Tulu Lesson 6: Numbers, Ordinal Numbers, Telling the Time

namaskAra! encha ullar?

Hopefully you are enjoying the lessons. Please let me know if you have any questions that you think I can answer!

Last week we learnt numbers from 1 to 20 in Tulu. Today we are going to learn more numbers, ordinal numbers and how to tell the time.  

onji – 1

raDD – 2

mUji – 3

nAl – 4

ain – 5

Aji – 6

El – 7

enma – 8

orumba – 9

patt – 10

pattonji – 11

padiraDD – 12

padimUji – 13

padinAl – 14

padinain – 15

padinAji – 16

padinEl – 17

padinenma – 18

padinorumba – 19

irva – 20

irvattonji - 21

irvatraDD - 22

irvatmUji - 23

irvatnAl - 24

irvattain - 25

irvattAji - 26

irvattEl - 27

iravattenma - 28

irvattorumba - 29

muppa - 30

muppattonji - 31

muppatraDD - 32

…………
muppattorumba - 39

nalpa - 40

nalpattonji - 41

nalpatraDD - 42

………..

nalpattorumba - 49

aiva - 50

aivattonji - 51

aivatraDD - 52

…………..

aivattorumba - 59

ajipa - 60

ajipattonji - 61

ajipatraDD - 62

………….

ajipattorumba - 69

elpa - 70

elpattonji - 71

elpatraDD - 72

………….

elpattorumba - 79

enpa - 80

enpattonji - 81

enpatraDD - 82

……………

enpattorumba - 89

sonpa - 90

sonpattonji - 91

sonpatraDD - 92

…………..

sonpattorumba - 99

nUdu - 100

nUta onji - 101

nUta raDD - 102

nUta patt - 110

nUta sonpa - 190

irnUdu - 200

irnUta onji - 201

irnUta sonpa - 290

munnUdu - 300

nAlnUdu - 400

ainUdu - 500

AjinUdu - 600

ElnUdu - 700

enmanUdu - 800

orumbanUdu - 900

sAra – 1000

sArattonji - 1001

patt sAra – 10,000

laksha – 1,00,000

patt laksha - 10,00,000

kOTi – 1,00,00,000

These are the cardinal numbers in Tulu. We use cardinal numbers for counting or to tell ‘how many’ of something or to tell the quantity.

Examples:

Tulu: raDD kai
English: two hands
Kannada: eraDu kai

Tulu: Aye dinoku patt gaNTae benpe
English: He works 10 hour a day.
Kannada: avanu dinakke hattu gaNTe duDiyuttAne
duDiyuttAne

Tulu: Aye vArogu 5 dina benpe
English: He works 5 days a week.
Kannada: avanu vArakke 5 dina duDiyuttAne

Tulu: patt kilo ari
English: 10 KG rice
Kannada: hattu KG akki

Tulu: yAn raDD gaNTae kApuvae
English: I will wait for 2 hours.
Kannada: nAnu eraDu gaNTe kAyuttEne

Whenever we want to add numbers to a neuter noun, we can avoid adding plural suffix and put the number before the noun.

Examples:

illulu – houses 

nAl ill – Four houses

kaikulu – hands

raDD kai – two hands

enk raDD kai uNDu – I have two hands.

We never say ‘enk raDD kaikulu ulla’ in Tulu.

Tulu: mEjida mitt raDD pustaka uNDu
English: There are two books on the table.
Kannada: mEjina mEle eraDu pustaka ide

Tulu: enkleDa patt tArae uNDu
English: We have ten coconut trees.
Kannada: nammalli hattu tengina mara ide

When speaking about human beings we have different forms in Tulu.

orye/ori – One (man) (Masc.)

orti – One (woman) (Fem.)

onji – One (thing) (Neu.)

irver – Two persons

mUver – Three persons

nAlver – Four persons

aiver – Five persons

Aji jana – Six persons

El jana – Seven persons

enma jana – Eight persons

orumba jana – Nine persons

patt jana – Ten persons.

From 5 upwards ‘jana’ is added to the number. We can also say raDD jana, mUji jana, nAl jana and ain jana. We also have ‘patter’, but it does not mean exactly 10 persons. It means ‘honorable citizens’ or ‘elders of the village’

Tulu: orye barpe, orye pOpe
English: One comes, one goes.
Kannada: obba bartAne, obba hOgtAne

Tulu: ori kalve
English: A thief
Kannada: obba kaLLa

Tulu: Aye ori sobage
English: He is a gentleman.
Kannada: avanu obba sabhyastha

Tulu: akulu oryeDori  pAterujer
English: They don’t speak with each other.
Kannada: avaru obbarallobbaru matADuvudilla

Tulu: I oryena?
English: Are you alone?
Kannada: nInu obbana/oNTiya?

