English speakers say "I think" constantly, and they look for a Malayalam verb to match, often producing ഞാൻ ചിന്തിക്കുന്നു (njaan chinthikkunnu) = I am thinking (pondering), which sounds like you are sitting deep in thought. In spoken Malayalam an opinion is usually something that seems to you: എനിക്ക് തോന്നുന്നു (enikku thonnunnu) = it seems to me, I think. Disagreement also works differently. In this episode: • Giving your opinion • Asking for an opinion • Agreeing • Partly agreeing and politely disagreeing • Conceding and closing kindly • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: എനിക്ക് തോന്നുന്നു, മഴ പെയ്യും (enikku thonnunnu, mazha peyyum) = I think it'll rain എന്റെ അഭിപ്രായത്തിൽ (ente abhipraayathil) = in my opinion അഭിപ്രായം (abhipraayam) = opinion നിനക്ക് എന്ത് തോന്നുന്നു? (ninakku enthu thonnunnu?) = what do you think? (casual) ഇത് എങ്ങനെയുണ്ട്? (ithu enganeyundu?) = how is this? How does it look? അതെ (athe) = yes ശരിയാ (sheriyaa) = right, true (spoken form of ശരിയാണ് (sheriyaanu)) അത് തന്നെ (athu thanne) = exactly, that's it ശരിയാ, പക്ഷേ... (sheriyaa, pakshe...) = true, but... അത് ശരിയാണ്, എന്നാലും... (athu sheriyaanu, ennaalum...) = that's true, but still... അത് ശരിയാണോ? (athu sheriyaano?) = is that right, though? ഞാൻ അങ്ങനെ കരുതുന്നില്ല (njaan angane karuthunnilla) = I don't think so നീ പറഞ്ഞതാ ശരി (nee paranjathaa sheri) = what you said is right അത് ഞാൻ ഓർത്തില്ല (athu njaan orthilla) = I didn't think of that പോട്ടെ, വിട്ടേക്ക് (potte, vittekku) = let it go, drop it Learn Spoken Malayalam at Home: a complete course in everyday spoken Malayalam for English speakers. Native Malayalam pronunciation, every phrase in Malayalam script, Manglish and English, plus a language bridge comparing Malayalam with other world languages. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.