If you’re wondering how Telugu plural words work, then you’re at the right place. As a language learner myself, I know what it’s like to navigate a new language. So, this blog is designed to keep things simple and help you understand the concept in a jiffy.
Assuming you’re a new learner, I’ll try to help you understand how plurals work in Telugu with easy examples and helpful patterns. Since Telugu is one of those languages with carefully designed word structure, plurals are straightforward with certain suffixes; yet they come with their own set of rules. So, let’s get started.
Table Of Contents
Understanding The Basics Of Telugu Plural Words
Just like how English differentiates between singular and plural with “s,” “es,” and “en” suffixes at the end, Telugu adds lu and llu at the end to transform a singular into a plural.
Now, I know that’s not always the case with English because the plural of mouse is mice, not mouses, and tooth is teeth, not tooths. But Telugu has just a few suffixes, lu, llu and ru, where ru is especially reserved for people. Instead of more suffixes, the root noun itself is transformed.
Here’s a table for better understanding.
| English | Telugu | Roman Transcription |
|---|---|---|
| Singular – Cat | పిల్లి | Pilli |
| Plural – Cats | పిల్లులు | Pillulu |
| Singular – Child | పిల్ల | Pilla |
| Plural – Children | పిల్లలు | Pillalu |
| Singular – Bus | బస్సు | Bassu |
| Plural – Buses | బస్సులు | Bassulu |
| Singular – Woman | ఆడది | Aadadi |
| Plural – Women | ఆడవాళ్లు/ ఆడవారు | Aadavallu/Aadavaru |
| Singular – Daughter | కూతురు | Kuturu |
| Plural – Daughters | కూతుళ్లు | Kutullu |
| Singular – Tooth | పన్ను | Pannu |
| Plural – Teeth | పళ్ళు | Pallu |
| Singular – Wolf | తోడేలు | Todelu |
| Plural – Wolves | తోడేళ్ళు | Todellu |
| Singular – Tree | చెట్టు | Chettu |
| Plural – Trees | చెట్లు | Chetlu |
| Singular – Mouse | ఎలుక | Eluka |
| Plural – Mice | ఎలుకలు | Elukalu |
Note: English doesn’t have a pronunciation for llu, so here’s a link to hear how it sounds.
Notice how English adds many suffixes (s, th, es, ren, ves, ice), but Telugu sticks only with lu and llu, with some change in the root noun? This is called morphological transformation, for those that are linguistically inclined.
Let’s dive deeper into understanding how various kinds of Telugu nouns are transformed.
Transforming Singular Words Into Plurals In Genders
When it comes to gender differentiation, there are two schools of thought. Some believe that Telugu doesn’t have a masculine, feminine, or neutral word but instead has masculine and non-masculine words for singular, and human and non-human words for plurals. Others believe Telugu has masculine, feminine, and neutral words, with anything other than masculine and feminine being neutral.
Here are some examples.
| English (Singular) | Telugu | Roman |
|---|---|---|
| Raj is going | రాజ్ వెళ్తున్నాడు | Raj Veltunnadu |
| Sana is going | సనా వెళ్తోంది | Sana Veltondi |
| The cat is going | పిల్లి వెళ్తోంది | Pilli Veltondi |
If you observe, the verb “going” is the same for “Sana” and “Cat.” The above example is for singular. It can be seen as non-masculine or feminine, however you like.
| English (Plural) | Telugu | Roman |
|---|---|---|
| Men are going | మగాళ్లు వెళ్తున్నారు | Magallu Veltunnaru |
| Women are going | ఆడవాళ్లు వెళ్తున్నారు | Aadavallu Veltunnaru |
| Cats are going | పిల్లులు వెళ్తున్నాయి | Pillulu Veltunnayi |
Here, the plural verb for both men and women is the same but different for cats which is non-human, the same for objects.
I hope this helped you understand the gender differentiation nature of Telugu a bit.
