചെയ്യായിരുന്നു cheyyaayirunnu. It's not all that much shorter, but it's still shorter!

Finally, if you want to form the pluperfect (or past perfect) form of a verb, e.g. 'I had done', all you have to do is take the past tense form of the verb, delete the last vowel, and add ആയിരുന്നു aayirunnu. For example, 'did' in Malayalam is ചെയ്തു cheythu, so 'had done' is ചെയ്തായിരുന്നു cheythaayirunnu.

[vijayjohn]

Today, I think I'll just make a note about talking about where someone went or is going, and then introduce the numbers 11-19. To be honest, I think Malayalees are just using English numerals more and more, so you can speak fluent Malayalam and still just use English numerals. Nevertheless, I think it's useful to know the Malayalam ones just in case you either run into someone who doesn't speak any English (including not knowing the numerals), or even just to impress us Malayalees in general.

As I understand it, the word എവിടെ eviTe means 'where' just in general. എങ്ങോട്ട് engngOTT(u) specifically means 'where to'. So while you could say എങ്ങോട്ട് പോകുന്നു? engngOTT(u) pOkunnu? or എങ്ങോട്ട് പോയി? engngOTT(u) pOyi? you could instead say എവിടെ പോകുന്നു? eviTe pOkunnu? or എവിടെ പോയി? eviTe pOyi? and it would mean the same thing. However, എങ്ങോട്ടാ? engngOTTaa? basically means 'where to?' or, in other words, 'where are you going?' So that's different from എവിടാ? eviTaa? which just means 'where?' (or more literally, 'where is' or even 'where's').

Aaand, now for some more numbers. Basically, the way you form any number between 11 and 19 (including those two) is by taking the number that you're adding to 10 and putting something before it. If that number begins with a vowel, you put pathin- before it; if it begins with a consonant, you put pathi- before it.

For example, 1 is ഒന്ന് onn(u), so 11 is പതിനൊന്ന് pathinonn(u). 3 is മൂന്ന് muunn(u), so 13 is പതിമൂന്ന് pathimuunn(u).

There are two exceptions to this rule, namely 12 and 19. 12 in Malayalam is പന്ത്രണ്ട് panthraNT(u) so not *പതിരണ്ട് pathiraNT(u). 19 is just 'ten nine'. 10 is പത്ത് pathth(u), and 9 is ഒൻപത് onpath(u), so 19 is പത്തൊൻപത് paththonpath(u).

So, the numerals 11-19 are:

പതിനൊന്ന് pathinonn(u)- 11
പന്ത്രണ്ട് panthraNT(u)- 12
പതിമൂന്ന് pathimuunn(u)- 13
പതിനാല് pathinaal(u)- 14
പതിനഞ്ച് pathinanjch(u)- 15
പതിനാറ് pathinaarr(u)- 16
പതിനേഴ്‌ pathinEzh(u)- 17
പതിനെട്ട് pathineTT(u)- 18
പത്തൊൻപത് paththonpath(u)- 19

[vijayjohn]

Today, I'll go over yet another word that means 'where' and some more numbers (the tens, from 20 to 80).

So, as I mentioned before, the easiest way to ask where something is is to just use the word എവിടെ eviTe, but we've already seen that there's another word that's used specifically to mean 'where to'. There's also a word that specifically means something more like 'where at':

എന്തിയേ enthiyE

I usually hear my parents or uncles using this word when they're wondering where somebody or something is. They'll just name the person or thing they're looking for, followed immediately by this word.

Anyway, here are the other numbers. The word for 'twenty' is ഇരുപത് irupath(u), which literally means something like 'two tens'.

To form any number between any two multiples of ten in Malayalam, if the number (between 1-9) being added to the lower multiple begins with a vowel, then replace the -ത് -th(u) at the end of the word for that lower multiple with -ത്ത് -thth followed by the number being added. If the number being added begins with a consonant, then replace the -ത് with -ത്തി -ththi instead. If the number being added is ഒന്ന് onn(u) (one), then you may replace the -ത് with either the aforementioned -ത്ത് or with -ത്തിയ് -ththiy.

For example, 'twenty-one' may be expressed as either ഇരുപത്തിയൊന്ന് iruppaththiyonn(u) or, more simply, just ഇരുപത്തൊന്ന് irupaththonn(u).

