Hello - namaste or namaskāra Welcome - susvāgata Long time no see - tumba divasagalinda kānisalilla How are you? - hegiddērā? All is well? – athavā kshemanā? I am fine. How are you? - nā calō adīni, nīvu hyāngadīr’ri? or nān cennagiddēne, nīvu hēg’iddīra? Pleased to meet you - nimmannu bheti mādiddakke santosha
Good morning - shubhodaya Good afternoon- shubha madhyahna Good evening- shubha sāyankāla Good night – shubharātri
What is your name? (singular) - ninna hesarēnu? What is your name? (plural) - nimma hesarēnu? My name is … - nanna hesaru . . . Where are you from? (singular) - nimma ooru yāvudu? Where are you from? (plural) - athavā nēvu yāva kadeyavaru? I am from … - nā . . . . linda bandiddīni We are from … - nā . . . . linda bandēni Pleased to meet you - nimmannu bheti mādiddakke santosha
Goodbye - hogi banni athavā hogi bartēra? Good luck - olleyadāgali athavā shubhavāgali Have a nice day - shubha dinavāgali Bon voyage - prayana sukhakaravaagirali hogi banni See you again - matte sigona
Excuse me – kshamisi Sorry - kshamisi Please - dayaviṭṭu Thank you – dhanyavāda or dhanyavādagaḷu Your welcome- yāke summane ṭhanksu? or parwagilla biḍi I love you - naa ninna preetisteeni Get well soon - bega gunamukharaagi anta haaraisuttene Cheers or good health - tumba santosha athavā khushiyāytu Enjoy your meal - shubha bhojana athavaa oota enjaay maadi
Where is the restroom? - śaucālaya ellide? Where is the toilet? - ṭāyleṭ ellide? How do i go to the airport? - naanu airport ge hege hoguvudhu? Where is … - … ellide or … yelli Go straight - neravagi hogi Go back - hindhe hogi Go right - balagade hogi Go left - yedagade hogi North - uttara South - dhakshina East - poorva West - pashchima Up - mele Down - kelage Opposite - viruddha
How much is …? – … idhu yeshtu? or … bele eshtu Where can I go shopping? – naanu shopping maadalu yelli hoga beku What is this? - Ī ēnu? Please weigh correctly - dayavittu sariyaagi tooka maadi Sorry I do not have change - kshamisi nanna hattira change-illa Give the change - Change-kodi Please remove damaged / rotten ones - dayavittu damage-aagirodanu thegeyiri I don’t want cover - nanage cover-beda I have a bag - nanna hathira bag-ide
How much do you charge? - neevu eshtu duddu thagothiraa? You are expensive, I can’t afford it - neevu duddu jaasthi keluthira, naanu eshtu koduvudakke aagolla Which other houses do you work in around here? - neevu illi bere yaava manegalalli kelsa maaduthiraa? What is your mobile number? - nimma mobile number enu? Take down my mobile number - nanna mobile number thagolli What time can you come? - neevu yaava time-ge baruthiraa? Come by … in the morning - neevu belagge … gantege barabeku Please be on time - dayavittu time sariyaagi banni For sweeping - kasa gudisoke For moping - nela oresoke For washing clothes - batte ogeyoke For washing utensils - paatree tholeyoke For cooking - aduge maadoke How much would you charge for cooking? - neevu aduge maadoke eshtu duddu thagothiraa? How much would you charge for sweeping, moping and washing utensils?- neevu kasa gudisoke, nela oresoke matte paatre tholeyoke eshtu duddu thagothiraa?
