Infinitive Clauses: um...zu, ohne...zu, statt...zu
ലക്ഷ്യ/ഒഴിവാക്കൽ ഉപവാക്യങ്ങൾ
German expresses purpose, exception, and substitution with a three-part frame — um/ohne/statt ... zu + infinitive — pushing the verb to the end one more time, in a construction Malayalam handles with a single infinitive suffix.
Grammar Comparison
വ്യാകരണ താരതമ്യം
um...zu ≈ Malayalam's infinitive suffix -ാൻ
Ich lerne Deutsch, um in Deutschland zu arbeiten. (I learn German [in order] to work in Germany)
ജർമ്മനിയിൽ ജോലി ചെയ്യാൻ, ഞാൻ ജർമ്മൻ പഠിക്കുന്നു. (work-do-ാൻ, I German learn)
Malayalam expresses purpose with a single infinitive suffix, -ാൻ, attached directly to the goal verb — ചെയ്യാൻ already means 'in order to do', no extra word required. German instead wraps the goal verb in a three-piece frame: um at the start, zu directly before the infinitive, and the infinitive itself at the very end of the clause. The meaning matches Malayalam's -ാൻ exactly; the German version just spreads that single suffix's job across three separate words.
Vocabulary
വാക്കുകൾ
- Malayalam
- ...ാൻ...aan
- English
- in order to
- Malayalam
- ...ാതെ...aathe
- English
- without ...ing
- Malayalam
- ...തിനു പകരം...thinu pakaram
- English
- instead of ...ing
- Malayalam
- ജോലി ചെയ്യാൻ പഠിക്കുന്നു.joli cheyyaan padhikkunnu.
- English
- I learn in order to work.
- Malayalam
- അവൻ പണം കൊടുക്കാതെ പോയി.avan panam kodukkaathe poyi.
- English
- He left without paying.