Since the word for 'two' (രണ്ട് raNT(u)) begins with a consonant, 'twenty-two' is ഇരുപത്തിരണ്ട് irupaththiraNT(u). Same with 'twenty-three' (ഇരുപത്തിമൂന്ന് irupaththimuunn(u)) and 'twenty-four' (ഇരുപത്തിനാല് irupaththinaal(u)), because the name for the second digit in both of those also begins with a consonant.

But the word for 'five' begins with a vowel (actually, the words for all numbers 5-9 do ), so we don't need that i before it. Thus, 'twenty-five' is just ഇരുപത്തഞ്ച് irupaththanjch(u).

The other multiples of ten behave the exact same way, until we get to 90. So here are the tens from 30 to 80 (inclusive):
മുപ്പത് muppath(u)- 30
നാല്പത് naalpath(u)- 40
അൻപത് anpath(u)- 50 (this is one way to pronounce it; another is ambath(u) (or ampath(u) if you prefer the [p] is pronounced like a [b] anyway since it comes after an [m]))
അറുപത് arrupath(u)- 60
എഴുപത് ezhupath(u)- 70
എണ്‍പത് eNpath(u)- 80

90 ends differently (I think the word for 90 literally means something like 'ten away from a hundred'), so I think I'll cover that along with the hundreds next time. I'm not sure what else I'll talk about next time, but I'll probably find something!

[happycat]

Great lessons Chettan! It's not easy to find material about Malayalam grammar, I'm really happy to have found your lessons. Just started working through your older posts. You've got a new reader now, thank you Vijay!
Alexander

[vijayjohn]

Hi, Alexander, and thanks! Sorry I took sooooo long to write here, but I'm glad you like these lessons! And yeah, I've always had a hard time finding material about Malayalam grammar, too (or really, just about Malayalam in general...), so that's why I started these lessons.

All right, so today, I'll cover the numerals 90-899 (inclusive) and also talk about how you say you are (or were) in the middle of doing something. Note, by the way, that when we covered the tens, all of those numbers were formed from the words both for 'ten' and for the number it was being multiplied by (just like English numbers). For example, മുപ്പത് muppath(u) comes from both 3 (മൂന്ന് muunn(u)) and 10 (പത്ത് pathth(u))

The word for 90 in Malayalam is തൊണ്ണൂറ് thoNNuurr(u). If you're adding it to any number 1-9, then replace the റ് rr(u) at the end with -റ്റി -tti followed by the number being added. If the number being added begins with a vowel, then replace the റ് rr(u) at the end with -റ്റിയ് -ttiy. So 91 would be തൊണ്ണൂറ്റിയൊന്ന് thoNNuuttiyonn(u), 92 would be തൊണ്ണൂറ്റിരണ്ട് thoNNuuttiraNT(u), and so on.

The same goes for all of the hundreds up to (and excluding) 900 (and these also are formed from other numbers; for example, 200 is just the prefix for 'two' combined with 'hundred'):
നൂറ് nuurr(u)- 100
ഇരുനൂറ് irunuurr(u)- 200
മൂന്നൂറ് muunnuurr(u)- 300
നാനൂറ് naanuurr(u)- 400
അഞ്ഞൂറ് anjnjuurr(u)- 500
അറുനൂറ് arrunuurr(u)- 600
എഴുനൂറ് ezhunuurr(u)- 700
എണ്ണൂറ് eNNuurr(u)- 800

We can go over 900 and higher numerals later. For now, I think it's best to move on to talking about how to say you are or were in the middle of doing something.

The way you do this is simply by taking the past tense form and adding -കൊണ്ട് koNT(u) + the appropriate form of the verb ഇരിക്കുക irikkuka.

In other words, if you want to say 'am/are/is in the middle of [doing something]', you take the verb (for example, 'eat'), use the past tense form of the verb (so 'ate', or in Malayalam, തിന്നു thinnu), and add -കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നു -koNTirikkunnu. So 'am/are/is in the middle of eating' is തിന്നുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നു thinnukoNTirikkunnu.

In spoken Malayalam, the uko part of such verbs is often reduced to just O, so people often say തിന്നോണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നു thinnONTirikkunnu. This is how I generally pronounce such verbs, although I don't think it's the way I usually see it written.

Instead of -കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നു -koNTirikkunnu, you could add -കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ് -koNTirikkukayaaN(u) or -കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാ -koNTirikkukayaa in spoken language, and that means the same thing.

