Family
కుటుంబం
Family words are some of the first nouns worth learning, and they introduce a Polish quirk Telugu has no real parallel for: a noun's ending doesn't always predict its gender.
Grammar Comparison
వ్యాకరణ పోలిక
tata Looks Feminine But Isn't — Telugu Nouns Don't Mark Gender by Ending at All
tata, kolega
నాన్న, (మగ) స్నేహితుడు
Nouns ending in -a are usually feminine in Polish, but a small, important group of masculine nouns referring to men also end in -a — tata (dad) is the clearest example. Adjectives and verbs describing tata still agree with masculine gender ('mój tata', not 'moja tata'), even though the noun's ending looks feminine at a glance. Telugu gives you no prior instinct to lean on here: Telugu nouns don't carry grammatical gender in their spelling or ending the way Polish nouns do — నాన్న (dad) is simply a word, with gender only showing up separately in pronouns and verb agreement, never in the noun's own form.
Mama/Tata vs. Matka/Ojciec
mama / tata
అమ్మ / నాన్న
Mama and tata are the everyday, affectionate terms you'll hear constantly in conversation — the same warm register as Telugu's అమ్మ and నాన్న. Matka and ojciec are more formal or clinical-sounding, closer to 'mother' and 'father' used at a distance, and feel stiff in casual talk about your own family, the way an overly formal Telugu term would.
Vocabulary
పదజాలం
- Telugu
- కుటుంబంkutumbam
- English
- the family
- Telugu
- అమ్మamma
- English
- mom
- Telugu
- నాన్నnaanna
- English
- dad
- Telugu
- సోదరుడుsodarudu
- English
- brother
- Telugu
- సోదరిsodari
- English
- sister
- Telugu
- కొడుకుkoduku
- English
- son
- Telugu
- కూతురుkooturu
- English
- daughter
- Telugu
- భర్తbharta
- English
- husband
- Telugu
- భార్యbhaarya
- English
- wife
- Telugu
- తాతయ్య నాయనమ్మtaatayya naayanamma
- English
- grandparents
- Telugu
- మామయ్యmaamayya
- English
- uncle
- Telugu
- అత్త / పిన్నిatta / pinni
- English
- aunt