Malayalam to English examples

എനിക്ക് ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വേഗത്തിൽ പഠിക്കണം.

→ I want to learn English quickly.

Malayalam puts the desire 'patikkaNam' at the end as part of the verb. English puts 'want' right after 'I'. The sentence structure must be completely reversed.

ഞാൻ മൂന്നു വർഷമായി ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് പഠിക്കുന്നു.

→ I have been studying English for three years.

Malayalam uses a present continuous form with a time marker. English uses the present perfect continuous — a tense that shows the action started in the past and continues now.

ദയവായി സ천ുചേരം സംസാരിക്കൂ.

→ Please speak more slowly.

Malayalam polite requests encode respect in the verb form. English separates the politeness marker 'please' from the main verb — a simpler but different system.

ഞാൻ കൂടുതൽ പഠിച്ചിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ, പരീക്ഷ പാസ്സാകുമായിരുന്നു.

→ If I had studied more, I would have passed the exam.

Malayalam uses the conditional suffix '-enkil' with past tense. English uses the past perfect in the if-clause and 'would have' in the result to signal an unreal past situation.

ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് ഒരു വളരെ പ്രധാനപ്പെട്ട ഭാഷയാണ്.

→ English is a very important language.

Malayalam uses 'aaNu' at the end as the verb 'is'. English puts 'is' between subject and complement. The article 'a' before 'language' in English is required but has no Malayalam equivalent.