If you want to say 'was in the middle of' doing something, you do the same thing, except this time you instead add -കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു -koNTirikkukayaayirunnu. So "I was in the middle of eating fish" would be ഞാൻ മീൻ തിന്നുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു njaan miin thinnukoNTirikkukayaayirunnu or, just a tiny bit more briefly, ഞാൻ മീൻ തിന്നോണ്ടിരിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു njaan miin thinnONTirikkukayaayirunnu.

Next time I'll go over more numerals, starting from 900. Maybe I'll even go through all of them.

[vijayjohn]

This time, I think I'll go over a few different things. In addition to covering the rest of the numerals, I'll also talk about how to make yes/no questions in Malayalam. I'll also start talking about the future tense.

First, let's finish up the numbers. The word for 900 in Malayalam is തൊള്ളായിരം thoLLaayiram, i.e. 100 away from one thousand. If you want to combine it with another number, you say തൊള്ളായിരത്തി- thoLLaayiraththi-. For example, 901 in Malayalam is തൊള്ളായിരത്തിയൊന്ന് thoLLaayiraththiyonn(u).

1,000 is ആയിരം aayiram, so the same as 900 without the thoLL part at the beginning.

Most of the thousands are formed in a pretty predictable way, but some of them are not entirely predictable, so here are all of the thousands:

2,000 is രണ്ടായിരം raNTaayiram, just a combination of the words for 'two' and 'thousand'.
3,000 is മൂവായിരം muuvaayiram.
4,000 is നാലായിരം naalaayiram, just formed from 'four' and 'thousand', just like 2,000 was formed from 'two' and 'thousand'. The only other numeral like this is 6,000.
5,000 is അയ്യായിരം ayyaayiram.
6,000 is ആറായിരം aarraayiram.
7,000- ഏഴായിരം Ezhaayiram
8,000- എള്ളായിരം ellaayiram
9,000- ഒൻപത്തായിരം onpaththaayiram
10,000- പത്തായിരം paththaayiram
11,000- പതിനോരായിരം pathinOraayiram
12,000- പന്തീരായിരം panthiiraayiram

The rest of the thousands are pretty straightforward and regular, although remember the forms for 3,000, etc. (but not 9,000!), which are also used here:

13,000- പതിമൂവായിരം pathimuuvaayiram
14,000- പതിനാലായിരം pathinaalaayiram
15,000- പതിനയ്യായിരം pathinayyaayiram
16,000- പതിനാറായിരം pathinaarraayiram
17,000- പതിനേഴായിരം pathinEzhaayiram
18,000- പതിനെള്ളായിരം pathineLLaayiram
19,000- പതിനൊൻപത്തായിരം pathinonpaththaayiram

20,000- ഇരുപത്തായിരം irupaththaayiram
21,000- ഇരുപത്തിയൊന്നായിരം irupaththiyonnaayiram
22,000- ഇരുപത്തിരണ്ടായിരം irupaththiraNTaayiram
23,000- ഇരുപത്തിമൂവായിരം irupaththimuuvaayiram
24,000- ഇരുപത്തിനാലായിരം irupaththinaalaayiram
25,000- ഇരുപത്തിയയ്യായിരം irupaththiyayyaayiram
26,000- ഇരുപത്തിയാറായിരം irupaththiyaarraayiram
27,000- ഇരുപത്തിയേഴായിരം irupaththiyEzhaayiram
28,000- ഇരുപത്തിയെള്ളായിരം irupaththiyeLLaayiram
29,000- ഇരുപത്തിയൊൻപത്തായിരം irupaththiyonpaththaayiram

30,000- മുപ്പത്തായിരം muppaththaayiram

The words for 31,000, 32,000, etc. are formed just like the ones for 21,000, except instead of conjoining words with ഇരുപത്തി- irupaththi-, you stick them to മുപ്പത്തി- muppaththi-. The same goes for all these other numbers:

40,000- നാല്പത്തായിരം naalpaththaayiram
50,000- അൻപത്തായിരം anpaththaayiram
60,000- അറുപത്തായിരം arrupaththaayiram
70,000- എഴുപത്തായിരം ezhupaththaayiram
80,000- എണ്‍പത്തായിരം eNpaththaayiram
90,000- തൊണ്ണൂറായിരം thoNNuurraayiram

Finally, there's a special word for 100,000 (in all Indian languages, not just Malayalam. In Indian English, it's "lakh" or "lac"). In Malayalam, the word for 100,000 or "one lakh/lac" is ഒരു ലക്ഷം oru laksham. The word for 100,001 is just ഒരു ലക്ഷം ഒന്ന് oru laksham onn(u), because after the word ലക്ഷം laksham, you can just add any number to that; the word itself doesn't change. 200,000 is രണ്ട് ലക്ഷം raNT(u) laksham.

