Tulu Lesson 8: Negative and Interrogative in Future Tense

Hello everyone! Welcome back!

Last week we have learnt how to conjugate verbs in Future tense. I hope you had no problem with that. Today we are going to learn negative and interrogative form of sentences in Future Tense.

To make negative form of personal endings in Future tense, we have to add ‘ay’ sound. Third person neuter singular is irregular.

		Singular			Plural
		Pronoun	Ending	Example: bar	Pronoun	Ending	Example: bar
First Person		yAn	ayae	barayae	nama/enkulu	aya	baraya
Second Person		I	aya	baraya	nikulu/Ir	ayar	barayar
Third Person	Masc.	Aye/imbe	aye	baraye	akulu/Ar/mokulu/mEr	ayer	barayer
	Fem.	Al/mOlu	ayal	barayal
	Neut.	au/undu	and	barand	aikulu/undekulu	aya	baraya

To conjugate verbs, we have to just add personal endings directly to root verbs without using any additional sounds in between. This is applicable for both Class A and Class B verbs. However, verbs ending with long vowels (like pO, dI, mI, A, tU, rA, sai) are exceptions. These verbs can be conjugated by adding additional ‘v’ sound in between root verb and personal ending.

Class A verb: bar (barpini) – To come

bar + ayae = barayae

yAn barayae – I will probably not come

I baraya – You will probably not come

Aye/imbe baraye – He will probably not come

Al/mOlu barayal – She will probably not come

au/undu barand – It will probably not come

nama/enkulu baraya – We will probably not come

Ir/nikulu barayar – You will probably not come

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr barayer – They will probably not come

undekulu/aikulu baraya – They will probably not come

Class A verb: pO (pOpini) – To go

pO + v + ayae = pOvayae

yAn pOvayae – I will probably not go

I pOvaya – You will probably not go

Aye/imbe pOvaye – He will probably not go

Al/mOlu pOvayal – She will probably not go

au/undu pOvand – It will probably not go

nama/enkulu pOvaya – We will probably not go

Ir/nikulu pOvayar – You will probably not go

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr pOvayer – They will probably not go

undekulu/aikulu pOvaya – They will probably not go

Class B verb: mAr (mAruni) – To sell

mAr + ayae = mArayae

yAn mArayae – I will probably not sell

I mAraya – You will probably not sell

Aye/imbe mAraye – He will probably not sell

Al/mOlu mArayal – She will probably not sell

au/undu mArand – It will probably not sell

nama/enkulu mAraya – We will probably not sell

Ir/nikulu mArayar – You will probably not sell

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr mArayer – They will probably not sell

undekulu/aikulu mAraya – They will probably not sell

Class B verb: malpu (malpuni) – To do

malpu + ayae = malpayae

yAn malpayae – I will probably not do

I malpaya – You will probably not do

Aye/imbe malpaye – He will probably not do

Al/mOlu malpayal – She will probably not do

au/undu malpand – It will probably not do

nama/enkulu malpaya – We will probably not do

Ir/nikulu malpayar – You will probably not do

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr malpayer – They will probably not do

undekulu/aikulu malpaya – They will probably not do

Class A verb: A (Apini - to become/happen)

A + v + ayae = Avayae

yAn Avayae – I will probably not become

I Avaya – You will probably not become

Aye/imbe Avaye – He will probably not become

Al/mOlu Avayal – She will probably not become

au/undu Avand – It will probably not become (It may not happen)

nama/enkulu Avaya – We will probably not become

Ir/nikulu Avayar – You will probably not become

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr Avayer – They will probably not become

undekulu/aikulu Avaya – They will probably not become

Class B: uppu (uppuni – to be)

uppu + ayae = uppayae

yAn uppayae – I will probably not be

I uppaya – You will probably not be

Aye/imbe uppaye – He will probably not be

Al/mOlu uppayal – She will probably not be

au/undu uppand – It will probably not be

nama/enkulu uppaya – We will probably not be

Ir/nikulu uppayar – You will probably not be

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr uppayer – They will probably not be

undekulu/aikulu uppaya – They will probably not be

Examples:

Tulu: ini barsa barand
English: It may not rain today.
Kannada: ivattu maLe baradu

Tulu: Aye illaD uppaye
English: He may not be at home
Kannada: avanu maneyalli iranu

Tulu: I eNDa pAteraya
English: You will probably not speak with me.
Kannada: nInu nannalli mAtannADe

Tulu: Al Ayen madimae Avayal
English: She will probably not marry him
Kannada: avalu avanannu maduve AgaLu

Tulu: patteDd jAsti jana uppayer
English: There may not be more than 10 people.
Kannada: hattakkinta jAsti jana iraru

Tulu: Ar ninan mApu malpayer
English: He will probably not forgive you.
Kannada: avaru ninnannu kshamisaru

Tulu: akleg mUlu eDDae Avand
English: They may not feel comfortable here.
Kannada: avarige illi sari Agadu

Tulu: nikk kushi Avand
English: You may not feel happy.
Kannada: ninage kushi Agadu

The negative form of the Future Tense also used to express resolution or emphasis:

Examples:

