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Lesson 3A1

Family

കുടുംബം

German nouns carry grammatical gender (der/die/das). Malayalam doesn't attach gender to nouns either, but its third-person pronouns for people track the same male/female distinction German expresses through articles.

Grammar Comparison

വ്യാകരണ താരതമ്യം

der/die for people ≈ Malayalam's gendered pronouns

German

der Vater (masc.) / die Mutter (fem.)

Malayalam

അവൻ (he) / അവൾ (she)

Malayalam doesn't place a gender word in front of nouns, but its third-person pronouns already track male vs. female for people, the same underlying distinction German expresses with der/die. One genuine difference worth flagging: unlike some related languages, Malayalam verbs don't change their ending to agree with a subject's gender at all — the same verb form is used regardless of whether the subject is masculine or feminine, so the pronoun alone carries all the gender information, with no verb-agreement backup to lean on.

Vocabulary

വാക്കുകൾ

GermanPronunciationMalayalamEnglish
die Mutterdee MOO-terഅമ്മammamother
der Vaterdair FAH-terഅച്ഛൻachanfather
der Bruderdair BROO-derസഹോദരൻsahodaranbrother
die Schwesterdee SHVES-terസഹോദരിsahodarisister
die Großmutterdee GROHS-moo-terമുത്തശ്ശിmuthashigrandmother
der Großvaterdair GROHS-fah-terമുത്തച്ഛൻmuthachangrandfather
der Sohndair zohnമകൻmakanson
die Tochterdee TOKH-terമകൾmakaldaughter