Greetings & Formality
അഭിവാദനങ്ങളും മര്യാദയും
Malayalam marks respect with a formal/informal 'you' split — നീ vs. നിങ്ങൾ. English removes that distinction entirely, which is itself the thing to learn.
Grammar Comparison
വ്യാകരണ താരതമ്യം
One 'you' for everyone
you (used for a child, a friend, a stranger, or the Prime Minister — identically)
നീ (informal) / നിങ്ങൾ (formal) — two separate words
Malayalam gives you a dedicated pronoun (നിങ്ങൾ) that signals respect automatically. English took that word away, so you have to rebuild formality through other means: titles (Sir, Madam), phrasing ('Would you mind...' instead of 'Give me...'), and tone. The common mistake is translating the formal Malayalam pronoun literally into an overly stiff English sentence — English marks respect through word choice, not through a different pronoun.
Spelling doesn't match pronunciation
though, through, tough, thorough — four different vowel sounds for the same four letters
Malayalam script — each letter is read almost the same way, essentially every time
Malayalam script is close to fully phonetic: what's written is what's said. English spelling is not — it preserves centuries of borrowed spelling from French, Latin, and Old English without updating the sounds. Expect to learn the pronunciation of each new word separately from its spelling, rather than sounding it out reliably the way you would in Malayalam.
Vocabulary
വാക്കുകൾ
| English | Pronunciation | Malayalam |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | heh-LOH | നമസ്കാരംnamaskaaram |
| Good morning | good MOR-ning | സുപ്രഭാതംsuprabhaatham |
| Good evening | good EE-vning | ശുഭ സന്ധ്യshubha sandhya |
| Goodbye | good-BYE | വീണ്ടും കാണാംveendum kaanam |
| Bye | bye | പോയിട്ട് വരാംpoyittu varaam |
| Thank you | thank yoo | നന്ദിnandi |
| Please | pleez | ദയവായിdayavaayi |
| Yes | yes | അതെathe |
| No | noh | ഇല്ലilla |
| How are you? | how ar yoo | സുഖമാണോ?sukhamaano? |
| I'm fine | eyem fyn | എനിക്ക് സുഖമാണ്enikku sukhamaanu |