Tulu: yAn Epola sullu paNayae
English:  I will never lie
Kannada: nAnu yAvattU suLLu hELenu

Tulu: kuDora yAn barayae
English:  I will never come again
Kannada: innomme nAnu barenu

Tulu: nana mitt yAn niNDa pAterayae
English:  From now on, I will never speak to you.
Kannada: innu munde nAnu ninnalli mAtannADenu

Tulu: Aye ninan Epogla buDaye
English:  He will never leave you.
Kannada: avanu ninnannu yAvattigU biDanu

Tulu: yAn ninan madapayae
English:  I will never forget you
Kannada: nAnu ninnannu mareyenu

To make the interrogative form of sentences, we need to add ‘a’ or ‘na’ at the end. If a word or sentence ends in vowel ‘a’, ‘e’, 'ae' or ‘o’, then add ‘na’. If a word or sentence ends in a consonant (half-u), ‘i’ or ‘u’, then add ‘a’. But what is important here is the way we pronounce the sentence to make it a question.

Aye barpe – He comes/He will come

Aye baruve – He will probably come

Aye barpena? – Does he come?/Will he come?

Aye baruvena? – Will he come? (Is there any possibility he will come?)

Aye barpujena? – Doesn’t he come?/Won’t he come?

Aye barayena? – Won’t he come? (Is there any possibility he will not come?)

yAn baruvena? – Will I come? (Is there any possibility I will come?)

yAn barayena? – Won’t I come? (Is there any possibility I will not come?)

I baruvana? – Will you come? (Is there any possibility you will come?)

I barayana? – Won’t you come? (Is there any possibility you will not come?)

Al baruvala? – Will she come? (Is there any possibility she will come?)

Al barayala? -  Won’t she come? (Is there any possibility she will not come?)

au baruva? – Will it come? (Is there any possibility it will come?)

au baranda? – Won’t it come? (Is there any possibility it will not come?)

nama baruvana? – Will we come? (Is there any possibility we will come?)

nama barayana? – Won’t we come? (Is there any possibility we will not come?)

nikulu baruvara? – Will you come? (Is there any possibility you will come?)

nikulu barayara? – Won’t you come? (Is there any possibility you will not come?)

akulu baruvera? – Will they come? (Is there any possibility they will come?)

akulu barayera? – Won’t they come? (Is there any possibility they will not come?)

aikulu baruvana? – Will they come? (Is there any possibility they will come?)

aikulu barayana? – Won’t they come? (Is there any possibility they will not come?)

Examples:

nama onji gaNTeD etta – We will probably reach in an hour.

nama onji gaNTeD ettaya – We will probably not reach in an hour.

nama onji gaNTeD ettana? – Is there any possibility we will reach in an hour?

nama onji gaNTeD ettayana? - Is there any possibility we will not reach in an hour?

Tulu: Aye ini pOvena?
English:  Is there any possibility he will go today?
Kannada: avanu ivattu hOdAna?

Tulu: Aye ini pOvene? (giving respect to listener)
English:  Is there any possibility he will go today?
Kannada: avanu ivattu hOdAna?

Tulu: and, pOve
English:  Yes, he will probably go
Kannada: houdu, hOdAnu

Tulu: ijji, pOvaye
English:  No, he will probably not go
Kannada: illa, hOganu

Tulu: Aye illaD uppena?
English:  Is there any possibility he will be at home?
Kannada: avanu maneyalli irabahuda?

Tulu: Aye illaD uppene? (giving respect to listener)
English:  Is there any possibility he will be at home?
Kannada: avanu maneyalli irabahuda?

Tulu: dAnna! enk gottuji
English:  Perhaps so! I don’t know
Kannada: EnO! nanage gottilla

dAne = What

dAnna (dAne + na) = something/maybe/perhaps/not certain/don’t know (used when one does not wish to be definite or assertive in the expression of an opinion.)

Tulu: Aye illaD uppena, dAnna!
English:  Perhaps, he will be at home
Kannada: avanu maneyalli irabahudO, EnO!

Tulu: Aye ellae barayena, dAnna!
English:  Maybe, he will not come tomorrow
Kannada: avanu nALe bAranO, EnO!

Aye Doctor Ape – He will become a Doctor.

Aye Doctor Ave – He will probably become a Doctor.

Aye Doctor Apena? - Will he become a Doctor?

Aye Doctor Avena? - Is there any possibility he will become a Doctor?

Aye Doctor Apuje – He will not become a Doctor.

Aye Doctor Avaye - He will probably not become a Doctor

Aye Doctor Apujena? – Won’t he become a Doctor?

Aye Doctor Avayena? - Is there any possibility he will not become a Doctor?

Ayeg bEjAr Avu – He will probably feel bad.

Ayeg bEjAr Avand – He will probably not feel bad.

Ayeg bEjAr Ava? – Will he feel bad? (Is there any possibility he will feel bad?)

Ayeg bEjAr Avanda? – Won’t he feel bad? (Is there any possibility he will not feel bad?)

In Tulu ‘Avu’ is also used to express consent like ‘okay’ in English.

