Telugu Verbs Primer

Hyderabad bazaar
Charminar in Hyderabad. Source: ruffin_reddy

This is a very quick introduction to Telugu verbs – designed to help you get speaking right away. To keep it simple, I’ve decided not to include some more advanced stuff like spelling changes or irregular verbs – I’ll cover them in a future post.

Note: If you have a second after reading this, please let me know what you think about this post! I want to make sure that these are helpful for all learners of Telugu.

A verb is the action word that describes what someone is doing. Words like run, bike, climb, talk, are/is are verbs. There are a lot of ways you can use a verb in Telugu, just like in English. For example, I can use the verb “to take” in the following sentences:

  • Mark will take the train
  • Mark took the train
  • After taking the train, you have to take a car.

The verbs in the first two sentences are called “finite” verbs. They have a clear subject (a person, in both cases Mark) and tense (Mark either took the train in the past, present or future). By contrast, “taking” and “to take” in the last sentence are “non-finite” verbs. They don’t clearly tell us who is doing the action or when they are doing it.

We’re going to learn how to conjugate the first two types of verbs that have a subject and a tense (finite verbs). What that means is that you’ll learn how to take a base verb like “to eat” or తిను [tinu], and conjugate it so that it tells you who did it (the subject), and when they did it (the tense). Note that the t in tinu is actually pronounced like the th in teeth, not the t in tap, or table. For more information, see my Telugu Pronunciation post.

Verbs in Telugu have three parts. The phrase “I ate” is translated as తిన్నాను [tinnaanu]. The following table breaks down the word into the three parts that we will cover in this post.

A. StemB. Tense SuffixC. Personal Suffix (Subject)
తిన్న్ –-ఆ--ను
tinn--aa--nu
from stem “tinu” – to eatpast tense suffix1st person singular (“I” / “nenu”)
form

There are two major groups of verbs for the purposes of verb conjugation. There’s the “special group”, which are usually one syllable verb stems, that end in an n. Tinu is in this group of verbs. Here’s the verb తిను [tinu] – to eat, conjugated in the past, continuous present, and future/habitual tense.

The other group is…well everything else. Ceyu is an example of a verb in the other group.

The distinction between the two groups is a slight pronunciation and spelling change, as well as slightly different endings for the “she” form. Don’t worry if you use the wrong conjugation, or if you don’t know which group each verb falls into. I’m showing this to you so you’re not surprised why some verbs are spelled slightly differently.

In the next couple sections, I’ll explain how each of these are formed. I won’t repeat each of the endings in its own table, you should be able to figure them out from the two verbs above. I’ll start with the verb stem.

A. Base form of Verb (Verb Stem)

The verb stem is the base form of the verb. If you have studied French or Spanish in school, then you can think of this like the infinitive, or the “to x” form of the verb. (Example: to do, to eat, to be). Here are some verb stems and their English meaning.

Verb RootStem (past)Meaning
తిన్ / tinuతిన్నా- / tinn-to eat
పడ్/ paḍuపడ్డ్- / paḍḍ-to fall
అడుగు/ aḍuguఅడిగ్- / aḍig-to ask
చేస్ / ceesచేస్- / cees-to do

The stem can vary a bit, depending on the verb and the tense. I will cover the changes in a future post, but for now try to learn from the examples. Remember – Telugu speakers will still understand you even if you say aḍugAAnu instead of aḍigEEnu, or tin-aa-nu instead of tinn-aa-nu!

B. Past/Continuous/Future (Tense Suffix)

The tense suffix indicates what tense the verb is in. In other words, it tells the listener if the action (the verb) took place in the past, is currently occurring in the present, or will occur in the future.

I’ll cover three tenses here: the past tense (I ate), the present continuous tense (I am eating, but not I eat), and the future/habitual tense (I will eat / I am in the habit of eating).

Past Tense

The past tense suffix is -EE- for most verb forms, and -in- for the it/she form (adi). You can see in the table for తిను/tinu/to eat above that an -aa- is inserted after the tinn- to put it in past tense. In front of adi / she, The past tense is used to describe events that occurred in the past, and corresponds to both “I have drunk” and “I drunk” in English. Here are some examples (from Krishnamurti and Gwynn):

వాణ్ణి డబ్బు అడిగాను (waaNNi ḍabbu aḍig-EE-nu)*

I asked him for money’(lit. I asked him money)

హైదరాబాదెప్పుడు వచ్చావు (haydaraabaad eppuḍu wacc-EE-w(u)?)

