Adjectives & Comparison
വിശേഷണങ്ങളും താരതമ്യവും
Neither language changes an adjective for the noun it describes. But English does change the adjective itself for comparison — a form Malayalam handles with a separate word instead.
Grammar Comparison
വ്യാകരണ താരതമ്യം
Adjectives never agree with the noun
a big book, big books — 'big' stays 'big' either way
വലിയ പുസ്തകം, വലിയ പുസ്തകങ്ങൾ — വലിയ stays exactly the same
This part carries over directly: English adjectives don't change for the noun's number, and neither do Malayalam's. If you know an adjective's one form, you know all of its forms — no agreement to track in either language.
-er/-est vs. a separate comparison word
big → bigger → biggest — the adjective itself changes shape
വലിയ → കൂടുതൽ വലിയ → ഏറ്റവും വലിയ — the adjective വലിയ never changes; a separate word (കൂടുതൽ, more / ഏറ്റവും, most) does the comparing
English adds -er and -est directly onto the adjective to compare things. Malayalam leaves the adjective untouched and places a separate word in front of it instead — കൂടുതൽ (more) for the comparative, ഏറ്റവും (most) for the superlative. Where English changes the word's ending, Malayalam adds a new word before it.
Vocabulary
വാക്കുകൾ
- Malayalam
- വലിയvaliya
- Malayalam
- കൂടുതൽ വലിയkoodutal valiya
- Malayalam
- ഏറ്റവും വലിയettavum valiya
- Malayalam
- ചെറിയcheriya
- Malayalam
- കൂടുതൽ ചെറിയkoodutal cheriya
- Malayalam
- ഏറ്റവും ചെറിയettavum cheriya
- Malayalam
- നല്ലnalla
- Malayalam
- കൂടുതൽ നല്ലkoodutal nalla
- Malayalam
- ഏറ്റവും നല്ലettavum nalla
- Malayalam
- കൂടുതൽkoodutal