Tulu: nikk ov Avu? chAna, kAphiya?
English:  What do you prefer? Tea or Coffee? Literally “Which one is okay for you, Tea or Coffee”
Kannada: ninage yAvudu AdItu? chahAna, kAphIna?

Tulu: chA Ava, kAphi Ava?
English:  Would you like to have tea or coffee?
Kannada: chahA AdIta, kAphi AdIta?

Tulu: chA Ave, kAphi Ave? (giving respect to listener)
English:  Would you like to have tea or coffee?
Kannada: chahA AdIta, kAphi AdIta?

Tulu: enk chA Avu
English:  I prefer Tea (Literally “Tea is okay for me”)
Kannada: nanage chahA AdItu

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(Note: Tulu sentences used in this lesson are common in daily conversation. But, I don't think Kannada translations in this lesson are used in daily conversation. You may only see them in historical movies or plays, if I am not wrong. If I made any mistakes in Kannada translations, feel free to correct me) 

All right! With this we come to the end of lesson 8. See you next week!

solmelu!

Tulu Lesson 7: (Uncertain) Future Tense

mAteregla namaskAra! We have already learnt Simple Present Tense in Tulu. As I said earlier, in Tulu, Simple Present Tense also used to talk about actions that will happen certainly in the future (prior plans, strong intentions, fixed arrangements and to make promises or threats).

yAn Epola barpae – I always come

yAn ellae barpae – I will come tomorrow

In Tulu, Future Tense is mainly used to express probability or uncertainty. Look at the following sentences:

I may come tomorrow

I will probably come tomorrow.

Today we are going to learn these types of sentences in Tulu.   Let us learn how to conjugate verbs in Future Tense first.

In Simple Present Tense, we divided verbs into two groups; Class A and Class B. For Class A verbs, we added ‘p’ sound and for Class B, we added ‘uv’ sound to root verbs and then added personal endings to conjugate verbs in Simple Present Tense. Alright! To conjugate verbs in Future Tense, add ‘uv’ sound to Class A verbs and nothing to Class B verbs and then add personal endings!

Class A verbs: Root verb + uv + personal ending

Class B verbs: Root verb + personal ending

Personal endings in Future Tense are same as Simple Present Tense except third person neuter singular.

		Singular			Plural
		Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO	Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO
First Person		yAn	ae	pOvae	nama/enkulu	a	pOva
Second Person		I	a	pOva	nikulu/Ir	ar	pOvar
Third Person	Masc.	Aye/imbe	e	pOve	akulu/Ar/mokulu/mEr	er	pOver
	Fem.	Al/mOlu	al	pOval
	Neut.	au/undu	u	pOvu	aikulu/undekulu	a	pOva

Now let us conjugate some verbs in Future Tense.

Class A: bar (barpini – to come)

bar + uv + ae = baruvae – I will probably come (I may come)

Class B: mAr (mAruni – to sell)

mAr + ae = mArae – I will probably sell (I may sell)

yAn baruvae – I will probably come

I baruva – You will probably come

Aye/imbe baruve – He will probably come

Al/mOlu baruval – She will probably come

au/undu baru – It will probably come (We don’t have to add ‘uv’ sound since personal ending starts from ‘u’ sound)

nama/enkulu baruva – We will probably come

Ir/nikulu baruvar – You will probably come

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr baruver – They will probably come

undekulu/aikulu baruva – They will probably come

yAn mArae – I will probably sell

I mAra – You will probably sell

Aye/imbe mAre – He will probably sell

Al/mOlu mAral – She will probably sell

au/undu mAru – It will probably sell

nama/enkulu mAra – We will probably sell

Ir/nikulu mArar – You will probably sell

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr mArer – They will probably sell

undekulu/aikulu mAra – They will probably sell

Class A: pO (pOpini – to go)

pO + uv + ae = pOvae

Class B: malpu (malpuni – to do)

malpu + ae = malpae (if root verb has final ‘u’, then ‘u’ is dropped before adding personal ending)

yAn pOvae – I will probably go

I pOva – You will probably go

Aye/imbe pOve – He will probably go

Al/mOlu pOval – She will probably go

au/undu pOvu – It will probably go

nama/enkulu pOva – We will probably go

Ir/nikulu pOvar – You will probably go

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr pOver – They will probably go

undekulu/aikulu pOva – They will probably go

yAn malpae – I will probably do

I malpa – You will probably do

Aye/imbe malpe – He will probably do

Al/mOlu malpal – She will probably do

au/undu malpu – It will probably do

nama/enkulu malpa – We will probably do

Ir/nikulu malpar – You will probably do

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr malper – They will probably do

undekulu/aikulu malpa – They will probably do

Class A: A (Apini - to become/happen)

A + uv + ae = Avae

yAn Avae – I will probably become

I Ava – You will probably become

Aye/imbe Ave – He will probably become

Al/mOlu Aval – She will probably become

au/undu Avu – It will probably become (It may happen)

nama/enkulu Ava – We will probably become

Ir/nikulu Avar – You will probably become

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr Aver – They will probably become

undekulu/aikulu Ava – They will probably become

In Tulu ‘Avu’ is also used to express consent like ‘okay’ in English.

