Kannada grammar
Kannada postpositions & case markers
Kannada is agglutinative — case markers attach directly to the end of a noun instead of using separate preposition words.
in/at (locative)
-ಅಲ್ಲಿ / -ಯಲ್ಲಿ
-alli / -yalli
e.g. ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ (maneyalli) — "in the house."
to/for (dative)
-ಗೆ
-ge
e.g. ನನಗೆ (nanage) — "to me / for me."
from
-ಇಂದ
-inda
e.g. ಮನೆಯಿಂದ (maneyinda) — "from the house."
with
-ಜೊತೆ
-jote
e.g. ನನ್ನ ಜೊತೆ (nanna jote) — "with me."
on/above
ಮೇಲೆ
mēle
e.g. ಮೇಜಿನ ಮೇಲೆ (mējina mēle) — "on the table."
Learn 1,000+ Kannada words, phrases & lessons on the Bhasha app
Daily 5-minute lessons, audio from native speakers, progress tracking and 1,000+ words. Free to start — first 8 units unlocked, no card required.
- ✓ Native-speaker audio
- ✓ Offline lessons
- ✓ Progress sync
- ✓ Ad-free for kids
More Kannada grammar lessons
Kannada personal pronouns
Kannada distinguishes formal and informal pronouns. Learn the core set to form basic sentences.
Kannada present tense verbs
Kannada present tense attaches -ಉತ್ತ- (-utta-) to the verb stem followed by a person-and-number ending. Here it is conjugated for "ಮಾಡು" (māḍu, "to do").
Kannada negation — ಅಲ್ಲ vs. ಇಲ್ಲ
Kannada splits negation the same way Telugu does: ಅಲ್ಲ (alla) negates identity/description ("is not"), while ಇಲ್ಲ (illa) negates existence, possession, or a completed action — and is also the everyday word for "no."
Kannada question words & yes/no questions
Kannada wh-questions use a fixed set of question words; yes/no questions are formed by adding -ಆ (-ā) to the verb.
Kannada sentence structure — building a basic sentence
Kannada follows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. Descriptive words come before the noun, and case markers attach after it.
Kannada numbers 1–10
The Kannada numerals 1 through 10.