The Verb: Person and the Present

The Verb Comes Last

73.Telugu is a subject–object–verb language: the verb closes the sentence, and everything it governs comes before it. The same ordering carries through the rest of the grammar — a modifier before its noun, a suffix after its stem.

నేను పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నాను.

nēnu pustakaṁ caduvutunnānu.

I am reading a book. — I — book — am-reading

అతను ఇంట్లో ఉన్నాడు.

atanu iṇṭlō unnāḍu.

He is in the house.

మేము తెలుగు నేర్చుకుంటున్నాము.

mēmu telugu nērcukuṇṭunnāmu.

We are learning Telugu.

The Personal Endings

74.A Telugu verb ends with a syllable naming its subject. There are seven such endings, and they are the same in every tense: the tense marker comes before them, the person after.

వెళ్ళాను / వెళ్ళావు / వెళ్ళాడు

veḷḷānu / veḷḷāvu / veḷḷāḍu

I went / you went / he went

The Verb Agrees with the Class

75.The endings of ¶74 reproduce the class division of ¶45 and ¶49. In the singular, a man takes -డు (ḍu) and a woman takes -ది (di) — the very ending a table or a dog takes. In the plural, men and women together take -రు (ru), and only things take -యి (yi).

అతను వెళ్ళాడు.

atanu veḷḷāḍu.

He went.

ఆమె వెళ్ళింది.

āme veḷḷindi.

She went. — the same ending as అది వెళ్ళింది, it went

వాళ్ళు వెళ్ళారు.

vāḷḷu veḷḷāru.

They went. — men and women alike

The Present Progressive — తు + ఉండు

76.For an action going on now, Telugu adds -తు (tu)- to the root and follows it with a conjugated form of ఉండు (uṇḍu), to be. చదువుతున్నాను (caduvutunnānu), I am reading, is చదువు + తు + ఉన్నాను (caduvu + tu + unnānu) — root, marker, and the auxiliary's own first-person form.

నేను పుస్తకం చదువుతున్నాను.

nēnu pustakaṁ caduvutunnānu.

I am reading a book.

వాళ్ళు ఇంట్లో ఉన్నారు.

vāḷḷu iṇṭlō unnāru.

They are in the house.

The Progressive's Own Endings — ఉండు

77.The endings that appear in the progressive are not ¶74's own: they are ఉండు' (uṇḍu)s conjugation, irregular in the third person non-masculine, where the fuller ఉన్నది (unnadi) has contracted to ఉంది (undi). Fused with -తు (tu)-, this gives the progressive's -తోంది (tōndi) — చదువుతోంది (caduvutōndi), she is reading — a single vowel away from the habitual's -తుంది (tundi).

ఆమె చదువుతోంది.

āme caduvutōndi.

She is reading. — ఉంది contracted, not the fuller ఉన్నది

వాళ్ళు చదువుతున్నారు.

vāḷḷu caduvutunnāru.

They are reading.

The Habitual and Future — తా

78.-తా- takes the place of the progressive's -తు (tu)- and marks a habitual action or a future one. Telugu commits to a single form for both senses, and only the context — an adverb, the situation — decides which is meant.

నేను రోజూ చదువుతాను.

nēnu rōjū caduvutānu.

I read every day.

నేను రేపు వెళ్తాను.

nēnu rēpu veḷtānu.

I will go tomorrow. — the same form, the adverb deciding

-తా- before -ది

79.Before the third-person non-masculine ending -ది (di), the habitual/future's -తా (tā)- becomes -తున్ (tun)-: చదువుతుంది (caduvutundi), never the చదువుతాది (caduvutādi) the pattern would otherwise give. Everywhere else it keeps -తా- unchanged.

ఆమె రోజూ చదువుతుంది.

āme rōjū caduvutundi.

She reads every day.

ఆమె రేపు వెళ్తుంది.

āme rēpu veḷtundi.

She will go tomorrow.

Denying an Action

80.An action is denied by a negative form of the verb, never by కాదు (kādu) (¶36), which denies an identity rather than an action. The past, the habitual/future, and the progressive negate in three different ways, set out in the rules that follow.

ఇది పుస్తకం కాదు.

idi pustakaṁ kādu.

This is not a book. — కాదు denies an identity, not an action

Denying the Past — లేదు

81.లేదు (lēdu) is added to the infinitive, which ends in -అ (a), and the personal ending disappears entirely. The form is the same for every person: నేను వెళ్ళలేదు (nēnu veḷḷalēdu) and అతను వెళ్ళలేదు (atanu veḷḷalēdu), I/he did not go, share one verb.

నేను వెళ్ళాను. → నేను వెళ్ళలేదు.

nēnu veḷḷānu. → nēnu veḷḷalēdu.

I went. → I did not go.

అతను వెళ్ళలేదు.

atanu veḷḷalēdu.

He did not go. — the same form, whoever the subject

నేను చదివాను. → నేను చదవలేదు.

nēnu cadivānu. → nēnu cadavalēdu.

I read (past). → I did not read. — చదువు's infinitive is చదవ-, the same medial change the negative tense makes (¶82)

• [1] The negative therefore says less than the affirmative did: it drops the person along with the ending.

Denying the Habitual and Future — the Negative Tense

82.The habitual/future is denied not by లేదు (lēdu) but by its own negative tense: the root's medial -ు (u)- ablauts to -అ (a)-, and a set of endings distinct from ¶74 replaces -తా (tā)-. The non-masculine endings are -దు (du) in the singular and -వు (vu) in the plural, not the affirmative's -ది (di) and -యి (yi).

నేను చదువుతాను. → నేను చదవను.

nēnu caduvutānu. → nēnu cadavanu.

I read / will read. → I do not / will not read.

అవి చదవవు.

avi cadavavu.

They (things) do not / will not read. — the same ending as నువ్వు చదవవు, you do not / will not read

Denying the Progressive — the Verbal Noun

83.The progressive is denied not by the negative tense but by the verbal noun in -టం (ṭaṁ) followed by లేదు (lēdu): చదవటం లేదు (cadavaṭaṁ lēdu), am/are/is not reading — one phrase for every person. The verbal noun does not conjugate, so nothing here shows number, class, or person at all.

నేను చదువుతున్నాను. → నేను చదవటం లేదు.

nēnu caduvutunnānu. → nēnu cadavaṭaṁ lēdu.

I am reading. → I am not reading.

వాళ్ళు చదవటం లేదు.

vāḷḷu cadavaṭaṁ lēdu.

They are not reading. — the same phrase regardless of person

• [1] Spoken Telugu often contracts this further, to చదవట్లేదు (cadavaṭlēdu).

How a Verb Is Cited

84.A Telugu dictionary cites a verb by its root — చదువు, వెళ్ళు, తిను. (caduvu, veḷḷu, tinu) Everything else is built on the root by adding a tense marker and then a personal ending, in that order and never the other.

చదువు

caduvu

read (root; also 'read!' to a friend)

చదువు + తున్న + ను

caduvu + tunna + nu

→ చదువుతున్నాను, I am reading

చదువు + తా + ను

caduvu + tā + nu

→ చదువుతాను, I read / I will read

• [1] The root also serves as the familiar imperative: చదువు (caduvu)! is both the citation form and 'read!' to a friend.