Learn Kannada — Chapter 2: Pronouns

In Chapter 1, we learnt the basic Kannada sentence structure:

Subject + Object + Verb

So:

ನಾನು ಅನ್ನ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆ
Nānu anna tinnuttēne
I eat rice.

Now let's learn how to change the person doing the action.

Basically:

I eat.
You eat.
He eats.
She eats.
We eat.
They eat.

These words — I, you, he, she, we, they — are pronouns.

1. The Basic Pronouns

Let's start with the important ones.

KannadaPronunciationEnglishನಾನುnānuIನೀನುnīnuYouಅವನುavanuHeಅವಳುavaḷuSheಅದುaduItನಾವುnāvuWeನೀವುnīvuYou (plural/respectful)ಅವರುavaruThey / respectful he or she

The first four are the ones you'll probably use constantly:

ನಾನು — I
ನೀನು — you
ಅವನು — he
ಅವಳು — she

Let's put them into sentences.

2. ನಾನು — I

We already saw this in Chapter 1.

ನಾನು ಅನ್ನ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆ
Nānu anna tinnuttēne
I eat rice.

Another:

ನಾನು ನೀರು ಕುಡಿಯುತ್ತೇನೆ
Nānu nīru kuḍiyuttēne
I drink water.

And:

ನಾನು ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಓದುತ್ತೇನೆ
Nānu pustaka ōduttēne
I read a book.

So far, pretty simple.

3. ನೀನು — You

ನೀನು (nīnu) means you when you're talking informally to one person.

For example:

ನೀನು ಅನ್ನ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೀಯ
Nīnu anna tinnuttīya
You eat rice.

Or:

ನೀನು ನೀರು ಕುಡಿಯುತ್ತೀಯ
Nīnu nīru kuḍiyuttīya
You drink water.

Notice something important.

Earlier:

ನಾನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆ

Now:

ನೀನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೀಯ

The verb changed.

That's not accidental.

Kannada verbs can change depending on who is performing the action.

We'll properly understand this when we get to verb conjugation.

For now, just notice the pattern.

4. ಅವನು — He

ಅವನು (avanu) means he.

ಅವನು ಅನ್ನ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾನೆ
Avanu anna tinnuttāne
He eats rice.

ಅವನು ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಓದುತ್ತಾನೆ
Avanu pustaka ōduttāne
He reads a book.

Again, look at the ending:

ನಾನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆ
ಅವನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾನೆ

The verb changed because the subject changed.

5. ಅವಳು — She

ಅವಳು (avaḷu) means she.

ಅವಳು ಅನ್ನ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾಳೆ
Avaḷu anna tinnuttāḷe
She eats rice.

Or:

ಅವಳು ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಓದುತ್ತಾಳೆ
Avaḷu pustaka ōduttāḷe
She reads a book.

Now compare:

PersonKannadaI eatನಾನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆYou eatನೀನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೀಯHe eatsಅವನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾನೆShe eatsಅವಳು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾಳೆ

You don't need to memorize these endings yet.

The important thing is understanding that Kannada verbs carry information about the subject.

6. ನಾವು — We

ನಾವು (nāvu) means we.

ನಾವು ಅನ್ನ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇವೆ
Nāvu anna tinnuttēve
We eat rice.

ನಾವು ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಆಡುತ್ತೇವೆ
Nāvu cricket āḍuttēve
We play cricket.

Again:

ನಾನು ಆಡುತ್ತೇನೆ — I play
ನಾವು ಆಡುತ್ತೇವೆ — We play

Small change in the verb, different subject.

7. ನೀವು — You, But Respectful

Kannada has something English doesn't really have.

There are different ways of saying you.

ನೀನು — nīnu

Used with someone you're familiar with.

ನೀವು — nīvu

Used for multiple people or when speaking respectfully to one person.

For example:

ನೀವು ಎಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತೀರಿ?
Nīvu ellige hōguttīri?
Where are you going?

You might use ನೀವು when talking to an elder, stranger, teacher, customer, etc.

This distinction is important in actual spoken Kannada.

Think:

ನೀನು = informal you

ನೀವು = respectful/plural you

8. ಅವರು — They... And Respect

ಅವರು (avaru) normally means they, but Kannada also uses it when respectfully referring to one person.

For example:

ಅವರು ಬರುತ್ತಾರೆ
Avaru baruttāre
They are coming.

But depending on context, it can also mean:

He/She is coming.

...said respectfully.

So Kannada often uses plural-looking forms to express respect.

You'll see the same idea with:

ನೀನು → ನೀವು

and:

ಅವನು / ಅವಳು → ಅವರು

This is something you'll hear constantly in real conversations.

9. This Person and That Person

There's another useful pattern hiding inside Kannada pronouns.

Look at:

ಅವನು — he
ಅವಳು — she

These generally refer to someone away from the speaker.

Kannada also has:

ಇವನು (ivanu) — this man/he here
ಇವಳು (ivaḷu) — this woman/she here

So you can start noticing a pattern:

ಇ- (i-) often points toward something here/nearby.

ಅ- (a-) often points toward something there/away.

You'll see this again later:

ಇದು — this
ಅದು — that

ಇಲ್ಲಿ — here
ಅಲ್ಲಿ — there

Don't memorize all of that yet.

Just notice that Kannada isn't a collection of completely random words. There are patterns hiding everywhere.

10. The Important Pattern

Let's use only one verb:

ತಿನ್ನು — to eat

Now watch what happens.

EnglishKannadaI eatನಾನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆYou eatನೀನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೀಯHe eatsಅವನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾನೆShe eatsಅವಳು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾಳೆWe eatನಾವು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇವೆYou eat (respectful/plural)ನೀವು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೀರಿThey eatಅವರು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ

This table is more important than memorizing seven separate sentences.

Because there's a system here.

The verb starts with roughly the same idea:

ತಿನ್ನು — eat

But its ending changes depending on who is eating.

That's our next big piece of Kannada.

Instead of memorizing:

I eat
I drink
I go
I come
I read

and then another five sentences for he, and another five for she, we can learn the rule that transforms the verb.

Once you understand that rule, you can generate the sentences yourself.

That's exactly what we'll do next.

Next: Chapter 3 — Verbs and How Kannada Verbs Change