One million is ten lakhs or പത്ത് ലക്ഷം pathth(u) laksham. There's also a special word for 10,000,000 (ten million), and that's what they call "crore" in Indian English. In Malayalam, the word for ten million/one crore is ഒരു കോടി oru kOTi. It works just like ലക്ഷം laksham, so 10,000,001 is ഒരു കോടി ഒന്ന് oru kOTi onn(u), etc.

Finally, the word for 'trillion' in Malayalam is ലക്ഷംകോടി lakshamkOTi, literally 'one lakh crores' (because one hundred thousand times ten million is a trillion ).

So by now, in addition to covering the numbers, we've talked about making various verb forms and even some question words, but we never talked about how to make yes/no questions. In this lesson, we can talk about how to do that.

Generally, the way you make a yes/no question in Malayalam is pretty easy; you just take a statement, and to make it into a yes/no question, you replace the last vowel on the verb with -ഓ -O. This works with all positive verbs (i.e. verbs that aren't negated). For example, അവർ പോയി avar pOyi means 'they went', but to say 'did they go?' you'd say അവർ പോയോ? avar pOyO?

Now, if the verb is negated, as we saw earlier, it will end in either അല്ല alla or ഇല്ല illa. If you want to make these into questions, you replace the last vowel with -ഏ -E instead. അല്ലേ? allE? means something like 'isn't it?' and the negative form for ഇല്ല illa is ഇല്ലേ illE.

So for example, in that clip from Chemmeen I posted last year, the first thing Pareekkutty asks is വള്ളത്തിലെ മീനെല്ലാം എനിക്കല്ലേ? vaLLaththile miinellaam enikkallE? 'Aren't all the fish in the boat for me?' The എനിക്കല്ലേ? enikkallE? part means something like 'aren't they for me?' Then when she doesn't say anything, he asks, മിണ്ടൂല്ലേ? miNDuullE? 'Won't you say anything to me?' The -ല്ലേ -llE there is short for ഇല്ലേ illE. His next question after that is എന്നോട് ഇഷ്ടമാണോ? ennOT ishTamaaNO?. Of course, that means 'do (you) like me?'

We've also talked about both the present progressive and the past tense, but we never talked about the future tense, which is pretty much the only tense used in that dialog. That's because the future tense is a bit complicated in Malayalam. For example, there are a few different ways of saying "I will go" depending on what exactly you mean. Do you mean "I promise I will go. I'm practically willing to stake my life on this promise!" or do you just mean "well, I'll go, but don't hold your breath or anything!"? Or do you mean something else like "oh, all right, quit whining! I'll go already"? There's a different verb form for each of those.

So there's one way of expressing that something will definitely happen in the future. To make a verb that expresses this, you add -ഉം -um to the verb stem. For example, 'to see' in Malayalam is കാണുക kaaNuka (as we saw earlier), and 'will see' (in this sense) is കാണും kaaNum. So in the dialog from Chemmeen, when Karuthamma says, "വല്ലവരും കാണും (vallavarum kaaNum 'somebody will see')," she's saying that somebody will definitely see them together near the pond if they hang around there too long.

This is also the verb form you use for expressing that something happens regularly/habitually in the present tense. For example, if you wanted to say "I always see them," you would say ഞാൻ അവരെ എപ്പോഴും കാണും njaan avare eppOzhum kaaNum. (എപ്പോഴും eppOzhum means 'always' and is usually pronounced more like (y)eppuzhum).

Next time, I'll talk about making the negated forms of these future tense verbs, such as Pareekkutty's line മിണ്ടൂല്ലേ? miNTuullE? 'Won't (you) talk (to me)?'

[Meera]

thanks for the lesson

[vijayjohn]

Thanks, Meera! I still plan to keep posting lessons here, heheh.