Tulu: Al orti ponnu
English: She is a girl
Kannada: avaLu ondu heNNu

Tulu: onji puchchae
English: A cat
Kannada: ondu bekku

Tulu: onji ill
English: A house
Kannada: ondu mane

Tulu: akulu irver dEvastAnogu pOyer
English: They both went to the temple.
Kannada: avaru ibbaru dEvastAnakke hOdaru

Ordinal numbers:

Ordinal numbers tell the order of how things are set, they show the position or the rank of something. We have to add suffix ‘anae’ to make ordinal numbers.

onjanae – First

raDDanae – Second

mUjanae – Third

nAlanae – Fourth

ainanae – Fifth

Ajanae – Sixth

Elanae – Seventh

enmanae – Eighth

orumbanae – Ninth

pattanae – Tenth

pattonjanae – 11^th

irvanae – 20^th

Al onjanae klAs’D kalpuval – She is studying in first standard.

For ‘first’, we have also these words in Tulu: ‘suru’ and ‘kaDIr’.

kaDIra mage – First son 

suruta mage – First son 

‘suru’ is most commonly used in daily conversation.

onjanae stAna – First place/rank 

onjanae klAs – First standard

onjanae nambar – First number

onjanae mAligae – First floor

Tulu: suruta tingol
English: First month
Kannada: modala tngaLu

Tulu: suruttAye
English: The first one (Masculine)
Kannada: modalinava

Tulu: suruttAl
English: The first one (Feminine)
Kannada: modalinavaLu

Tulu: suruttau
English: The first one (Neuter)
Kannada: modalinadu

Tulu: suruta bAlae
English: First child
Kannada: modala magu

Tulu: mUjanae klAs
English: Third standard
Kannada: mUrane klAsu

Tulu: mUjanae mAligae
English: Third floor
Kannada: mUrane mahaDi

Tulu: mUjanettAye
English: The third one (Masculine)
Kannada: mUraneyava

Tulu: nAlanettAl
English: The fourth one (Feminine)
Kannada: nAlkaneyavaLu

Tulu: Ajanettau
English: The sixth one (Neuter)
Kannada: Araneyadu

Adverbial numerals:

ora – Once

raDD sarti – Twice

mUji sarti - Thrice

nAl sarti – Four times

patt sarti – Ten times

nUdu sarti – Hundred times.

To make adverbial numerals, we need to add ‘sarti’ to the number.

Tulu: Aye vArogu ora barpe
English: He comes once a week
Kannada: avanu vArakke omme bartAne

Tulu: kuDora (kuDa + ora) paNpana?
English: Will you tell me once more?
Kannada: innomme hELtIya?

Tulu: raDD sarti Oduvae
English: I will read it twice.
Kannada: eraDu sala OdtEne

Reading sums of money:

25 paisa – irvattain paisae/nAlanae

50 paisa – aiva paisae/enmanae

Rs. 1 – onji rupAy

Rs. 1.25 – onje kAl rupAy

Rs. 1.50 – onjarae rupAy

Rs. 1.75  – onje mukkal rupAy

Rs. 100 – nUdu rupAy

Rs. 1500 – onjarae sAra rupAy

Rs. 2500 – raDDarae sAra rupAy

kAl – Quarter

arae/arda – half

mukkAl – Three forth

Telling the time:

gaNTae raDD AND – It’s 2 o’clock

raDDe ain – 2:05

raDDe patt – 2:10

raDDe kAl – 2:15

raDDe irva – 2:20

raDDe irvattain – 2:25

raDDarae – 2:30

raDDe nalpa – 2:40

kAl kammi mUji – 2:45

mUjeg patt nimisha uNDu – 2:50

mUjeg ain nimisha uNDu – 2:55

mUji 0 3:00

patte irva – 10:20

kAl kammi padiraDD – 11:45

Tulu: gaNTae EtAND?
English: What time is it?
Kannada: gaNTe eshTAytu?

Tulu: nAle patt AND
English: It’s four ten.
Kannada: nAlku hattu Aytu

Tulu: yAn raDD gaNTae muTa kApuvae
English: I will wait till 2 o’clock.
Kannada: nAnu eraDu gaNTe varege kAyuttEne

Tulu: yAn raDD gaNTae kApuvae 

English: I will wait for 2 hours.
Kannada: nAnu eraDu gaNte kAyuttEne

Tulu: Aye onji gaNTeg barpe
English: He will come at 1 o’clock.
Kannada: avanu ondu gaNTege baruttAne

Tulu: Aye onji gaNTeD barpe
English: He will come in an hour.
Kannada: avanu ondu gaNTeyalli baruttAne

Tulu: Aye onji gaNTedulai (gaNTeda + ulai) barpe
English: He will come within an hour.
Kannada: avanu ondu gaNTe oLage baruttAne

Tulu: yAn Epola kANDae El gaNTeg lakkuvae
English: I always wake up at 7 0’clock in the morning.
Kannada: nAnu yAvAgalU beLagge ELu gaNTege ELuttEne

Tulu: enma gaNTeg sAleg pOpae
English: I go to school at 8 o’clock.
Kannada: eNTu gaNTege shAlege hogtEne

New words:

kai - hand

ari - rice

mEji - Table

tArae - coconut tree

tArai - coconut

pustaka/bUku - book

kuDa - again

kuDora - once more/once again

kammi - less

muTa - till

ulai - inside

Click here to go to Vocabulary page.

Click here for Video lessons

All right! With this we come to the end of lesson 6. See you next week!

solmelu!

Tulu Lesson 5: More Interrogative Sentences in Simple Present Tense, Numbers from 1 to 20

namaskAra! encha ullar?