Please drive slowly - dayavittu (gaadiyannu) nidhaanavaagi chalaisi Turn right - right thirugi Turn left - left thirugi Go straight - straight hogi Stop - nillisi Do not talk on phone while driving - drive-maaduvaaga phone maadabedi Wear a seat belt - seat belt haakikolli Do not jump signals - signal haarisabedi Mind the road humps - road naliruva humps nodi (gaadi) chalaisi Please wait for 5 minutes, I will come - dayavittu 5 minutes wait-maadi, naanu baruthene Come on time tomorrow - naale time sariyaagi banni
How do I go there? - allige naanu hege hoguvudu? Where is your house? - nimma mane elli idhe? Where is the nearest police station? - hathiradha police station yelli idhe? Where can i go shopping? - naanu shopping maadalu yelli hoga beku Can you help me? - nanage sahaaya maaduvira? What are you doing? - neevu yenu maaduthidheera? Would you join me for lunch today? - eedina nanna jothe oota maduvira? How do I go to the airport? - naanu airport ge hege hoguvudhu? Where shall we meet? - naavu yelli bheti aagoNa? Was there a call for me? - nanage yaraadharu call maadidhara? What did you do? - neenu yenu maadiruve ? What will you do? - neenu yenu maaduthiya? What should I do? - naanu yenu maadabeku? What can I do? - naanu yenu madabhahudu? Whom should I contact? - naanu yarannu samparkisabeku? Will you come with me? - neenu nanna jothege baruveya? I shall come with you - naanu ninna jothege baruve Did you have your lunch? - oota maadideya? Are you busy? - neenu busy idhiya? I am busy now - naanu eega busy ideeni
I don’t understand - tiḷī’lilla or nanag artha āg’lilla Please speak more slowly - salpa mellage mātāḍi or salpa nidhāna’vāgi mātāḍi Please say that again - innomme hēḷi or inn’ond’sala hēḷi How do you … in Kannada? - kannadadalli … hege helodu? Do you speak Kannada? - neevu kannada maataadteera? Do you speak English? - neevu english maataadteera? Yes, I speak a little - houdu, svalpa svalpa barutte Please write that down - bared’ koḷḷ’ri
Here is a chart of Kannada vowels and their pronunciation. ಅ a KANNADA LETTER A ಆ ā KANNADA LETTER AA ಇ e KANNADA LETTER E ಈ e KANNADA LETTER EE ಉ u KANNADA LETTER U ಊ ū KANNADA LETTER UU ಋ r̥ KANNADA LETTER VOCALIC Ru ೠ r̥̄ KANNADA LETTER VOCALIC RR ಎ i KANNADA LETTER e ಏ ii KANNADA LETTER AE ಐ ai KANNADA LETTER AI ಒ o KANNADA LETTER O ಓ ō KANNADA LETTER OO ಔ au KANNADA LETTER AU Canarese consonants come in two forms, structured and unstructured. Structured consonants are categorized by where the tongue touches the palate. These come in five categories. They are: Velars ಕ (ka) ಖ (kha) ಗ (ga) ಘ (gha) ಙ (nga) Palatals ಚ (cha) ಛ (chha) ಜ (ja) ಝ (jha) ಞ (nya) Retroflex ಟ (tta) ಠ (ttha) ಡ (dda) ಢ (ddha) ಣ (nna) Dentals ತ (ta) ಥ (tha) ದ (da) ಧ (dha) ನ (na) Labials ಪ (pa) ಫ (pha) ಬ (ba) ಭ (bha) ಮ (ma) The unstructured consonants are: ಯ (ya), ರ (ra), ಲ (la), ವ (va), ಶ (sha), ಷ (ssa), ಸ (sa), ಹ (ha), ಳ (lla) Kannada also includes two letters which are part consonant and part vowel, called “yogavaahaka”. They are the anusvara: ಅಂ (am) and the visarga: ಅಃ (ah)
Below is a sample of Kannada numbers from 0 to 9. ೦ sonne 0 Zero ೧ ondu 1 One ೨ eraḍu 2 Two ೩ mūru 3 Three ೪ nālku 4 Four ೫ aidu 5 Five ೬ āru 6 Six ೭ ēḷu 7 Seven ೮ enṭu 8 Eight ೯ oṃbattu 9 Nine
When Kannada is written using English language characters, you will sometimes find that vowels in the middle of words are capitalized to represent the long vowel sound. However, this convention is not uniformly practiced.
I - naanu you - neenu he - avanu she - avalu we - naavu they -avvaru me - nanna, nannage you - ninna, nimage him - avana, avanige her - avala,avalige us - namma them - avarige my - namma your - ninna his - avana her - avala our - namma their - avara mine - nanna yours - nimma his - avana hers - avala ours - namma theirs - avara
Ane (here A is as in Ball). In contrast, in aDike a is short as in “aristocrat”. mEle (here E is as in Baby). prIti (here I is as in Meeting) hOda (here O is as in roam) pUjari (here U is as in fool) The consonants which are capitalized are: aDike (the D is as in “Dog”); lower case d is soft). koTru (here T is as in “Tom”); lower case is soft. chELige (here L is a sound with no equivalence in English; lower case is as in “lamb”) kaNNu (here N is nasal; lower case is as in “no”)
Because of this, when looking at a Kannada language dictionary, you will find verbs by their verb stem rather than in a constructed, infinitive form. For example, see the conjugation of “to walk” in Kanadda below. to walk - naḍeyalu I walk - nānu naḍeyuttēne you walk - nīvu naḍeyalu he walks - avaru paricayisuttade she walks - avaḷu naḍedu it walks - idu paricayisuttade they walk - avaru naḍedu we walk - nāvu naḍeyalu Notice that all of the conjugated forms maintain the root “ade” somewhere in the word.