[sshashwatt]

Hi,
I came across this forum while searching for Malayalam grammar. A big THANKS to you. You have cleared quite a few doubts I had e.g. Past tense verb forms, Usage of "AaN(U)" etc.

I am learning Malayalam for last few weeks (my mother tongue is Hindi, Have studied Sanskrit in school), i can read malayalam script, understand 40% of movies dialogues (am a big malayalam cinema fan). I am using couple of online resources and have listed down grammar rules, i guess regular practice, vocabulary building and Malayalam tv channels should help further.

I have few doubts related to couple of post you shared earlier, request you to take some time out for me.

1. You have added "Y" between Infinitive verb form and aanu/ aayirunnu/ aayirikkum, is it in accordance with sandhi rules you suggested earlier, where "Y" is added after "A/ AA" ending nouns? Or Sandhi rules are applicable only to Nouns?

2. For numerals you had suggested "If that number begins with a consonant, you put pathin- before it; if it begins with a vowel, you put pathi- before it." for numbers 11-19. Isn't it the other way round? Or am I missing something?

3. Please suggest any grammar book (preferably e-book) which I can buy/ download in India.

4. cheyyukayaaN(u) > cheyyukayaa > cheyya AND pokukayaayirunnu > pokaayirunnu. What would be spoken form for cheyyukayaayirikkum? Also, spoken form for Continuous form koNT-irikkunnu/ koNT-irunnu/ koNT-irikkum and Perfective irikkunnu/ irunnu/ irikkum please. It would be better if you can summarise spoken forms in a different post like you covered Past tense verb forms.

5. Need your suggestion, I am in Chennai so it's easier to learn Tamil as I have friends in office I can communicate with, however I do not want to stop learning Malayalam and start Tamil. Somehow I feel it's easier for me to learn Malayalam than Tamil (Sanskrit vocabulary helps, and then i have plans to settle down in Kerala!!) Can I learn both at the same time? Is it wise to do so? I have basic knowledge about Tamil grammar and i also understand that basic vocab, Grammar rules like Case suffix etc are similar if not same. I am planning to get hold of basic Malayalam first then learn tamil by preparing a comparison sheet, like Ablative Malayalam suffix- Ninn(u), Tamil- Illrundu..and so on. Your views please.

[vijayjohn]

Hi,
I came across this forum while searching for Malayalam grammar. A big THANKS to you. You have cleared quite a few doubts I had e.g. Past tense verb forms, Usage of "AaN(U)" etc.

That's great to hear! I'm so glad to hear that you found these lessons helpful. Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me know; I really appreciate it!

I am learning Malayalam for last few weeks (my mother tongue is Hindi, Have studied Sanskrit in school), i can read malayalam script, understand 40% of movies dialogues (am a big malayalam cinema fan).

Wow, sounds like you're doing a great job! Keep going! I'm really happy to hear that you're learning our language.

I am using couple of online resources and have listed down grammar rules, i guess regular practice, vocabulary building and Malayalam tv channels should help further.

Good luck!

I have few doubts related to couple of post you shared earlier, request you to take some time out for me.

Absolutely. And sorry for taking so long to respond. It took me a while to see this post. I really should check this forum more often!

1. You have added "Y" between Infinitive verb form and aanu/ aayirunnu/ aayirikkum, is it in accordance with sandhi rules you suggested earlier, where "Y" is added after "A/ AA" ending nouns? Or Sandhi rules are applicable only to Nouns?

Yeah, it's just like what happened with nouns. Whenever you have something that ends with a vowel combined with something else that begins with a vowel, you add "y," basically.

2. For numerals you had suggested "If that number begins with a consonant, you put pathin- before it; if it begins with a vowel, you put pathi- before it." for numbers 11-19. Isn't it the other way round? Or am I missing something?

Yes, it is the other way around. I'll fix that. Thanks for pointing that out!

3. Please suggest any grammar book (preferably e-book) which I can buy/ download in India.

Hmm...well, I have found linguistic papers on Google Books, but those aren't whole grammars. It's so hard to find good grammar books on Malayalam, unfortunately. I did find this after a quick search, though. Unfortunately, it looks like it could be a little confusing, so be warned.

Maybe I'll look through this one more carefully and let you know if I find anything better.

4. cheyyukayaaN(u) > cheyyukayaa > cheyya AND pokukayaayirunnu > pokaayirunnu. What would be spoken form for cheyyukayaayirikkum?