If anyone asked you how are you in Tulu, you can reply them ‘ushAr ullae’ or just ‘soukhya’. Both mean the same ‘I am fine’.

Also, instead of ‘encha ullar?’ you can ask ‘soukhyana?’ or ‘ushAr ullara?’.

You know Tulu has different subjective pronouns to speak with elders or strangers with respect. Ir - you, Ar (remote) – He/She, mEr (proximate) – He/She. But there is no separate verb conjugation for these pronouns. Verbs are conjugated like if it was plural.

nikulu gobbuvar – you play (plural) 

Ir gobbuvar – you play (giving respect) 

akulu/mokulu gobbuver (plural)

Ar/mEr gobbuver (giving respect) 

But in interrogative form of sentences when you speaking to elders/strangers with respect, you can optionally add ‘e’ or ‘ne’ instead of ‘a’ or ‘na’ at the end.

nikulu gobbuvara? – Do you play? (plural) 

Ir gobbuvare? – Do you play? (giving respect) 

It’s not compulsory; you can also say ‘Ir gobbuvara?’, but adding ‘e’ sound at the end makes it more polite and many prefer it while speaking to elders.

Aye gobbujena? – Doesn’t he play? 

Aye gobbujene? - Doesn’t he play? (when you speak with elders/strangers with respect)

soukhyana? – Are you fine? 

soukhyane? Are you fine? (with respect)

Now look at the following sentence.

He is a nice man, right?

He is a nice man, isn’t he?

This kind of questions can be asked in Tulu using ‘ata’.

att – No/It is not

ata? – Isn’t it/right?

Aye eDDae naramAni, ata? - He is a nice man, right?

Aye eDDae naramAni, ate? -  He is a nice man, right? (giving respect to the listener)

The answer can be and/att – Yes/No

Aye ellae barpe, ata? – He will come tomorrow, right?

Aye ellae barpe, ate? - He will come tomorrow, right? (giving respect to the listener)

The answer can be and/ijji – Yes/No

Now look at the following sentence:

Whether he will come or not?

This kind for questions can be asked in Tulu using ‘ijja’.

ijji - No/It is not

ijja? – isn’t it?/or not?

Aye barpe – He will come

Aye barpena? – Will he come?

Aye barpene? - Will he come? (giving respect to the listener)

Aye barpena, ijja? - Whether he will come or not?

Aye barpene, ijje? - Whether he will come or not? (giving respect to the listener)

All right! We are done with interrogative form of sentences in Simple Present tense. Now let us look at all type of sentences we have learnt so far:

yAn tulu pAtervae – I speak Tulu.

yAn tulu kalpuvae – I will learn Tulu

enk tulu barpuNDu – I know Tulu

enk tulu gottuNDu (gottu + uNDu) – I know Tulu

yAn tulu pAterujae – I don’t speak Tulu

yAn tulu kalpujae – I will not learn Tulu

enk tulu barpuji – I don’t know Tulu

enk tulu gottuji – I don’t know Tulu

I tulu kalpuvana? Will you learn Tulu?

Ir tulu kalpuvare? Will you learn Tulu?

nikk tulu barpuNDa? Do you know Tulu?

ireg tulu barpuNDe? Do you know Tulu?

nikk tulu gottuja? Don’t you know Tulu?

ireg tulu gottuje? Don’t you know Tulu?

nikk tulu gottuNData? (gottuNDu + ata) – You know Tulu, right?

ireg tulu gottuNDate? - You know Tulu, right?

nikk tulu barpujata? (barpuji + ata) – You don’t know Tulu, right?

ireg tulu barpujate? – You don’t know Tulu, right?

nikk tulu gottuNDa, ijja? - Whether you know Tulu or not?

ireg tulu barpunDe, ijje? - Whether you know Tulu or not?

yAn ellae kuDlag pOpae, Irla ennoTTugu barpare? – I will go to Mangalore tomorrow, will you too come along with me?

Avu, yAnla barpae – OK, I will come too.

ijji, enk Apuji – No, I can’t

Avu – OK

ApuNDu – It becomes/It will become

Apuji – It does not become/It will not become

yAn Doctor Apae – I will become a Doctor. 

yAn Doctor Apujae – I will not become a Doctor. 

But when used with Dative or Ablative case, it gives the meaning of ‘not possible’ or ‘can’t’

enk Apuji – I can’t. (It’s not possible for me)

enaDd Apuji – I can’t (It’s not possible by me)

Tulu: ninaDd dAla bElae Apuji
English: You can’t do any work. Kannada: ninninda EnU kelasa Agalla

Also, this verb is used to express feelings.

