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Lesson 3A1

Family

കുടുംബം

English dropped grammatical gender entirely — no der/die/das, no le/la, nothing on the noun itself. Malayalam agrees with English here in one interesting way: its verbs don't mark gender either.

Grammar Comparison

Grammar Comparison

Neither language marks gender on the verb

English

the mother, the father — same 'the' either way; she comes, he comes — same 'comes' either way

Malayalam (previous course)

അവൾ വരുന്നു (she comes) / അവൻ വരുന്നു (he comes) — the verb itself never changes

English never marks gender on the verb — 'comes' stays 'comes' no matter who's doing it — and Malayalam agrees, in its own way: Malayalam verbs don't change for gender or person at all, so the verb form for 'comes' is identical whether the subject is he or she. Both languages put the entire burden of showing gender on the pronoun alone, so this instinct should feel familiar even though English and Malayalam arrive at it differently.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

motherMUH-ther
Malayalam (previous course)
അമ്മamma
fatherFAH-ther
Malayalam (previous course)
അച്ഛൻachan
brotherBRUH-ther
Malayalam (previous course)
സഹോദരൻsahodaran
sisterSIS-ter
Malayalam (previous course)
സഹോദരിsahodari
grandmotherGRAND-muh-ther
Malayalam (previous course)
മുത്തശ്ശിmuthashi
grandfatherGRAND-fah-ther
Malayalam (previous course)
മുത്തച്ഛൻmuthachan
sonsuhn
Malayalam (previous course)
മകൻmakan
daughterDAW-ter
Malayalam (previous course)
മകൾmakal