Well, that is something people actually say, but when they're speaking faster, they may say cheyyaayirikkum (just like they may say cheyyaa).

Also, spoken form for Continuous form koNT-irikkunnu/ koNT-irunnu/ koNT-irikkum

That would be ONT-irikkunnu/ONT-irunnu/ONT-irikkum.

and Perfective irikkunnu/ irunnu/ irikkum please.

Hmm, those aren't perfective suffixes; they're part of the continuous form, and they're also forms of the verb meaning 'to sit' (irikkuka). So I don't think they have short forms really...

It would be better if you can summarise spoken forms in a different post like you covered Past tense verb forms.

OK, I'll try to do that then.

5. Need your suggestion, I am in Chennai so it's easier to learn Tamil as I have friends in office I can communicate with, however I do not want to stop learning Malayalam and start Tamil. Somehow I feel it's easier for me to learn Malayalam than Tamil (Sanskrit vocabulary helps, and then i have plans to settle down in Kerala!!) Can I learn both at the same time? Is it wise to do so? I have basic knowledge about Tamil grammar and i also understand that basic vocab, Grammar rules like Case suffix etc are similar if not same. I am planning to get hold of basic Malayalam first then learn tamil by preparing a comparison sheet, like Ablative Malayalam suffix- Ninn(u), Tamil- Illrundu..and so on. Your views please.

Hmm, I'm not sure, to be honest. You might be able to learn both at the same time. They're very closely related. In fact, personally, the problem that I have learning Tamil is that I'm not sure what exactly the differences between Malayalam and Tamil are! But you might still be able to learn both of them at the same time, especially since you're in India right now and Kerala is not all that far away from Chennai anyway.

There are some differences that I think are at least relatively clear, and they're probably good things to look out for. For example, as far as I know, the sociative case marker -OT(u) in Tamil means something completely different from what it means in Malayalam. In Tamil, it means 'with' and is used for talking about things you do along with other people (or animals). For example, in Tamil, naan avarOT(u) naTanthEn means 'I walked with him/her'. In Malayalam, as I said earlier, it means 'to' and can only be used with verbs that have something to do with speaking. (If you wanted to say 'I walked with him/her' in Malayalam, you could say njaan avarOTukuuTe naTannu, but these days, people usually say njaan avaruTekuuTe naTannu. So they used to use the sociative suffix along with another suffix/postposition -kuuTe, which means something like 'along', but now they tend to use the genitive suffix with it instead).

[sshashwatt]

Thanks a ton for your reply! I was checking this forum twice a day!

Few more questions!!

1). As you mentioned,
cheyyukayaaN(u) > cheyyukayaa > cheyya
pokukayaayirunnu > pokaayirunnu
cheyyukayaayirikkum > cheyyaayirikkum
I understand that “ukay” part is not considered while speaking
paryuka- paryukayaaN(u)> paryaaN(u) > paryaa
ooduka- oodukayaaN(u)>oodaaN(u) > ooda
kolluka-kollukayaaN(u)>kollaaN(u) > kolla
Sambadikkuka - sambadikkukayaaN(u)> sambaadikkaaN(u) > sambaadikka
Is that correct?

2) How to make continuous tense sentences?

3) I understand that “undu-undayirunnu-undaakum” is used for “have/had/will have” sentences.
I have a car. Enikk oru car undu.
What does “padhikunnuUND” mean then? (undu along with tense marked verb?) Does it have same meaning as “Padhikunnu (reads)”

4) “Am/ Are/ Is/ Was/ Were” sentences are made using “aaN-aayirunnu-aayirikkum”
I am a Malayalee. Njaan malayaliaaN.
Once used with Infinitive verb (ex. ooduka) it denotes continuous aspect.
Njaan oodukayaaN/ oodukayaayirunn.

“Past tense marked verb + oNTirikkunnu/ oNTirunnu/ oNTirikkum” is also used for making continuous sentences. avaL padichu-oNTirikkunnu.
What is the difference between both?
Is “padhikkuka+y+aaN(u)”= “padichu+oNTirikkunnu”

[vijayjohn]

Thanks a ton for your reply! I was checking this forum twice a day!

Oh wow, then I'm really sorry! I'll answer your questions right away then.