Tulu: enk khushi ApuNDu
English: I feel happy
Kannada: nanage khushi Agtade

Tulu: enk bEjAr ApuNDu
English: I feel sad
Kannada: nanage bEjar Agtade

Tulu: enk bEnae Apuji
English: I don’t feel pain.
Kannada: nanage nOvu Agalla

Tulu: enk badApuNDu (baDav + ApuNDu)
English: I feel hungry
Kannada: nanage hasivAgtade

Tulu: enk bAjel ApuNDu
English: I feel thirsty
Kannada: nanage bAyArike Agtade

Tulu: Ayeg tarae bEnae ApuNDu
English: He has head ache.
Kannada: avanige tale nOvu Agtade

More sentences in Simple Present/Future tense:

Tulu: Aye dinola kANDae daikleg nIr pADuve
English: He waters the plants every morning.
Kannada: avanu dinA beLagge giDagaLige nIru hAktAne

Tulu: Ar rAtrae benper, pagel’D jeppuver
English: He works at night and sleeps during the day.
Kannada: avaru rAtri duDitAre, hagalu malagtAre

Tulu: ninna jOkulu sAleg pOpera?
English: Do your children go to school?
Kannada: ninna makkaLu shAlege hOgtAra?

Tulu: irena jOkulu sAleg pOpere?
English: Do your children go to school? (with respect)
Kannada: nimma makkaLu shAlege hOgtAra?

Tulu: yAn bEga jeppuvena?
English: Do I sleep early?
Kannada: nAnu bEga malagtEna?

Tulu: yAn bEga jeppuvene?
English: Do I sleep early? (with respect)
Kannada: nAnu bEga malagtEna?

Tulu: akulu enan ini leppujer
English: They will not call me today
Kannada: avaru nannannu ivattu kareyalla

Tulu: Ar enan madapujer
English: He/She will not forget me
Kannada: avaru nannannu mareyalla

Tulu: yAn aleDa paNpae
English: I will tell her.
Kannada: nAnu avaLalli hELtEne

Tulu: Aye ninan kerpe
English: He will kill you
Kannada: avanu ninnannu koltAne

Tulu: yAn enna dOstina illaDe pOpae
English: I will go to my friend’s house
Kannada: nAnu nanna geLeyana manege hOgtEne

Tulu: enna amma enna bAlen tUper
English: My mom will look after my child
Kannada: nanna amma nanna maguvannu nODtAre

Tulu: I jOkulu bareper
English: These children will write.
Kannada: I makkaLu bareyuttAre

‘I’ and ‘A’ are demonstrative adjectives.

undu – This

I bAlae – This child

I jOkulu – These children

au – That

A bAlae – That child

A jOkulu – Those children

Numbers in Tulu:

If we learn numbers from one to twenty correctly we will have no problems with the rest of the numbers. So, please try to learn the first twenty numbers and you’ll have no more problems!

onji – One

raDD – Two

mUji – Three

nAl – Four

ain – Five

Aji – Six

El – Seven

enma – Eight

orumba – Nine

patt – Ten

pattonji – Eleven

padiraDD – Twelve

padimUji – Thirteen

padinAl – Fourteen

padinain – Fifteen

padinAji – Sixteen

padinEl – Seventeen

padinenma – Eighteen

padinorumba – Nineteen

irva – Twenty

Words used in today’s lesson:

eDDae – good

naramAni – man

gottu – knowledge/understanding

kuDla – Mangalore

Irla – you too

ennoTTugu (enna + oTTugu) - with me

khushi – happy

bEjAr – sad

bEnae – pain

baDav – Hunger

bAjel – thirst

tarae – head

dai – plant

daikulu – plants

nIr – water

rAtrae – night

pagel – day time

bAlae – child

jOkulu – children

ini – today

dOsti – friend

Click here to learn more verbs.

Click here for Video lessons

All right! If you have any questions, feel free to comment. See you next week!

solmelu!

Tulu Lesson 4: Negative and Interrogative in Simple Present Tense

Hello everyone! Welcome back!

Today we are going to learn negative and interrogative form of sentences in Simple Present tense. Before we start, let me tell you how to conjugate auxiliary verb ‘ippu/uppu’ (Infinitive: ippuni/uppuni – To be). There are two forms of this verb exist in the Simple Present tense: ‘uppu/ippu’ and ‘ul’.

1^st form: ‘uppu’

yAn uppuvae – I am

I uppuva – You are

Aye/imbe uppuve – He is

Al/mOlu  uppuval – She is

au/undu  uppuNDu – It is

nama/enkulu  uppuva – We are

Ir/nikulu  uppuvar – You are

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr uppuver – They are

undekulu/aikulu uppuva – They are

This form is used in simple present tense and future tense.

Example:

Tulu: yAn Epola mUlu uppuvae
English: I am always here.

Kannada: nAnu yAvAgalU illi irtEne

Tulu: Aye ellae aulu uppuve
English: He will be there tomorrow.
Kannada: avanu nALe alli irtAne

2^nd form: ‘ul’

yAn ullae – I am

I ulla – You are

Aye/imbe ulle – He is

Al/mOlu  ullal – She is

au/undu  uNDu – It is

nama/enkulu  ulla – We are

Ir/nikulu  ullar – You are

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr uller – They are

undekulu/aikulu ulla – They are

This form mainly used to tell about existence.

Tulu: yAn ullae
English: I am there (I am present)
Kannada: nAnu iddEne

Tulu: dEver uller –
English: God is there (God exists)
Kannada: dEvaru iddAre

Tulu: yAn mUlu ullae, I Olu ulla? –
English: I am here, Where are you?
Kannada: nAnu illi iddEne, nInu elli iddIya

tulu: maroTu manga uNDu
English: There is a monkey on the tree.
Kannada: maradalli kOti ide

Tulu: niNDa mast kAs uNDu
English: You have a lot of money
Kannada: ninnalli tumbA duDDu ide

Tulu: aklena illaD raDD nAyilu ulla
English: They have 2 dogs at there house.
Kannada: avara maneyalli eraDu nAyigaLu ive

Tulu: encha ulla?
English: How are you? (Informal)
Kannada: hEge iddIya?