Class B: uppu (uppuni – to be)

uppu + ae = uppae

yAn uppae – I will probably be

I uppa – You will probably be

Aye/imbe uppe – He will probably be

Al/mOlu uppal – She will probably be

au/undu uppu – It will probably be

nama/enkulu uppa – We will probably be

Ir/nikulu uppar – You will probably be

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr upper – They will probably be

undekulu/aikulu uppa – They will probably be

Verb conjugation in Future Tense might be confusing for beginners. But if you learnt verb conjugation in Simple Present Tense correctly, you will have no problems with Future Tense. Look at the following verbs:

baruvae – I will probably come (Future Tense)

mAruvae – I sell/I will sell (Simple Present Tense)

These two verbs conjugated in similar way, but the former is in Future Tense and the latter is in Simple Present Tense. The root verbs are ‘bar’ and ‘mAr’. At first, let us conjugate them in Simple Present Tense.

‘bar’ is a Class A verb. So it’s conjugated in Simple Present Tense as:

bar + p + personal ending = barpae – I come

‘mAr’ is a Class B verb. So it’s conjugated in Simple Present Tense as:

mAr + uv + personal ending =  mAruvae – I sell

To make Future Tense verb conjugation from Simple Present Tense, if you find ‘uv’ sound preceding personal endings, then just remove it and if you find ‘p’ sound preceding personal endings, change it to ‘uv’.

mAruvae - Simple Present Tense

mArae – Future Tense (removed ‘uv’ sound)

barpae - Simple Present Tense

baruvae - Future Tense (changed ‘p’ to ‘uv’)

Some short sentences in Future Tense:

Tulu: Aye satya paNuve
English: He will probably tell the truth / He may tell the truth.
Kannada: avanu satya hELiyAnu/hELabahudu

Tulu: jAgratae! bUra
English: Be careful! You may fall down.
Kannada: jOke! biddIya

Tulu: akulu ellae pOver
English: They will probably go tomorrow.
Kannada: avaru nALe hodAru

Tulu: Al illaD uppal
English: She may be at home
Kannada: avaLu maneyalli irabahudu

Tulu: yAn ini bEga pOvae
English: I may go soon today
Kannada: nAnu ivattu bEga hOdEnu

Tulu: portAvu (portu + Avu)
English: It will probably be late
Kannada: hottAdItu

Tulu: ini barsa baru
English: It will probably rain today
Kannada: ivattu maLe bandItu

Tulu: Ayeg bEjAr Avu
English: He may feel bad.
Kannada: avanige bEjAr AdItu

Tulu: aleg kushi Avu
English: She may feel happy
Kannada: avaLige kushi AdItu

Tulu: enk banga Avu
English: It may be difficult for me
Kannada: nanage kashTa AdItu

Tulu: akleg kOpa baru
English: They may get angry
Kannada: avarige kOpa bandItu

Tulu: onjattonji (onji att onji) dina Aye pira baruve
English: One day he may come back
Kannada: ondallondu dina avanu hindirugi bandAnu

Tulu: nama ellae saiva
English: We may die tomorrow
Kannada: nAvu nALe sattEvu

Tulu: pEr’n puchchae paru
English: Cat may drink the milk.
Kannada: hAlannu bekku kuDidItu

Tulu: Aye ninan keruve
English: He may kill you
Kannada: avanu ninnannu kondAnu

Tulu: Aye niNDa kEne
English: He may ask with you
Kannada: avanu ninnalli kELiyAnu

Tulu: yAn onji gaNTedulai (gaNTeda + ulai) ettae
English:  I will probably reach within an hour. Kannada: nAnu ondu gaNTe oLage talupiyEnu

Tulu: nama genda
English: We will probably win
Kannada: nAvu geddEvu

Tulu: akulu sOper
English: They will probably loose.
Kannada: avaru sotAru

Tulu: dEver naman mApu malper
English: God may forgive us Kannada: dEvaru nammannu kshamisiyAru

New words:

jAgratae – Carefulness/Caution

portu – Time/Late

ini – Today

barsa – Rain

banga – Trouble/Difficulty

kOpa -Anger

onji att onji – one or one

pEr – milk

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If you have any questions, feel free to comment. See you next week!

Solmelu!

Tulu Lesson 5: More Interrogative Sentences in Simple Present Tense, Numbers from 1 to 20

namaskAra! encha ullar?

If anyone asked you how are you in Tulu, you can reply them ‘ushAr ullae’ or just ‘soukhya’. Both mean the same ‘I am fine’.

Also, instead of ‘encha ullar?’ you can ask ‘soukhyana?’ or ‘ushAr ullara?’.

You know Tulu has different subjective pronouns to speak with elders or strangers with respect. Ir - you, Ar (remote) – He/She, mEr (proximate) – He/She. But there is no separate verb conjugation for these pronouns. Verbs are conjugated like if it was plural.

nikulu gobbuvar – you play (plural) 

Ir gobbuvar – you play (giving respect) 

akulu/mokulu gobbuver (plural)

Ar/mEr gobbuver (giving respect) 

But in interrogative form of sentences when you speaking to elders/strangers with respect, you can optionally add ‘e’ or ‘ne’ instead of ‘a’ or ‘na’ at the end.

nikulu gobbuvara? – Do you play? (plural) 

Ir gobbuvare? – Do you play? (giving respect) 

It’s not compulsory; you can also say ‘Ir gobbuvara?’, but adding ‘e’ sound at the end makes it more polite and many prefer it while speaking to elders.

