Language/Malayalam/Grammar/Plurals

Malayalam Grammar - Plurals

Hi Malayalam learners! 😊

In this lesson, you will learn about the plural forms in Malayalam grammar. Plural is used when we talk about more than one thing or person. In Malayalam, like in many other languages, there are certain rules that we follow to form the plural forms. Let's explore them together!

Finish this lesson and explore these related pages: Malayalam Grammar → Basic Sentence Structure → Present Tense ..., Future Tense, How to Use Be & Nouns.

Basic Rules

In Malayalam, there are two types of plural forms: Regular and Irregular.

Regular Plural

To form the plural form of a noun in Malayalam, we add a suffix to the singular form. The suffix is ‘-kal’. For example,

Malayalam	Pronunciation	English
മാവ്	māv	mango
മാവുകൾ	māvukal	mangoes

In this example, we added the suffix ‘-kal’ to the singular form ‘മാവ്’ to get the plural form ‘മാവുകൾ’ which means ‘mangoes’ in English.

Here are a few more examples:

Malayalam	Pronunciation	English
പുഴു	puzu	frog
പുഴുകൾ	puzukal	frogs
മുട്ട	muṭṭa	egg
മുട്ടകൾ	muṭṭakal	eggs

Irregular Plural

In Malayalam, some nouns follow an irregular pattern to form their plural forms. Here are a few examples:

Malayalam	Pronunciation	English
പാലു	pālu	milk
പാലുകൾ	pālukal	milk (contextual plurals)
കുഞ്ഞു	kuññu	baby
കുഞ്ഞുകൾ	kuññukal	babies
സസ്യം	sasyaṁ	plant
സസ്യങ്ങൾ	sasyaṅṅaḷ	plants

As you can see, the plural forms of these nouns have to be memorized separately.

Exceptions

There are a few exceptions in Malayalam grammar when it comes to forming plural forms. Sometimes, the entire word changes in the plural form.

Here are a few examples:

Malayalam	Pronunciation	English
അണക്ക്	anaḵk	elephant
ആനകൾ	ānakaḷ	elephants
പുലി	puli	tiger
പുലികൾ	pulikaḷ	tigers

Dialogue

To help you understand plurals better, here is a dialogue between two friends:

• Person 1: ഞങ്ങൾ കൂടെ ചന്തപ്പുള്ളിക്ക് പോകും. (ñaññāḷ kūṭe cantapuḷḷikku pōkum.) (We will go to Chantapullika together.)
• Person 2: കണ്ടു, ഞാൻ ചന്തപ്പുള്ളിക്കു പോകുന്നു. പക്ഷേ അവൻ അതിനായി അതിനുള്ള ബസ്സിന്റെ ടിക്കറ്റ് ഇല്ല. (kaṇḍu, nāñ cantapuḷḷikku pōkunnu. pakṣē avan atināyi atinuḷḷa bassiṉṭe ṭikkat illa.) (I have seen, I am going to Chantapullika. But he doesn't have a ticket for the bus.)
• Person 1: അതോ പോവാം സ്നേഹിക്കുമ്പോൾ, അതാ പൊളിച്ചെന്ന് പോകും. ഞാൻ പണിയും പോച്ചു ചെയ്യും. (atō pōvām snēhikkumpōḷ, atā pōliḉceññ pōkum. nāñ paṇiyuṃ pōcchu ceyyūñṉ.) (Okay, let's go if he wants. I will finish my work.)

Plural Pronouns

In Malayalam, there are plural pronouns to refer to more than one person. The plural pronouns are:

• ഞങ്ങൾ (ñaññāḷ) - we, us
• അവൻമാര് (avaṇmār) - they, them (masculine)
• അവൾമാര് (avalmaṛ) - they, them (feminine)

For example,

Malayalam	Pronunciation	English
ഞങ്ങൾ വനിതകൾക്കും പുരുഷന്മാർക്കും പരസ്യം തീർച്ചയാണ്.	ñaññāḷ vanitakalkkuṁ puruṣanmārkkuṁ parasyaṁ thīrcchayāñ.	We have been a nuisance to both women and men.
അവൾമാർ ഞങ്ങളെ പഠിപ്പിച്ചു.	avalmaṛ ñaññāḷe paṭhippicchu.	They taught us.

Here, ‘ഞങ്ങൾ’ (ñaññāḷ) refers to ‘we’ and ‘അവൾമാർ’ (avalmaṛ) refers to ‘they’.

Tips and Tricks

1. Practice makes perfect! Try to find a language partner on Polyglot Club and practice forming plural forms in Malayalam.

2. Read as much as you can in Malayalam. This will expose you to different noun forms and help you remember them.

3. Whenever in doubt, refer to the [Language/Malayalam/Grammar|Malayalam Grammar] page on Polyglot Club or ask native speakers on Polyglot Club.

Sources

• all curry is good curry — Malayalam Lesson 6 - Plurals
• Malayalam grammar - Wikipedia

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Other Lessons

• Future Tense
• How to Use Have
• Conditional Mood
• Questions
• Nouns
• Pronouns
• Negation
• Adjectives
• How to Use Be