Tulu: encha ullar?
English: How are you? (Formal)
Kannada: hEge iddIra?

Tulu: yAn ushAr ullae
English: I am fine.
Kannada: nAnu chennAgiddEne

So ‘uNDu’ means ‘it is’ and its opposite is ‘ijji’ which means ‘it is not’ or just ‘no’. 

yAn ijjae – I am not

I ijja – You are not

Aye/imbe ijje – He is not

Al/mOlu  ijjal – She is not

au/undu  ijji – It is not

nama/enkulu  ijja – We are not

Ir/nikulu  ijjar – You are not

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr ijjer – They are not

undekulu/aikulu ijja – They are not

This form mainly used to tell about non-existence.

Tulu: Aye ijje
English: He is not there. (He is absent)
Kannada: avanu illa

Tulu: dEver ijjer
English: God is not there (God does not exist)
Kannada: dEvaru illa

Tulu: eNDa kAs ijji
English: I don’t have money.
Kannada: nannalli duDDilla

Tulu: yAn UruDu ijjae
English: I am out of town.
Kannada: nAnu Uralli illa

Tulu: au sAdya ijji
English: It is not possible.
Kannada: adu sAdya illa

Now let us look at the personal endings for negative form of sentences in Simple Present tense.

		Singular			Plural
		Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO	Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO
First Person		yAn	ujae	pOpujae	nama/enkulu	uja	pOpuja
Second Person		I	uja	pOpuja	nikulu/Ir	ujar	pOpujar
Third Person	Masc.	Aye/imbe	uje	pOpuje	akulu/Ar/mokulu/mEr	ujer	pOpujer
	Fem.	Al/mOlu	ujal	pOpujal
	Neut.	au/undu	uji	pOpuji	aikulu/undekulu	uja	pOpuja

Note: You may see some people use ‘uji’ ending for first person singular, ‘yAn pOpuji’ instead of ‘yAn pOpujae’ though grammatically it is wrong.

For Class A verbs the rules are same as explained in the previous lesson to conjugate the verbs in Simple Present tense, but all you need to change the personal endings to make it negative.

Root verb + p+ personal ending 

pO + p + ujae = pOpujae – I don’t go

bar+ p + ujae = barpujae – I don’t come

For Class B verbs, we don’t have to add ‘uv’ sound since personal ending starts from ‘u’ sound. We have to add personal endings directly to root verb.

Root verb + personal ending

mAr + ujae = mArujae – I don’t sell.

malpu + ujae = malpujae – I don’t do

Examples:

Tulu: yAn sAleg pOpujae.
English: I don’t go to school.
Kannada: nAnu shAlege hOgalla

Tulu: Aye rAtreD jeppuje
English: He doesn’t sleep at night.
Kannada: avanu rAtri malaguvudilla

Tulu: Al EreDala pAterujal
English: She doesn’t speak with anyone.
Kannada: avaLu yArallU mAtADuvudilla

Tulu: akulu chA parpujer
English: They don’t drink tea.
Kannada: avaru chahA kuDiyalla

Tulu: petta pEr korpuji
English: Cow doesn’t give milk
Kannada: dana hAlu koDuvudilla

Tulu: I dAyae barpuja?
English: Why don’t you come?
Kannada: nInu Eke baralla?

Tulu: yAn ellae barpujae
English: I will not come tomorrow
Kannada: nAnu nALe baralla

Tulu: yAn ninan madapujae
English: I will not forget you
Kannada: nAnu ninnannu mareyalla

Tulu: nama nana Epogla tikkuja
English: We will never meet again.
Kannada: nAvu innu yAvattigU sigalla

To make the interrogative form of sentences, we need to add ‘a’ or ‘na’ at the end. If a word or sentence ends in vowel ‘a’, ‘e’, 'ae' or ‘o’, then add ‘na’. If a word or sentence ends in a consonant (half-u), ‘i’ or ‘u’, then add ‘a’. But what is important here is the way we pronounce the sentence to make it a question.

yAn barpae – I come  

yAn barpaena? – Do I come? 

I barpa – You come

I barpana? – Do you come?

Aye barpe – He comes

Aye barpena? – Does he come?

Al barpal – She comes

Al barpala? – Does she come?

au barpuNDu – It comes

au barpuNDa? – Does it come?

nama barpa – we come

nama barpana? Do we come?

nikulu barpar – You come

nikulu barpara? – Do you come?

akulu barper – They come

akulu barpera? – Do they come?

aikulu barpa – They come

aikulu barpana? – Do they come?

Examples:

Tulu: I sAleg pOpana?
English: Do you go to school?
Kannada: nInu shAlege hOgtIya?