Aye gobbujena? – Doesn’t he play? 

Aye gobbujene? - Doesn’t he play? (when you speak with elders/strangers with respect)

soukhyana? – Are you fine? 

soukhyane? Are you fine? (with respect)

Now look at the following sentence.

He is a nice man, right?

He is a nice man, isn’t he?

This kind of questions can be asked in Tulu using ‘ata’.

att – No/It is not

ata? – Isn’t it/right?

Aye eDDae naramAni, ata? - He is a nice man, right?

Aye eDDae naramAni, ate? -  He is a nice man, right? (giving respect to the listener)

The answer can be and/att – Yes/No

Aye ellae barpe, ata? – He will come tomorrow, right?

Aye ellae barpe, ate? - He will come tomorrow, right? (giving respect to the listener)

The answer can be and/ijji – Yes/No

Now look at the following sentence:

Whether he will come or not?

This kind for questions can be asked in Tulu using ‘ijja’.

ijji - No/It is not

ijja? – isn’t it?/or not?

Aye barpe – He will come

Aye barpena? – Will he come?

Aye barpene? - Will he come? (giving respect to the listener)

Aye barpena, ijja? - Whether he will come or not?

Aye barpene, ijje? - Whether he will come or not? (giving respect to the listener)

All right! We are done with interrogative form of sentences in Simple Present tense. Now let us look at all type of sentences we have learnt so far:

yAn tulu pAtervae – I speak Tulu.

yAn tulu kalpuvae – I will learn Tulu

enk tulu barpuNDu – I know Tulu

enk tulu gottuNDu (gottu + uNDu) – I know Tulu

yAn tulu pAterujae – I don’t speak Tulu

yAn tulu kalpujae – I will not learn Tulu

enk tulu barpuji – I don’t know Tulu

enk tulu gottuji – I don’t know Tulu

I tulu kalpuvana? Will you learn Tulu?

Ir tulu kalpuvare? Will you learn Tulu?

nikk tulu barpuNDa? Do you know Tulu?

ireg tulu barpuNDe? Do you know Tulu?

nikk tulu gottuja? Don’t you know Tulu?

ireg tulu gottuje? Don’t you know Tulu?

nikk tulu gottuNData? (gottuNDu + ata) – You know Tulu, right?

ireg tulu gottuNDate? - You know Tulu, right?

nikk tulu barpujata? (barpuji + ata) – You don’t know Tulu, right?

ireg tulu barpujate? – You don’t know Tulu, right?

nikk tulu gottuNDa, ijja? - Whether you know Tulu or not?

ireg tulu barpunDe, ijje? - Whether you know Tulu or not?

yAn ellae kuDlag pOpae, Irla ennoTTugu barpare? – I will go to Mangalore tomorrow, will you too come along with me?

Avu, yAnla barpae – OK, I will come too.

ijji, enk Apuji – No, I can’t

Avu – OK

ApuNDu – It becomes/It will become

Apuji – It does not become/It will not become

yAn Doctor Apae – I will become a Doctor. 

yAn Doctor Apujae – I will not become a Doctor. 

But when used with Dative or Ablative case, it gives the meaning of ‘not possible’ or ‘can’t’

enk Apuji – I can’t. (It’s not possible for me)

enaDd Apuji – I can’t (It’s not possible by me)

Tulu: ninaDd dAla bElae Apuji
English: You can’t do any work. Kannada: ninninda EnU kelasa Agalla

Also, this verb is used to express feelings.

Tulu: enk khushi ApuNDu
English: I feel happy
Kannada: nanage khushi Agtade

Tulu: enk bEjAr ApuNDu
English: I feel sad
Kannada: nanage bEjar Agtade

Tulu: enk bEnae Apuji
English: I don’t feel pain.
Kannada: nanage nOvu Agalla

Tulu: enk badApuNDu (baDav + ApuNDu)
English: I feel hungry
Kannada: nanage hasivAgtade

Tulu: enk bAjel ApuNDu
English: I feel thirsty
Kannada: nanage bAyArike Agtade

Tulu: Ayeg tarae bEnae ApuNDu
English: He has head ache.
Kannada: avanige tale nOvu Agtade

More sentences in Simple Present/Future tense:

Tulu: Aye dinola kANDae daikleg nIr pADuve
English: He waters the plants every morning.
Kannada: avanu dinA beLagge giDagaLige nIru hAktAne

Tulu: Ar rAtrae benper, pagel’D jeppuver
English: He works at night and sleeps during the day.
Kannada: avaru rAtri duDitAre, hagalu malagtAre

Tulu: ninna jOkulu sAleg pOpera?
English: Do your children go to school?
Kannada: ninna makkaLu shAlege hOgtAra?