Also, I never said this before, but welcome to UniLang! Or since this is a thread in Malayalam, I can say 'welcome' to you in Malayalam: സ്വാഗതം svaagatham. And thanks for asking all these questions; it's great to see that someone is actually learning stuff here and finally asking questions about it! That's what this thread is for.

Few more questions!!

Ask away! I'll answer your questions as well as I can.

1). As you mentioned,
cheyyukayaaN(u) > cheyyukayaa > cheyya
pokukayaayirunnu > pokaayirunnu
cheyyukayaayirikkum > cheyyaayirikkum
I understand that “ukay” part is not considered while speaking
paryuka- paryukayaaN(u)> paryaaN(u) > paryaa
ooduka- oodukayaaN(u)>oodaaN(u) > ooda
kolluka-kollukayaaN(u)>kollaaN(u) > kolla
Sambadikkuka - sambadikkukayaaN(u)> sambaadikkaaN(u) > sambaadikka
Is that correct?

Yes, more or less, and even the full forms are totally acceptable in spoken Malayalam, just less commonly used by native speakers. I know this is kind of nitpicky, but 'to say' in Malayalam is parrayuka, though. And I think we're more likely to say pOvaayirunnu actually. I find that often when people are speaking, especially when the root is monosyllabic (e.g. OD-, koll-), they'll keep the "(u)" vowel in there, so it sounds more like OD(u)aaN(u) or OD(u)aa (I don't know whether you're familiar with IPA or not, but if you are, it would be [oːˈɖɰaːɳɯ] or [oːˈɖɰaː] in IPA).

2) How to make continuous tense sentences?

Well, the same way that you make any other sentence, but with the continuous tense verb at the end. So you have subject + object + verb in continuous tense. For example, if you wanted to say "I'm looking at that tree," the verb 'to look (at)' in Malayalam is നോക്കുക nOkkuka and takes a direct object, so you could say any of the following:
ഞാൻ ആ മരം നോക്കുന്നു. njaan aa maram nOkkunnu.
ഞാൻ ആ മരം നോക്കുകയാണ്. njaan aa maram nOkkukayaaN(u).
ഞാൻ ആ മരം നോക്കുകയാ. njaan aa maram nOkkukayaa.
ഞാൻ ആ മരം നോക്കുവാ. njaan aa maram nOkkuvaa. (As you probably guessed, nOkkukayaa and nOkkuvaa are colloquial, i.e. specific to spoken Malayalam ).
All of those literally mean "I that tree am-looking-at."

If you wanted to say "I'm going to the store," the way you usually do this is by literally saying "I'm going in the store," so you would literally say "I in-the-store am-going," which, as I said once before, is:
ഞാൻ കടയിൽ പോകുന്നു. njaan kaTayil pOkunnu.
You can also say:
ഞാൻ കടയിൽ പോകുകയാണ്. njaan kaTayil pOkukayaaN(u).
Or even:
ഞാൻ കടയിൽ പോവുകയാണ്. njaan kaTayil pOvukayaaN(u) (in fact, I think this sounds better to me).
And more informally, you can say:
ഞാൻ കടയിൽ പോകുകയാ njaan kaTayil pOkukayaa
or ഞാൻ കടയിൽ പോവുകയാ njaan kaTayil pOvukayaa
or ഞാൻ കടയിൽ പൊവ്വാ. njaan kaTayil povvaa.

If you want to say "I'm buying rice at the market," you'd literally say "I at-the-market rice am-buying":
ഞാൻ ചന്തയിൽ അരി മേടിക്കുന്നു. njaan chanthayil ari mETikkunnu.
ഞാൻ ചന്തയിൽ അരി മേടിക്കുകയാണ്. njaan chanthayil ari mETikkukayaaN(u).
ഞാൻ ചന്തയിൽ അരി മേടിക്കുകയാ. njaan chanthayil ari mETikkukayaa.
or
njaan chanthayil ari mETikyaa (this isn't usually written out, but sometimes within dialogs in novels, when writers want to represent the character's pronunciation more accurately, they might write something like this as ഞാൻ ചന്തയിൽ അരി മേടിക്യാ).

Note that in Malayalam (and in Tamil), you can drop the subject sometimes if it's clear from context who the subject is, e.g. if somebody asked you where you were going or what you were doing, you may drop the subject in your reply because it's already assumed that you're talking about yourself.

