English has one word "one" and one little word "a". Malayalam splits them differently: ഒരു (oru) sits in front of a noun, and ഒന്ന് (onnu) stands alone. Learners translate "one tea" as ഒന്ന് ചായ (onnu chaaya), which sounds broken; the natural form is ഒരു ചായ (oru chaaya) = one tea, a tea. In this episode: • Oru and onnu • Counting things and people • How much: a little, a lot, enough • More, less, half and whole • Containers and measures • An invented scene: serving dinner • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: ഒരു ചായ (oru chaaya) = a tea, one tea ഒരു കുട്ടി (oru kutti) = a child എത്ര വേണം? ഒന്ന്. (ethra venam? onnu.) = How many do you want? One. എത്ര എണ്ണം? (ethra ennam?) = How many (pieces)? ഒരെണ്ണം (orennam) = one (of them) രണ്ടെണ്ണം (randennam) = two (of them) ഒരെണ്ണം മതി (orennam mathi) = Just one is enough എത്ര പേരുണ്ട്? (ethra perundu?) = How many people are there? നാലു പേർ (naalu per) = four people ഞങ്ങൾ അഞ്ചു പേരാണ് (njangal anchu peraanu) = We are five people എത്ര (ethra) = how much, how many കുറച്ച് (kurachu) = a little, some കുറെ (kure) = a lot, many ധാരാളം (dhaaraalam) = plenty, more than enough മതി (mathi) = enough എല്ലാം (ellaam) = all, everything കുറച്ചു വെള്ളം തരൂ (kurachu vellam tharoo) = Please give me a little water കുറെ ആളുകൾ വന്നു (kure aalukal vannu) = A lot of people came ചോറ് ധാരാളം ഉണ്ട് (choru dhaaraalam undu) = There's plenty of rice കൂടുതൽ (kooduthal) = more കുറവ് (kuravu) = less, too little കുറച്ചു കൂടി (kurachu koodi) = a little more 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.