Tulu: irena jOkulu sAleg pOpere?
English: Do your children go to school? (with respect)
Kannada: nimma makkaLu shAlege hOgtAra?

Tulu: yAn bEga jeppuvena?
English: Do I sleep early?
Kannada: nAnu bEga malagtEna?

Tulu: yAn bEga jeppuvene?
English: Do I sleep early? (with respect)
Kannada: nAnu bEga malagtEna?

Tulu: akulu enan ini leppujer
English: They will not call me today
Kannada: avaru nannannu ivattu kareyalla

Tulu: Ar enan madapujer
English: He/She will not forget me
Kannada: avaru nannannu mareyalla

Tulu: yAn aleDa paNpae
English: I will tell her.
Kannada: nAnu avaLalli hELtEne

Tulu: Aye ninan kerpe
English: He will kill you
Kannada: avanu ninnannu koltAne

Tulu: yAn enna dOstina illaDe pOpae
English: I will go to my friend’s house
Kannada: nAnu nanna geLeyana manege hOgtEne

Tulu: enna amma enna bAlen tUper
English: My mom will look after my child
Kannada: nanna amma nanna maguvannu nODtAre

Tulu: I jOkulu bareper
English: These children will write.
Kannada: I makkaLu bareyuttAre

‘I’ and ‘A’ are demonstrative adjectives.

undu – This

I bAlae – This child

I jOkulu – These children

au – That

A bAlae – That child

A jOkulu – Those children

Numbers in Tulu:

If we learn numbers from one to twenty correctly we will have no problems with the rest of the numbers. So, please try to learn the first twenty numbers and you’ll have no more problems!

onji – One

raDD – Two

mUji – Three

nAl – Four

ain – Five

Aji – Six

El – Seven

enma – Eight

orumba – Nine

patt – Ten

pattonji – Eleven

padiraDD – Twelve

padimUji – Thirteen

padinAl – Fourteen

padinain – Fifteen

padinAji – Sixteen

padinEl – Seventeen

padinenma – Eighteen

padinorumba – Nineteen

irva – Twenty

Words used in today’s lesson:

eDDae – good

naramAni – man

gottu – knowledge/understanding

kuDla – Mangalore

Irla – you too

ennoTTugu (enna + oTTugu) - with me

khushi – happy

bEjAr – sad

bEnae – pain

baDav – Hunger

bAjel – thirst

tarae – head

dai – plant

daikulu – plants

nIr – water

rAtrae – night

pagel – day time

bAlae – child

jOkulu – children

ini – today

dOsti – friend

Click here to learn more verbs.

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All right! If you have any questions, feel free to comment. See you next week!

solmelu!

Tulu Lesson 3: Simple Present Tense

Hello everyone, welcome back!

Today we are going to learn simple present tense. Simple present tense used to remark habits, general realities, repeated actions or unchanging situations. In Tulu it’s also used for future tense.

As far as I know, there is no such a well-defined rule in the Tulu grammar books or there are very few scholars who wrote about Tulu grammar. As a native speaker, I have observed how the verbs in Tulu are conjugated.  There are two conjugations. Look at the following verbs:

Root verbs:

pO – To go

bare – To write

mAr – To sell

kaDapu – To cross

Aye pOpe – He goes.

Aye barepe – He writes

Aye mAruve – He sells.

Aye kaDapuve – He crosses.

Can you see the difference? Yes, first two verbs are conjugated by adding extra ‘p’ sound and other two verbs are conjugated by adding ‘uv’ sound. So what is the difference between these verbs? If you studied ‘chandas’ in Sanskrit or in any other Indian languages, it is simple! If a root verb takes 2 or less than 2 ‘matras’ (meters) to pronounce, then the sound ‘p’ is added and if a root verb takes more than 2 ‘matras’ to pronounce, then it is conjugated by adding ‘uv’ sound. Please note that in Tulu, words which end with consonant sound has final ‘half-u’ sound as I explained in How to Pronounce. So, while calculating ‘matras’, make sure to consider ‘half-u’ as equal to a vowel.

For those who don’t know about ‘chandas’, let me explain in different way. To add ‘p’ sound to verb conjugation in Simple Present tense, a root verb must be in one of the following cases:

1. Root verb has only one syllable.

2. Root verb should not have more than 2 syllables.  If root verb has 2 syllables, then any of the syllables should not have a long vowel or more than one consonant.

Otherwise, it is conjugated by adding ‘uv’ sound.

Syllable is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants. The number of times that you hear the sound of a vowel is the number of syllables in a word.

Eg: ‘rAjA’ has 2 syllables rA and jA. 

‘satya’ has 2 syllables sat and ya   

Now take the verb ‘pO’. It has only one syllable. So it can be conjugated as pO + p + personal ending.

The verb ‘bare’ has two syllables ‘ba’ and ‘re’ and each has one short vowel and single consonant. So it can be conjugated as bare + p + personal ending.

The verb ‘mAr’ has two syllables (including final ‘half-u’ sound i.e mA and rŭ) and the first syllable has a long vowel. So it is conjugated as mAr + uv + personal ending.

