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Lesson 7A1

Articles & Gender

ആർട്ടിക്കിളുകളും ലിംഗവും

Every French noun — even ones with no natural gender at all — is grammatically masculine or feminine, and needs an article almost every time it appears. Malayalam has neither system.

Grammar Comparison

വ്യാകരണ താരതമ്യം

Objects have gender too, with no logic behind it

French

le soleil (the sun, masculine) / la lune (the moon, feminine) — nothing about a sun or moon is inherently male or female

Malayalam

സൂര്യൻ, ചന്ദ്രൻ — neither noun carries any gender marking

French assigns every noun a grammatical gender, including objects, ideas, and places that have no natural gender — the sun happens to be masculine, the moon happens to be feminine, and there's no rule to predict which. Malayalam nouns carry no gender at all, so this has to be memorized noun by noun in French, with no instinct to fall back on.

An article on almost every noun

French

le livre, la table, un stylo, une porte — the article changes with gender and definiteness

Malayalam

പുസ്തകം, മേശ — a bare noun, with no article required at all

French nouns are almost always preceded by an article that agrees with their gender and whether they're definite or not (le/la/les for 'the', un/une/des for 'a/some'). Malayalam has no article system whatsoever — a bare noun already does the job an article does in French, so there's nothing to translate into Malayalam here, only something to add when going the other way.

Vocabulary

വാക്കുകൾ

le soleilluh soh-LAY
Malayalam
സൂര്യൻsooryan
English
the sun
la lunelah loon
Malayalam
ചന്ദ്രൻchandran
English
the moon
le livreluh LEE-vruh
Malayalam
പുസ്തകംpusthakam
English
the book
la tablelah TAH-bluh
Malayalam
മേശmesha
English
the table
la maisonlah may-ZOHN
Malayalam
വീട്veedu
English
the house
le styloluh stee-LOH
Malayalam
പേനpena
English
the pen
la portelah port
Malayalam
വാതിൽvaathil
English
the door
le paysluh pay-EE
Malayalam
രാജ്യംrajyam
English
the country
la villelah veel
Malayalam
നഗരംnagaram
English
the city
l'eauloh
Malayalam
വെള്ളംvellam
English
the water