When did you come to Hyderabad?

వాడు భోంచేశాడు (waaḍu bhooncees-EE-ḍu)

He ate food

*Krishnamurti says that there’s a unique sound in Telugu that’s not quite an aa or an ee, and he writes it as EE in the book. Since I took this sentences from him, I’m writing them the same way.

Continuous Tense

The continuous (durative) tense suffix is -tunna- (or -ṭunna- depending on sound changes) for most verb forms, and then -toon- for the she/it form. In English, we distinguish between present, past and future continuous. For example, we say “he was walking, he is walking, and he will be walking”. Notice how the was walking/is walking/will be walking changes in all three sentences? This doesn’t happen in Telugu:

Abbayi ninna naḍustunnaḍu (Yesterday, he was walking)

Abbayi ippuḍu naḍustunnaḍu (Right now, he is walking)

Abbayi repu naḍustunnaḍu (Tomorrow, he will be walking)

Notice how the verb (naḍustunnaḍu) doesn’t change? The only thing to indicate different meanings are the adverbs ninna (yesterday), ippuḍu (now), and repu (tomorrow). Sometimes Telugu speakers don’t include an adverb, so the time period must be implied by context. However, in practice when there is no adverb, it generally means that the action is taking place right now. That is, it can be translated as “is walking”.

For example, if I say the following to my mother while in a taxi in Mumbai (which I did two months ago)

“Arre, abbayi ante melliga nadupustunnaḍu” (Wow, this guy is driving so slow)

There is no adverb to tell me when the taxi driver is driving, but context, and the lack of a time word, tells me it’s happening right now.

Future/Habitual

The future tense suffix is -taa- for most verb forms, and then -tun- for the she/it form. As the name implies, this tense is actually used in two ways. It describes an event that will happen in the future (I will go to the mall, she will come home from work) but also to describe and action or event that is habitual. For example, it can be used to translate “he walks to work” (as in, he is in the habit of or usually walks to work to Telugu.

మా అబ్బాయి రేఊరికి వెళ్తాడు (maa abbayi reepu uuriki weḷ-taa-ḍu)

My boy will go to town tomorrow

ఆయన కవిత్వం రాస్తాడు (aayana kawitwam raas-taa-ḍu)

He writes poetry (as in, he is in the habit of writing poetry, not just right now)

నేను మిఠాయి తినటాను (nenu miṭhaayi tiṇ-ṭaa-nu)

I eat sweets (as in, I am in the habit of eating sweets, not just in this moment)

C. Subject (Personal Suffix)

The personal suffix tells us who is doing the action. Just like Spanish, you can usually tell the subject just by the ending.

PersonSingularPlural
1st Person నేను / nenu (I)-ను / -nuమేమ / mem(u) (we)-ం / -mu
2nd Personనువ్్వు / nuvvu (you)-వు / -vuమీరు / miiru (you)-రు / -ru
3rd Person[masculine] Vaadu / Atanu (he) -డు /[people]-రు / -ru
3rd person[feminine, inanimate] Avi (she)-డి[inanimate/not people]-యి / -yi

Telugu has as T-V distinction similar to Spanish or French. That is, you use the singular form of you (nuvvu) to close friends, family, or people younger than you. To show respect, you use the plural form of you (miiru). Just like any other language, using the formal you or informal you will depend on context. My mother, who was primarily raised in the US, mostly uses the informal you (nuvvu) with her parents. My dad, who was raised in India, mostly uses the formal you with his parents, as well as my mother’s parents. 

According to the grammar book I’m referencing, there are also four degrees of formality for men and three for women in the 3rd person (he/she/it) form.

For men, vaaḍu is the most informal, atanu is a little more formal, aayana even more formal, and vaaru the most formal. The latter is reserved for very important people.

For females, adi is the most informal, aame (south) or aavid (north) is equivalent to aayana, and vaaru is the most formal.

There is no distinction for plurals, just use vaḷḷu for every group. As I understand it, avi is used for neuter cases, or things that don’t have gender (objects).

Sources

  • An Introduction to Modern Telugu by P.S. Subrahmayam (Annamalai University, 1974)
  • A Grammar of Modern Telugu by B. Krishnamurthi, J.P.L. Gwynn (Oxford University Press, 1986)