The verb ‘kaDapu’ has three syllables ‘ka’, ‘Da’ and ‘pu’. So it is conjugated as kaDapu + uv + personal ending.

Let us take one more verb ‘malpu’. It has two syllables ‘mal’ and ‘pu’. First syllable has two consonant sounds. So it is conjugated as malpu + uv + personal ending. Got it?

You do not have to worry about it. I will make two groups for your reference; Class A and Class B.

Class A is for the verbs like ‘pO’ (Gerund: pOpini) and ‘bare’ (Gerund: barepini) - To make Gerund form, add ‘pini’ to root verb. Eg: pO+pini=pOpini

Class B is for the verbs like ‘mAr’ (mAruni) and ‘kaDapu’ (kaDapuni) - To make Gerund form, add ‘uni’ to root verb. Eg: mAr+uni=mAruni

Before proceeding further, let us look at all of the personal endings:

		Singular			Plural
		Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO	Pronoun	Ending	Example: pO
First Person		yAn	ae	pOpae	nama/enkulu	a	pOpa
Second Person		I	a	pOpa	nikulu/Ir	ar	pOpar
Third Person	Masc.	Aye/imbe	e	pOpe	akulu/Ar/mokulu/mEr	er	pOper
	Fem.	Al/mOlu	al	pOpal
	Neut.	au/undu	uNDu	pOpuNDu	aikulu/undekulu	a	pOpa

yAn pOpae – I go

I pOpa – You go

Aye/imbe pOpe – He goes

Al/mOlu pOpal – She goes

au/undu pOpuNDu – It goes

nama/enkulu pOpa – We go

Ir/nikulu pOpar – You go

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr pOper – They go

undekulu/aikulu pOpa – They go

yAn malpuvae – I do

I malpuva – You do

Aye/imbe malpuve – He does

Al/mOlu malpuval – She does

au/undu malpuNDu – It does (We don’t have to add ‘uv’ sound since personal ending starts from ‘u’ sound. Personal ending ‘uNDu’ directly added to root verb)

nama/enkulu malpuva – We do

Ir/nikulu malpuvar – You do

akulu/mokulu/Ar/mEr malpuver – They do

undekulu/aikulu malpuva – They do

Some of the verbs used in daily conversation:

Class A verbs:

A (Apini) – To become

pO (pOpini) – To go

tU (tUpini) – To see

dI (dIpini) – To place

mI (mIpini) – To bathe

rA (rApini) – To fly

sai (saipini) – To die

bar (barpini) – To come

kaDe (kaDepini) – To grind

paDe (paDepini) – To obtain

tiN (tiNpini) – To eat

uN – (uNpini) To eat (rice or lunch/dinner)

paN (paNpini) – To say/tell

ben (benpini) – To work

ker (kerpini) – To kill

ner (nerpini) – To scold

par (parpini) – To drink

kor (korpini) – To give

bare (barepini) – To write

buDu (buDpini) - To leave

Class B verbs:

uppu/ippu (uppuni/ippuni) – To be

kEN (kENuni) – To hear/ listen /ask

bUr (bUruni) – To fall

jAr (jAruni) – To slip

mAr (mAruni) – To sell

pAr (pAruni) – To run

pAter (pAteruni) – To speak

nInd (nInduni) – To swim

dakk (dakkuni) – To throw

dekk (dekkuni) – To wash

tikk (tikkuni) – To get/meet

untu  (untuni) – To stand

kullu (kulluni) – To sit

lakk (lakkuni) – To get up

kalk (kalkuni) – To shout

bad’k (bad’kuni) – To live

murku (murkuni) – To sink/drown

telipu (telipuni) – To smile/laugh

naDapu (naDapuni) – To walk

balipu (balipuni) – To run

bulipu (bulipuni) – To weep/cry

nalipu (nalipuni) – To dance

malpu (malpuni) – To do

kalpu (kalpuni) – To learn

kApu (kApuni) – To wait

paripu (paripuni) – To tear

parapu (parapuni) – To flow/crawl

maDipu (maDipuni) – To fold

oripu (oripuni) – To save

mugipu (mugipuni) – To finish

menpu (menpuni) – To wake someone up

jeppu (jeppuni) – To sleep

jappu (jappuni) – To get down

leppu (leppuni) – To call

lappu (lappuni) – To measure

kaDpu (kaDpuni) – To cut

kaDapu (kaDapuni) – To cross

torpu (torpuni) – To kick

uripu (uripuni) – To blow

sOpu (sOpuni) – To lose

aDipu (aDipuni) – To sweep

deppu (deppuni) – To remove/take out or to open ( the door)
derpu (derpuni) - To lift

madapu (madapuni) – To forget

korepu (korepuni) – To bark

gobbu (gobbuni) – To play

deng (denguni) – To hide

gend (genduni) – To win

muchchu (muchchuni) – To close

Odu (Oduni) – To read

lAg (lAguni) – To jump

pAD (pADuni) – To put/wear

nUku (nUkuni) – To push/shove

ottu (ottuni) – To press

galas (galasuni) – To use

balas (balasuni) – To serve food

patt (pattuni) – To hold/catch

muTTu (muTTuni) – To touch/reach

kaTT (kaTTuni) – To build/tie

paTT (paTTuni) – To share/distribute

naTT (naTTuni) – To beg

boTTu (boTTuni) – To knock

puTTu (puTTuni)  – To born

Ak (Akuni) – To hit/beat

Whenever I come across new verbs, I will keep updating it in Vocabulary page.

