Week 3: Numbers, Colors, Days & Time

1. Cardinal Numbers & Counting Objects

Kannada numbers 1-10 are worth memorizing as a fixed block — everything from 11 onward is built from these by regular (if slightly irregular-sounding) combination, the same way English builds "seventeen" from "seven" and "teen."

numbers 1-10

೧ ಒಂದು   ondu    1     ೬ ಆರು     āru     6
೨ ಎರಡು   eraḍu   2     ೭ ಏಳು     ēḷu     7
೩ ಮೂರು   mūru    3     ೮ ಎಂಟು    eṇṭu    8
೪ ನಾಲ್ಕು  nālku   4     ೯ ಒಂಬತ್ತು  ombattu 9
೫ ಐದು    aidu    5     ೧೦ ಹತ್ತು   hattu   10

Kannada also has its own numeral digits (೦ ೧ ೨ ೩...), shown above alongside each word — you'll mostly see Western digits (0-9) in modern signage and pricing, but the Kannada numerals still appear on official documents and older signage, so it's worth being able to recognise them.

tens: 20 to 100

ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು    Ippattu     20
ಮುಮ್ಮತ್ತು   Mummattu    30
ನಲವತ್ತು    Nalavattu   40
ಐವತ್ತು     Aivattu     50
ಅರವತ್ತು    Aravattu    60
ಎಪ್ಪತ್ತು    Eppattu     70
ಎಂಬತ್ತು    Embattu     80
ತೊಂಬತ್ತು   Tombattu    90
ನೂರು       Nūru        100

To ask a price, you only need one question: ಇದು ಎಷ್ಟು? (Idu eshtu? — "How much is this?"). The answer comes back as a number followed by ರೂಪಾಯಿ (rūpāyi — rupees), e.g. "ಐವತ್ತು ರೂಪಾಯಿ" (Aivattu rūpāyi — fifty rupees).

2. Colors, Days of the Week & Months

Colors in Kannada are ordinary adjectives — they go before the noun they describe, just like in English.

common colors

ಕೆಂಪು   Kempu    Red        ಹಳದಿ   Haladi   Yellow
ನೀಲಿ    Nīli     Blue       ಬಿಳಿ    Biḷi     White
ಹಸಿರು   Hasiru   Green      ಕಪ್ಪು   Kappu    Black
ಕಂದು    Kandu    Brown      ಗುಲಾಬಿ  Gulābi   Pink

The days of the week almost all end in -ವಾರ (-vāra, "day/week") attached to a name rooted in classical planetary associations — the same underlying system that gives English "Sun-day" and "Moon-day" their names.

days of the week

ಸೋಮವಾರ     Sōmavāra      Monday
ಮಂಗಳವಾರ    Maṅgaḷavāra   Tuesday
ಬುಧವಾರ     Budhavāra     Wednesday
ಗುರುವಾರ    Guruvāra      Thursday
ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ   Shukravāra    Friday
ಶನಿವಾರ     Shanivāra     Saturday
ಭಾನುವಾರ    Bhānuvāra     Sunday

For months, everyday spoken Kannada mostly borrows the familiar January-December names with Kannada pronunciation (ಜನವರಿ Janavari, ಫೆಬ್ರವರಿ Februvari, and so on) rather than using the older traditional lunar calendar names, which you'll mainly encounter around festivals.

3. Telling Time & Talking About Dates

Two words carry most everyday time talk: ಗಂಟೆ (gaṇṭe — hour/o'clock) and ನಿಮಿಷ (nimiṣa — minute). A number placed before ಗಂಟೆ gives the hour, exactly like English "three o'clock."

talking about time & dates

ಎಷ್ಟು ಗಂಟೆ?        Eshtu gaṇṭe?        What time is it?
ಮೂರು ಗಂಟೆ          Mūru gaṇṭe          Three o'clock
ಇಂದು               Indu                Today
ನಿನ್ನೆ              Ninne               Yesterday
ನಾಳೆ               Nāḷe                Tomorrow
ಈ ವಾರ              Ī vāra              This week
ಮುಂದಿನ ವಾರ         Mundina vāra        Next week
ಕಳೆದ ವಾರ           Kaḻeda vāra         Last week

These time words combine directly with what you already know — "Nāḷe mūru gaṇṭege bartēne" ("I'll come tomorrow at three o'clock") strings together a Week 3 time phrase with a verb form you'll properly learn in Week 8, using nothing more exotic than word order you already understand.

Notice "-ge" turning "gaṇṭe" into "gaṇṭege"

That small ending marks "at" a time — a case suffix, not a separate word. Kannada attaches meanings like "at," "to," and "from" directly onto the end of a word rather than using prepositions in front of it; you'll meet this pattern properly in a later week, but it's worth noticing now.

4. Hands-on Exercise

Hands-on

Build a shopping-day scenario

Combine this week's vocabulary into a single small scene, out loud.

Part 1 — Numbers & price:

Pick any object near you and invent a Kannada price for it.
Say "Idu eshtu?" then answer yourself with "[number] rūpāyi."

Part 2 — Color & day:

Describe the object's color using one of this week's color words.
Say what day today is, and what day it will be in three days, using the days-of-week list.

Part 3 — Time:

Say a made-up time for "when the shop closes" using ಗಂಟೆ.
Say the whole scene out loud once, start to finish, without checking the chart.

Why combine categories instead of drilling lists separately

Real conversation never uses one category of vocabulary in isolation — practicing numbers, colors and time together, in one small scene, is much closer to how you'll actually need them.

5. Practice Quiz

Five questions covering this week's numbers, vocabulary and time expressions. Attempt each before expanding the answer.

Which question would you ask to find out the price of something?

A) Eshtu gaṇṭe?
B) Idu eshtu?
C) Nīvu ellinda?
D) Nimma hesarēnu?

Correct answer: B) Idu eshtu? "How much is this?" — the standard way to ask a price.

What number is "ಎಪ್ಪತ್ತು" (Eppattu)?

A) 17
B) 70
C) 7
D) 700

Correct answer: B) 70. The tens series (20, 30, 40...) all end in "-ttu," which can look similar at a glance — Eppattu is 70.

Which word means "yesterday"?

A) ಇಂದು (Indu)
B) ನಾಳೆ (Nāḷe)
C) ನಿನ್ನೆ (Ninne)
D) ಈ ವಾರ (Ī vāra)

Correct answer: C) ನಿನ್ನೆ (Ninne). Indu is "today" and Nāḷe is "tomorrow" — Ninne is the one meaning "yesterday."

Almost every day of the week in Kannada shares which ending?

A) -ge
B) -vāra
C) -ttu
D) -inda

Correct answer: B) -vāra. All seven days end in "-vāra" ("day"), attached to a name rooted in classical planetary associations.

In "Nāḷe mūru gaṇṭege bartēne," what does the "-ge" ending on "gaṇṭe" mark?

A) Plural ("hours," not "hour")
B) Past tense
C) "At" a time
D) A question

Correct answer: C) "At" a time. Kannada attaches meanings like "at" directly onto the end of the word as a case suffix, rather than using a separate preposition.