Language/Telugu/Grammar/Nouns-and-Pronouns
Introduction
హలో! (Hello!) Welcome to the "Complete 0 to A1 Telugu Course". In this lesson, we will learn about nouns and pronouns in Telugu.
Nouns are words that represent a person, place, thing or idea. Pronouns, on the other hand, are words used in place of a noun to avoid repetition. For example, instead of saying "I went to the market and I bought apples", we can say "I went to the market and bought apples."
Nouns
Noun Gender
Nouns in Telugu are categorized into three genders:
- Masculine (పులింగం): includes male and animate objects
- Feminine (స్త్రీలింగం): includes female and inanimate objects
- Neutral (నెత్రల్ లింగం): includes ideas, feelings, and non-living things
It's important to determine the gender of a noun as this can affect the use of pronouns and verb conjugations later on.
Noun Cases
Nouns in Telugu can be further categorized by case. Case refers to the form a noun takes in a sentence depending on its grammatical relationship to other words in the sentence. Telugu has 8 different cases:
- Nominative (ప్రథమా విభక్తితో) – used for the subject of the sentence
- Accusative (ద్వితీయా విభక్తితో) – used for the direct object of the sentence
- Dative (తృతీయా విభక్తితో) – used for the indirect object of the sentence
- Genitive (చతుర్థీ విభక్తితో) – used to show possession
- Vocative (సంబోధన) – used to address someone or something directly
- Locative (షష్ఠీ విభక్తితో) – used to show location or place
- Instrumental (సప్తమీ విభక్తితో) – used to show the means by which an action is taken
- Abessive/Dative (అభావస్థా/శాశ్వతసంబంధి) – used to show absence or negation
Plural Nouns
To make a Telugu noun plural, we typically add a suffix to the end of the word. Common suffixes include -lu, -l (for feminine words), and -vallu (for masculine words).
For example:
| Telugu | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| మనిషి | ma-ni-shi | person (singular) |
| మనిషులు | ma-ni-shu-lu | people (plural) |
| తాత | taat | grandfather (singular) |
| తాతలు | taat-alu | grandfathers (plural) |
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns in Telugu are used to replace the noun that is already mentioned. Here are the personal pronouns in Telugu and their English translations:
| Telugu | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| నేను | ne-nu | I |
| మీరు | mee-ru | You (singular) |
| తను | ta-nu | He/She/It (singular) |
| మేము | me-mu | We |
| మీరు | mee-ru | You (plural) |
| వారు | va-ru | They |
Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. In Telugu, the most common interrogative pronouns are:
- ఎవరు (Who)
- ఏది (What)
- ఎక్కడ (Where)
- ఎందుకు (Why)
- ఎలా (How)
- ఎంత (How much/How many)
For example:
- ఎవరు ఆమె? (Who is she?)
- ఏది పండ్లు? (What are these?)
- ఎక్కడ ఉన్నారు? (Where are they?)
- ఎందుకు ఆ ప్రార్థన చేస్తున్నాడు? (Why is he praying?)
- ఎలా చేస్తారు? (How do they do it?)
- ఎంత వేస్తావు? (How much will you sell it for?)
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to or identify something or someone. In Telugu, the most common demonstrative pronouns are:
- ఈ (This)
- అది (That)
- ఆ (That [far from both speaker and listener])
- ఇవాళ్లు (These people)
- అవాళ్లు (Those people)
For example:
- ఈ పుస్తకం చదవడం కోసం కొన్ని దశల పరీక్షలు ఉంటాయి. (This book has several tests to read.)
- అది చాలా జనప్రియమైన సినిమా. (That is a very popular movie.)
- ఆ స్కూల్ రావాలనుకుంటున్నారు. (They want to go to that school.)
- ఇవాళ్లు ఆమె సొంత ప్రియుడు. (These people are her friends.)
- అవాళ్లు ఆ ఉత్సవం చూడాలనుకుంటున్నారు. (Those people want to see that festival.)
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully learned about nouns and pronouns in Telugu. Keep practicing and don't forget to determine the gender of your nouns, and use precise pronouns for concise sentences.