3) I understand that “undu-undayirunnu-undaakum” is used for “have/had/will have” sentences.
I have a car. Enikk oru car undu.
What does “padhikunnuUND” mean then? (undu along with tense marked verb?) Does it have same meaning as “Padhikunnu (reads)”

Yes. I think it's more common to not use uNT(u), though.

4) “Am/ Are/ Is/ Was/ Were” sentences are made using “aaN-aayirunnu-aayirikkum”
I am a Malayalee. Njaan malayaliaaN.
Once used with Infinitive verb (ex. ooduka) it denotes continuous aspect.
Njaan oodukayaaN/ oodukayaayirunn.

“Past tense marked verb + oNTirikkunnu/ oNTirunnu/ oNTirikkum” is also used for making continuous sentences. avaL padichu-oNTirikkunnu.
What is the difference between both?
Is “padhikkuka+y+aaN(u)”= “padichu+oNTirikkunnu”

Not quite - the meaning is similar but not exactly the same. paThikk(uka)yaaN(u) means 'am/are/is studying' or 'am/are/is learning', but paThichchONTirikkunnu means that somebody is in the process of studying or learning, or in the middle of studying. For example, suppose someone was asking you what languages you're currently studying - maybe not at this exact moment, but still, at this point in your life. Then they would use paThikk(uka)yaaN(u), and you can use that verb in your reply, too, if you want or need to. But suppose instead that someone was talking to you and you wanted to tell them that you're studying Malayalam right now, or that you're in the middle of a Malayalam lesson or something. Then you would use paThichchONTirikkunnu (or paThichchONTirikkukayaa, etc.) instead.

[sshashwatt]

Hi, I had started learning Malayalam 1.5 years back but lost interest due to non-availability of good books/ courses. Earlier I had referred one of the grammar e-book which was essentially a comparison b/w Hindi and Malayalam. Here is the link http://www.languageinindia.com/sep2002/chap1.html

Few more questions.....
1) I am trying to identify patterns here
“Ukay” not used- Pokkuka, Cheyyuka

cheyyukayaaN>cheyyaN>cheyya
cheyyukayaayirunnu>cheyyayirunnu
cheyyukayaarikkum>cheyyaarikkum

“Kay” not used for monosyllabic verb roots- ooduka, kolluka, nokkuka etc.

nokkukayaaN>nokkuaaN>nokkuaa> nokkuva
oodukayaaN>ooduaaN>ooduaa> can we say ooduvaa?
oodukayaayirunnu>ooduaayirunnu> can we say ooduvaayirunnu?
kollukayaaN>kolluaaN> kolluaa> can we say kolluva?
kollukayaayirunnu>kolluaayirunnu> can we say kolluvaayirunnu?

But, mETikkukayaaN>mETikkuaaN>mETikya
I did’nt quite understand this? Why “Y” used here? Is there a pattern? Or different people say it differently? Am I going too fast and I should concentrate on grammar mainly?

2) Perfective aspect: They have/ had/ Will have Studied. I am confused here. One of the e-books had suggested to use a) and b) listed below

a) Avar Padichu-irikkunnu/ padichu-irunnu/ padichu-irrikkum Is this right? Past form of verb + irikkunnu/ irunnu/ irrikkum

b) Padichu-iTTuNT/ padichu-iTTuNTaayirunnu/ padichu-iTTuNTaakkum Or this is the right way? Past form + iTTuNT/ iTTuNTaayirunnu/ iTTuNTaakkum

c) Or in a way you had suggested in one of your posts earlier
cheythu + aayirunnu > cheythaayirunnu (Past tense verb + aayirunnu)

padichu + aaN(u)> padichuaaN> padichuaa
padichu+aayirunnu> padichaayirunnu
padichu+aayirikkum> padichaayirikkum

3) In one of posts you had suggested the way to make past continuous sentences using –koNTirikkukayaayirunnu.
Thinnu+koNTirikkukayaayirunnu > thinnONTirikkukayaayirunnu

Can we also use - koNT-irunnu here.
Thinnu+koNTirunnu> thinnoNTirunnu

4) This much/ That much/ How much (For Amount)
Itna/ Utna/ Kitna? (Hindi) and, Ivvalvu/ Avvalvu/ Evvalvu? (Tamil)
Similarly, This much/ That much/ How much (For Number)
Itna/ Utna/ Kitna? (Hindi) and Ittanai/ Attanai/ Ettanai? (Tamil)
What are the similar words in Malayalam?