Let us make some short sentences in simple present tense. To begin with, we need to know the structure of a sentence. In Tulu, we have subjects at the beginning and verbs at the end of the sentences. All other items such as objects come between these two. Sometimes objects may come at the beginning and subjects in the middle.  

yAn sAleg pOpe – I go to school. (Kannada: nAnu shAlege hOguttEne)

I sAleg pOpa – You go to school. (Kannada: nInu shAlege hOguttIya)

Aye sAleg pOpe – He goes to school (Kannada: avanu shAlege hOguttAne)

mOlu sAleg pOpal – She goes to school (Kannada: ivaLu shAlege hOguttALe)

enkulu dinola pEpar Oduva – We read news paper daily. (Kannada: nAvu dinA pEpar OduttEve)

Ir vArogu onji katae barepar – You write one story every week. (Kannada: nIvu vArakke ondu kathe bareyuttIri)

akulu tingolgu ora illaDe barper – They come home once a month (Kannada: avaru tingaLige omme manege baruttAre)

nAyi dinola rAtrae korepuNDu – Dog barks at night daily. (Kannada: nAyi dinA rAtri bogaLuttade)

nAyilu dinola rAtrae korepuva - Dogs bark at night daily. (Kannada: nAyigaLu dinA rAtri bogaLuttave)

yAn enna baik’n pratI aitAra dekkuvae – I wash my bike every Sunday. (Kannada: nAnu nanna baikannu pratI bhAnuvAra toLeyuttEne)

nama dinola kANDae mIpa – We take bath every morning. (Kannada: nAvu dinA beLigge snAna mADuttEve)

Aye dinola bayyag gobbuve – He plays every evening. (Kannada: avanu dinA sanje ADuttAne)

sUrya mUDaiD puTTuNdu, paDDaiD murkuNDu – Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. (sUrya pUrvadalli huTTuttade, pashchimadalli muLuguttade)

petta pEr korpuNDu – Cow gives milk. (Kannada: dana hAlu koDuttade)

AkAshoDu pakkilu rApa – Birds fly in the sky.(Kannada: AkAshadalli hakkigaLu hAruttave)

akulu dinola kaNDoDu benper – They work in the field daily. (Kannada: avaru dinA gaddeyalli duDiyuttAre)

Al Epola satya pAterval – She always speaks truth. (Kannada: avaLu yAvAgalU satya mAtADuttALe)

I dinola kANDae chA parpa – You drink tea every morning. (Kannada: nInu dinA beLigge chahA kuDiyuttIya)

enkulu dinoku raDD portu uNpa – We eat (rice) two times a day. (Kannada: nAvu dinakke eraDu sala UTa mADuttEve)

‘uN’ verb only used to indicate eating rice. From ‘uN’ we have the word ‘oNas’ which means lunch or dinner (meals). In South India, normally everyone eat rice for lunch and dinner.

‘tiN’ verb used for other eatables. From ‘tiN’ we have the word ‘teNas’ which means eatable.       

In Tulu, Simple Present Tense also used for future tense to talk about prior plans, strong intentions, fixed arrangements and to make promises or threats.  

yAn ellae illaDe pOpae – I will go home tomorrow. (Kannada: nAnu nALe manege hOguttEne)

yAn aitAra nikk tikkuvae – I will meet you on Sunday. (Kannada: nAnu bhAnuvAra ninage siguttEne)

rAjEsh raDD gaNTeD pira barpe – Rajesh will return in two hours. (Kannada: rAjEsh eraDu gaNTeyalli hinde baruttAne)

yAn bayya ain gaNTeg nigaNT barpae – I will definitely come at 5 o’clock in the evening. (Kannada: nAnu sanje aidu gaNTege khaNDita baruttEne)

mAtala sama ApuNDu. – Everything will be fine.(Kannada: ellavU sari Aguttade)

yAn nikk kApuvae – I will wait for you. (Kannada: nAnu ninage kAyuttEne)

I enan madapuva – you will forget me. (Kannada: nInu nannannu mareyuttIya)

New words used in today’s lesson:

dina/dino – day

dinola – daily

onji – one

katae – story

vAra/vAro – week

tingolu – month

ora – once

ill – house

sAlae – school

nAyi – dog

rAtrae – night

aitAra – Sunday

pratI – every

kANDae – morning

bayya – evening

mUDai – east

paDDai - west

chA – tea

raDD – two

portu – time

petta – cow

pEr – milk

AkAsha/AkAsho – sky

pakki – bird

kaNDa/kaNDo – field

Epola – always

satya – truth

ellae – tomorrow

gaNTe – hour

mAtha – all

mAthala – everything

sama/sari – correct

Please try to make sentences using other verbs listed above. If you need help, feel free to comment. See you next week!

Solmelu! (Thanks!)

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