Tulu: and, yAn sAleg pOpae
English: Yes, I go to school.
Kannada: houdu, nAnu shAlege hOgtEne

Tulu: ijji, yAn sAleg pOpujae
English: No, I don’t go to school.
Kannada: illa, nAnu shAlege hOgalla

Instead of saying the entire sentence, we can simply say the verb to answer such questions.

Tulu: Aye ellae barpena?
English: Will he come tomorrow?
Kannada: avanu nALe bartAna?

Tulu: and, barpe
English: Yes, he will come.
Kannada: houdu, bartAne

Tulu: ijji, barpuje
English: No, he will not come.
Kannada: illa baralla

Tulu: ushAr ullana?
English: Are you fine?
Kannada: chennAgiddIya?

Tulu: ellae barpana?
English: Will you come tomorrow?
Kannada: nALe bartIya?

Tulu: akulu barpujera?
English: Will they not come?
Kannada: avaru baralva?

Tulu: chA parpara?
English: Will you drink tea?
Kannada: chahA kuDitIra?

Tulu: onas malpuvara?
English: Will you have lunch?
Kannada: UTa mADtIra?

Tulu: dAla tinpujara?
English: Will you not eat anything?
Kannada: EnU tinnalva?

Tulu: illaDe barpujana?
English: Don’t you come home?
Kannada: manege baralva?

Tulu: illaD mAta ushAr ullera?
English: Is everyone fine at home?
Kannada: maneyalli ellAru chennagiddAra?

Tulu: niNDa kAs uNDa?
English: Do you have money?
Kannada: ninnalli duDDideya?

Tulu: nama patt gaNTeg ettuvana?
English: Will we reach at 10 O’clock?
Kannada: nAvu hattu gaNTege taluptEva?

Tulu: Al kANDae bEga lakkuvala?
English: Will she get up early in the morning?
Kannada: avaLu beLagge bEga ELtALa?

‘and’ means Yes or correct. ‘ijji’ means No or ‘it is not’ or ‘does not exist’. We have another word in Tulu ‘att’ which means No.

‘att’ is used for negating an idea or quality while ‘ijji’ is for actions.  To make it clear, look at the examples below:

I kiraNa? – Are you Kiran?

att, yAn kArtik. – No, I am Karthik.

I pOpana? – Will you go?

ijji – No

undu satyana? – Is this true?

att – No

I Oduvana? – Will you read?

ijji - No

Words used in today’s lesson:

mUlu/mulpa – here

aulu/alpa – there

Olu/olpa – Where

mara/maro – tree

manga – monkey

mast – a lot/very much

kAs – money

nAyilu - dogs 

encha - how

ushAr – Clever/Intelligent

Uru - Village

sAdya - possible

rAtrae - night

EreDa – to/with whom (communicative case)

EreDala – to/with anyone

Er – Who

Erla - anyone

dAyae - why

nana – again/henceforth

nanala – still/yet

Epogla - forever

dAla – anything

mAta – all

patt - ten

bEga – early/soon

Click here to know more verbs.

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All right! If you have any questions, feel free to comment. See you next week!

Solmelu!

Tulu Lesson 3: Simple Present Tense

Hello everyone, welcome back!

Today we are going to learn simple present tense. Simple present tense used to remark habits, general realities, repeated actions or unchanging situations. In Tulu it’s also used for future tense.

As far as I know, there is no such a well-defined rule in the Tulu grammar books or there are very few scholars who wrote about Tulu grammar. As a native speaker, I have observed how the verbs in Tulu are conjugated.  There are two conjugations. Look at the following verbs:

Root verbs:

pO – To go

bare – To write

mAr – To sell

kaDapu – To cross

Aye pOpe – He goes.

Aye barepe – He writes

Aye mAruve – He sells.

Aye kaDapuve – He crosses.

Can you see the difference? Yes, first two verbs are conjugated by adding extra ‘p’ sound and other two verbs are conjugated by adding ‘uv’ sound. So what is the difference between these verbs? If you studied ‘chandas’ in Sanskrit or in any other Indian languages, it is simple! If a root verb takes 2 or less than 2 ‘matras’ (meters) to pronounce, then the sound ‘p’ is added and if a root verb takes more than 2 ‘matras’ to pronounce, then it is conjugated by adding ‘uv’ sound. Please note that in Tulu, words which end with consonant sound has final ‘half-u’ sound as I explained in How to Pronounce. So, while calculating ‘matras’, make sure to consider ‘half-u’ as equal to a vowel.

For those who don’t know about ‘chandas’, let me explain in different way. To add ‘p’ sound to verb conjugation in Simple Present tense, a root verb must be in one of the following cases:

1. Root verb has only one syllable.

2. Root verb should not have more than 2 syllables.  If root verb has 2 syllables, then any of the syllables should not have a long vowel or more than one consonant.

Otherwise, it is conjugated by adding ‘uv’ sound.

Syllable is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants. The number of times that you hear the sound of a vowel is the number of syllables in a word.

Eg: ‘rAjA’ has 2 syllables rA and jA. 

‘satya’ has 2 syllables sat and ya   

Now take the verb ‘pO’. It has only one syllable. So it can be conjugated as pO + p + personal ending.

The verb ‘bare’ has two syllables ‘ba’ and ‘re’ and each has one short vowel and single consonant. So it can be conjugated as bare + p + personal ending.