How Nouns Change In Telugu
We’ve seen Telugu stick with lu and llu to change singular words into plural. But this comes with a transformed noun. So how does this work? How do you know in which way you should pronounce a specific noun to make it plural with one of these suffixes?
The secret to learning this is vowel modification, euphonic combination, and morphological pattern. Big words, I know. But it’s a tricky subject.
Telugu is open to the assimilation of various words from different languages and structured to perform in a way that’s suitable for poetry. This means that the pluralization of words is set in a way that’s harmonious and easy to form and end a sentence or phrase with.
For example, in the following words, you can see they all have the suffix llu to show they are plurals.
- Houses – Illu (ఇళ్ళు)
- Temples – Gullu (గుళ్ళు)
- Schools – Ballu (బళ్ళు)
- Eyes – Kallu (కళ్ళు)
- Legs – Kaallu (కాళ్ళు)
- Teeth – Pallu (పళ్ళు)
Let’s look at the singular form of the same words:
- House – Illu (ఇల్లు)
- Temple – Gudi (గుడి)
- School – Badi (బడి)
- Eye – Kannu (కన్ను)
- Leg – Kalu (కాలు)
- Tooth – Pannu (పన్ను)
But when it comes to some singular words like Bowl – Ginne (గిన్నె) or Stick – Karra (కర్ర), their plurals would be Bowls – Ginnelu (గిన్నెలు) and Sticks – Karralu (కర్రలు).
The reason for this variation between the sets of plurals is not definitively known, and many semantic factors and phonetic influences play a part in it.
Tips To Remember!
To boil it down, we’d need to dive into the history of Telugu’s evolution, understand various influences, and much more. But for simplification purposes, we can note that the difference lies in the part a specific noun plays in determining its plural suffix.
All the plurals with llu are physical structures, body organs, etc., and all the plurals with lu are everyday common objects.
A simple way to understand plurals is this: See if an object is something that’s in you or something that you can go inside of. If it is, then it probably takes llu for its plural form. And if an object is something that you can hold, push, kick, or take, then it probably takes lu for its plural form.
How Do You Say Plural In Telugu?
In Telugu, the term plural is pronounced as Bhahuvachanam (బహువచనం). It translates to the plural form.
FAQs About Plural Words In Telugu
1. Can I Only Use “Lu” Instead Of “Llu”?
Yes, you can. If you have difficulty pronouncing llu (ళ్లు), you can simply use lu (లు). Here’s an example.
- Daughter – Kuthuru (కూతురు)
- Daughters – Kutullu/Kuturlu (కూతుర్లు)
You can do the same with any word and about 70% of your daily plural vocabulary would be correct. If you keep practicing, you’ll be good at plurals quickly.
2. What Are Formal and Informal Varieties in Plurals?
In Telugu grammar, when addressing a group of people, all plural words are automatically formal forms of address.
3. How Does The Plural Form Affect Verbs In Telugu?
While verb conjugation changes based on whether the subject is singular or plural in English, Telugu contains more changes compared. Here’s an example:
- Singular: He is reading a book.
- Plural: They are reading books.
Here, the act reading is the same since there’s an auxiliary verb to specify if it’s singular or plural. But in Telugu, the root verb transforms to show the change.
- Singular: Athanu Pustakam Chaduvutunnadu (అతను పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నాడు)
- Plural: Vallu Pustakalu Chaduvutunnaru (వాళ్ళు పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నారు)
Let’s Summarize
I know this blog is not like others where there’s an exact solution to your query, but that’s how it is sometimes, especially with languages that have influence from all around. So it’s essential as a learner to put time and effort into practice to be able to speak fluently.
With that being said, we’ve learned the basics of plurals in Telugu, touched on how they transform singulars, and nouns, and learned how to say Plural in Telugu. With that being said, I urge you to take time every day to study and practice with apps like Ling. They’ll help you practice in a fun and engaging way and take the stress off your plate. Check out our other Telugu blog posts to learn more about the Telugu language.
