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Kannada vs Hindi — what's different and what's similar

Written by: authorship not independently recorded. Maintained by Prakash. Reviewed by: not recorded. Updated: 2026-10-03. Editorial policy and corrections.

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This site teaches every Kannada word in three languages at once, with Hindi sitting right next to English, which hides a fair question: if you already speak Hindi, how much of Kannada do you get for free? Kannada is dravidian — not related to Hindi at all. Here is the honest breakdown.

The script

First, the difference you cannot ignore: Hindi is written in Devanagari, and Kannada is written in Kannada. That is a separate reading skill to build. Kannada's letters are famously round — the script was written with a stylus on palm leaves, and straight lines would have torn the leaf. It runs left to right with no headline bar, and it is beautifully phonetic: each letter is one sound, always. There are 13 vowels (ಅ ಆ ಇ ಈ ಉ ಊ ಋ ಎ ಏ ಐ ಒ ಓ ಔ🔊🔊, plus ಅಂ🔊🔊/ಅಃ🔊🔊 for nasalization) and 34 consonants. Letters join into conjuncts (ಒತ್ತಕ್ಷರ🔊🔊): ಕ🔊🔊 + ್🔊🔊 + ಣ🔊🔊 = ಕ್ಷಣ🔊🔊 (kshaṇa, moment). Close cousin of the Telugu script — learn one and the other looks familiar.

Word order

Here the two languages agree: Kannada puts the verb last. The pattern is ನಾನು ಅನ್ನ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆ🔊🔊. — I eat rice. (word order: I – rice – eat). Hindi works the same way, so if Hindi word order is already in your ear, that is one fewer thing to unlearn.

Words you may already know

Look down the Hindi and Kannada columns together. Where the two are similar, that is usually a word that travelled — through Sanskrit, through Persian, or through centuries of trade and administration. Where they differ, the everyday word is usually native. Numbers are the clearest test:

Compare each Hindi number with its Kannada partner above. Similar ones are free vocabulary. The different ones are words you must memorise deliberately — and they are worth it, because a number is the word you use when you buy something.

Everyday words, side by side

Grammar: where the two part company

Gender. Three genders — including neuter.

Verbs. The present is stem + -ಉತ್ತ🔊🔊- + ending: -ಏನೆ🔊🔊 (I), -ಈಯೆ🔊🔊 (ನೀನು🔊🔊), -ಈರಿ🔊🔊 (ನೀವು🔊🔊), -ಆನೆ🔊🔊/-ಆಳೆ🔊🔊/-ಅದೆ🔊🔊 (he/she/it), -ಏವೆ🔊🔊 (we), -ಆರೆ🔊🔊 (they). So ನಾನು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೇನೆ🔊🔊 (I eat), ನೀವು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತೀರಿ🔊🔊 (you eat, respectful), ಅವರು ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ🔊🔊 (they eat). In quick speech the endings blur — listen for the -ಉತ್ತ🔊🔊- core.

Negation. Negation with ಇಲ್ಲ🔊🔊 (illa).

Counting. Kannada has no classifiers — put the number straight before the noun. But the noun itself goes plural with -ಗಳು🔊🔊: ಒಂದು ಪುಸ್ತಕ🔊🔊 (one book), ಎರಡು ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು🔊🔊 (two books), ಮೂರು ರೂಪಾಯಿ🔊🔊 (three rupees).

If you already speak Hindi

• Skip nothing: the script and word order transfer, the grammar does not.
• Use the Hindi column as a shortcut for meaning, then read the Kannada column aloud twice.
• Watch the verb endings first — that is where the transfer stops working.
• Watch gender agreement in the past tense, the usual first serious stumble.

If you do not speak Hindi

Then treat the Hindi column as a bonus rather than a prerequisite: every page on this site gives you English and Kannada with pronunciation, so you can learn Kannada without a word of Hindi. What the Hindi column buys you is a second reference point when a word refuses to stick.

It is also worth knowing that Hindi is a genuinely useful bridge language in India: the numbers and a few hundred shared words turn up everywhere, and the reflex of putting the verb at the end is the same.

Pronunciation: the part nobody warns you about

Similar vocabulary and a shared word order make a Hindi speaker feel at home early, which is exactly when pronunciation gets neglected. Words that look familiar are the ones you are most likely to say with Hindi vowels and Hindi stress.

The fix is unglamorous: read the pronunciation column even on the words you think you already know, and read the letter tables once properly, out loud. Ten minutes of honesty at the start saves a year of corrections later — and people will understand you far more easily once the sounds are right.

The short version

• Kannada is dravidian — not related to Hindi at all.
• Same word order, different script
• A comparable verb-last sentence shape, with different verb machinery
• Shared vocabulary where history put it; native vocabulary where it matters most — everyday life

Now put it to work: the 100 most common words page is laid out so you can compare the two columns line by line, and the mistakes guide covers the traps that catch bilingual speakers in particular.

The comparison is also a useful test of your own intuition. Read a handful of words you think you already know, cover the English column, and see whether the Hindi meaning is genuinely the same. Where it is not, you have found the exact place to spend your next study session.

More guides in this course

• Beginner's guide — KannadaHow to learn from scratch, and the honest first 30 days.
• Alphabet, letter by letter — KannadaEvery letter with the sound it makes.
• Grammar basics — KannadaWord order, verbs and the sentence ladder.
• Phrases for travel — KannadaStations, hotels, fares and the phrases you will use.
• Numbers 1 to 100 — KannadaCounting, prices and time — with the counting pattern.
• Most common words — KannadaThe highest-frequency words, in eight groups, with pronunciation for each.
• Common mistakes — KannadaThe traps learners fall into in this language, and the fix for each one.
• How to read the script — KannadaA step-by-step path from letters to reading real sentences.
• Practise speaking alone — KannadaShadowing, self-talk and a routine you can keep without a tutor.