The verb ‘mAr’ has two syllables (including final ‘half-u’ sound i.e mA and rŭ) and the first syllable has a long vowel. So it is conjugated as mAr + uv + personal ending.

The verb ‘kaDapu’ has three syllables ‘ka’, ‘Da’ and ‘pu’. So it is conjugated as kaDapu + uv + personal ending.

Let us take one more verb ‘malpu’. It has two syllables ‘mal’ and ‘pu’. First syllable has two consonant sounds. So it is conjugated as malpu + uv + personal ending. Got it?

You do not have to worry about it. I will make two groups for your reference; Class A and Class B.

Class A is for the verbs like ‘pO’ (Gerund: pOpini) and ‘bare’ (Gerund: barepini) - To make Gerund form, add ‘pini’ to root verb. Eg: pO+pini=pOpini

Class B is for the verbs like ‘mAr’ (mAruni) and ‘kaDapu’ (kaDapuni) - To make Gerund form, add ‘uni’ to root verb. Eg: mAr+uni=mAruni

Before proceeding further, let us look at all of the personal endings:

		Singular			Plural
		Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO	Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO
First Person		yAn	ae	pOpae	nama/enkulu	a	pOpa
Second Person		I	a	pOpa	nikulu/Ir	ar	pOpar
Third Person	Masc.	Aye/imbe	e	pOpe	akulu/Ar/mokulu/mEr	er	pOper
	Fem.	Al/mOlu	al	pOpal
	Neut.	au/undu	uNDu	pOpuNDu	aikulu/undekulu	a	pOpa

yAn pOpae – I go

I pOpa – You go

Aye/imbe pOpe – He goes

Al/mOlu pOpal – She goes

au/undu pOpuNDu – It goes

nama/enkulu pOpa – We go

Ir/nikulu pOpar – You go

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr pOper – They go

undekulu/aikulu pOpa – They go

yAn malpuvae – I do

I malpuva – You do

Aye/imbe malpuve – He does

Al/mOlu malpuval – She does

au/undu malpuNDu – It does (We don’t have to add ‘uv’ sound since personal ending starts from ‘u’ sound. Personal ending ‘uNDu’ directly added to root verb)

nama/enkulu malpuva – We do

Ir/nikulu malpuvar – You do

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr malpuver – They do

undekulu/aikulu malpuva – They do

Some of the verbs used in daily conversation:

Class A verbs:

A (Apini) – To become

pO (pOpini) – To go

tU (tUpini) – To see

dI (dIpini) – To place

mI (mIpini) – To bathe

rA (rApini) – To fly

sai (saipini) – To die

bar (barpini) – To come

kaDe (kaDepini) – To grind

paDe (paDepini) – To obtain

tiN (tiNpini) – To eat

uN – (uNpini) To eat (rice or lunch/dinner)

paN (paNpini) – To say/tell

ben (benpini) – To work

ker (kerpini) – To kill

ner (nerpini) – To scold

par (parpini) – To drink

kor (korpini) – To give

bare (barepini) – To write

buDu (buDpini) - To leave

Class B verbs:

uppu/ippu (uppuni/ippuni) – To be

kEN (kENuni) – To hear/ listen /ask

bUr (bUruni) – To fall

jAr (jAruni) – To slip

mAr (mAruni) – To sell

pAr (pAruni) – To run

pAter (pAteruni) – To speak

nInd (nInduni) – To swim

dakk (dakkuni) – To throw

dekk (dekkuni) – To wash

tikk (tikkuni) – To get/meet

untu  (untuni) – To stand

kullu (kulluni) – To sit

lakk (lakkuni) – To get up

kalk (kalkuni) – To shout

bad’k (bad’kuni) – To live

murku (murkuni) – To sink/drown

telipu (telipuni) – To smile/laugh

naDapu (naDapuni) – To walk

balipu (balipuni) – To run

bulipu (bulipuni) – To weep/cry

nalipu (nalipuni) – To dance

malpu (malpuni) – To do

kalpu (kalpuni) – To learn

kApu (kApuni) – To wait

paripu (paripuni) – To tear

parapu (parapuni) – To flow/crawl

maDipu (maDipuni) – To fold

oripu (oripuni) – To save

mugipu (mugipuni) – To finish

menpu (menpuni) – To wake someone up

jeppu (jeppuni) – To sleep

jappu (jappuni) – To get down

leppu (leppuni) – To call

lappu (lappuni) – To measure

kaDpu (kaDpuni) – To cut

kaDapu (kaDapuni) – To cross

torpu (torpuni) – To kick

uripu (uripuni) – To blow

sOpu (sOpuni) – To lose

aDipu (aDipuni) – To sweep

deppu (deppuni) – To remove/take out or to open ( the door)
derpu (derpuni) - To lift

madapu (madapuni) – To forget

korepu (korepuni) – To bark

gobbu (gobbuni) – To play

deng (denguni) – To hide

gend (genduni) – To win

muchchu (muchchuni) – To close

Odu (Oduni) – To read

lAg (lAguni) – To jump

pAD (pADuni) – To put/wear

nUku (nUkuni) – To push/shove

ottu (ottuni) – To press

galas (galasuni) – To use

balas (balasuni) – To serve food

patt (pattuni) – To hold/catch

muTTu (muTTuni) – To touch/reach

kaTT (kaTTuni) – To build/tie

paTT (paTTuni) – To share/distribute

naTT (naTTuni) – To beg

boTTu (boTTuni) – To knock

puTTu (puTTuni)  – To born

Ak (Akuni) – To hit/beat

Whenever I come across new verbs, I will keep updating it in Vocabulary page.

