Malayalam grammar
Malayalam question words & yes/no questions
Malayalam wh-questions use a fixed set of question words; yes/no questions add -ഓ (-ō) to the end of the verb or word being questioned.
what
എന്ത്
ent
—
where
എവിടെ
eviṭe
—
when
എപ്പോൾ
eppōḷ
—
who
ആര്
ār
—
why
എന്തുകൊണ്ട്
entukoṇṭ
Colloquially also എന്തിന് (entin), "for what".
Did you come?
നീ വന്നോ?
nī vannō?
The suffix -ഓ (-ō) turns a statement into a yes/no question.
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Malayalam personal pronouns
Malayalam pronouns distinguish formality and — like Tamil — an inclusive vs exclusive "we". Respectful third-person forms matter a lot socially.
Malayalam present tense verbs
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Malayalam negation with ഇല്ല and അല്ല
Malayalam has two everyday negators: ഇല്ല (illa) denies existence or an action, while അല്ല (alla) denies identity — "is not (a) X".
Malayalam case suffixes
Malayalam is agglutinative — case endings attach directly to the noun rather than standing as separate words.
Malayalam sentence structure — building a basic sentence
Malayalam follows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. Adjectives come before the noun, and case suffixes attach after it.
Malayalam numbers 1–10
The Malayalam numerals 1 through 10.