Let us make some short sentences in simple present tense. To begin with, we need to know the structure of a sentence. In Tulu, we have subjects at the beginning and verbs at the end of the sentences. All other items such as objects come between these two. Sometimes objects may come at the beginning and subjects in the middle.  

yAn sAleg pOpe – I go to school. (Kannada: nAnu shAlege hOguttEne)

I sAleg pOpa – You go to school. (Kannada: nInu shAlege hOguttIya)

Aye sAleg pOpe – He goes to school (Kannada: avanu shAlege hOguttAne)

mOlu sAleg pOpal – She goes to school (Kannada: ivaLu shAlege hOguttALe)

enkulu dinola pEpar Oduva – We read news paper daily. (Kannada: nAvu dinA pEpar OduttEve)

Ir vArogu onji katae barepar – You write one story every week. (Kannada: nIvu vArakke ondu kathe bareyuttIri)

akulu tingolgu ora illaDe barper – They come home once a month (Kannada: avaru tingaLige omme manege baruttAre)

nAyi dinola rAtrae korepuNDu – Dog barks at night daily. (Kannada: nAyi dinA rAtri bogaLuttade)

nAyilu dinola rAtrae korepuva - Dogs bark at night daily. (Kannada: nAyigaLu dinA rAtri bogaLuttave)

yAn enna baik’n pratI aitAra dekkuvae – I wash my bike every Sunday. (Kannada: nAnu nanna baikannu pratI bhAnuvAra toLeyuttEne)

nama dinola kANDae mIpa – We take bath every morning. (Kannada: nAvu dinA beLigge snAna mADuttEve)

Aye dinola bayyag gobbuve – He plays every evening. (Kannada: avanu dinA sanje ADuttAne)

sUrya mUDaiD puTTuNdu, paDDaiD murkuNDu – Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. (sUrya pUrvadalli huTTuttade, pashchimadalli muLuguttade)

petta pEr korpuNDu – Cow gives milk. (Kannada: dana hAlu koDuttade)

AkAshoDu pakkilu rApa – Birds fly in the sky.(Kannada: AkAshadalli hakkigaLu hAruttave)

akulu dinola kaNDoDu benper – They work in the field daily. (Kannada: avaru dinA gaddeyalli duDiyuttAre)

Al Epola satya pAterval – She always speaks truth. (Kannada: avaLu yAvAgalU satya mAtADuttALe)

I dinola kANDae chA parpa – You drink tea every morning. (Kannada: nInu dinA beLigge chahA kuDiyuttIya)

enkulu dinoku raDD portu uNpa – We eat (rice) two times a day. (Kannada: nAvu dinakke eraDu sala UTa mADuttEve)

‘uN’ verb only used to indicate eating rice. From ‘uN’ we have the word ‘oNas’ which means lunch or dinner (meals). In South India, normally everyone eat rice for lunch and dinner.

‘tiN’ verb used for other eatables. From ‘tiN’ we have the word ‘teNas’ which means eatable.       

In Tulu, Simple Present Tense also used for future tense to talk about prior plans, strong intentions, fixed arrangements and to make promises or threats.  

yAn ellae illaDe pOpae – I will go home tomorrow. (Kannada: nAnu nALe manege hOguttEne)

yAn aitAra nikk tikkuvae – I will meet you on Sunday. (Kannada: nAnu bhAnuvAra ninage siguttEne)

rAjEsh raDD gaNTeD pira barpe – Rajesh will return in two hours. (Kannada: rAjEsh eraDu gaNTeyalli hinde baruttAne)

yAn bayya ain gaNTeg nigaNT barpae – I will definitely come at 5 o’clock in the evening. (Kannada: nAnu sanje aidu gaNTege khaNDita baruttEne)

mAtala sama ApuNDu. – Everything will be fine.(Kannada: ellavU sari Aguttade)

yAn nikk kApuvae – I will wait for you. (Kannada: nAnu ninage kAyuttEne)

I enan madapuva – you will forget me. (Kannada: nInu nannannu mareyuttIya)

New words used in today’s lesson:

dina/dino – day

dinola – daily

onji – one

katae – story

vAra/vAro – week

tingolu – month

ora – once

ill – house

sAlae – school

nAyi – dog

rAtrae – night

aitAra – Sunday

pratI – every

kANDae – morning

bayya – evening

mUDai – east

paDDai - west

chA – tea

raDD – two

portu – time

petta – cow

pEr – milk

AkAsha/AkAsho – sky

pakki – bird

kaNDa/kaNDo – field

Epola – always

satya – truth

ellae – tomorrow

gaNTe – hour

mAtha – all

mAthala – everything

sama/sari – correct

Please try to make sentences using other verbs listed above. If you need help, feel free to comment. See you next week!

Solmelu! (Thanks!)

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