Negative Word – “లేదు” (Laedhu)

 Negative words in Telugu normally include లేదు (laedhu)and కాదు (kaadhu) which are equivalent to no or not in English.  Raadu(రాదు) can also be added to the list.

Generally, if anyone questions about any work and action which is not done by you, you simply put ‘లేదు’ (laedhu) after the verb, especially in the past tense.

For example,

Ø  Nuvvuannamthinnaavaa(నువ్వు అన్నం తిన్నావా)? - Did you eat food?

Ø  Nenuannamthinaledu(నేను అన్నం తినలేదు)? - I did not eat food.

Ø  Athadu cinema chooshaadaa(అతడు సినిమా చూశాడా)? - Did he watch the cinema?

Ø  Laedhu, athadu cinema choodaledhu(లేదు, అతడు సినిమా చూడలేదు). - No, he did not watch the cinema.

In some other cases also, the answer can be given as ‘లేదు’ (laedhu)to indicate that you are not going to do that action in the present or future tense as well. But, in such cases, you just need to say ‘laedhu.’In any case, ‘laedhu’ cannot be added to the present tense or future tense verbs as a suffix.

Here are some examples for easy understanding:

NuvvuraepuChennaikivelthaavaa(నువ్వు రేపు చెన్నైకి వెళ్తావా)? Will you go to Chennai tomorrow?

For this question, you can simply answer ‘laedhu,’ which means you are not going to Chennai the next day. But if you want to add a full negative sense to the answer, you have to answer as follows:

Laedhu, naenuraepuChennaikivellanu(లేదు, నేను రేపు చెన్నైకి వెళ్ళను.) - (No, I will not go to Chennai tomorrow.)

If you observe in the above sentence, there is no addition of ‘laedu’ after the verb. This is because the future tense or present tense verbs do not have ‘laedu’ as a suffix for the work and actions that are not done or to indicate the negative sense. They have different negative verb forms.

Below is a table of some verbs to give a clear picture:

The gerund form of the verb in Telugu	Negative form in the present/future tense	Negative form in the past tense	English verb in root form
చేయడం (Chaeyadam)	చేయను(Chaeyanu)	చేయలేదు (Chaeyaledu)	Do
వెళ్ళడం (Velladam)	వెళ్ళను(Vellanu)	వెళ్ళలేదు (Vellaledu)	Go
చదవడం (Chaduvadam)	చదవను(Chadavanu)	చదవలేదు (Chadavalaedhu)	Read
తినడం (Thinadam)	తినను(Thinanu)	తినలేదు(Thinalaedu)	Eat

Explanation:Remove ‘డం’ (dam),i.e.,the last letter of the Gerund form of the verb. Then the verb, for example, ‘వెళ్ళడం’ (velladam) becomes ‘వెళ్ళ‘ (vella) after removing ‘డం’ (dam). You can simply add ‘nu’(ను) as a suffix in both present and future tense for the first person singular and ‘లేదు’ (laedhu) in the past tense for all the persons. Then it becomes ‘వెళ్ళను’ (vellanu) and ‘వెళ్ళలేదు’ (vellalaedu),respectively.

The suffixes that are to be added to different person singular and plurals are as follows:

·         First-person singular – nu (ను), Example: నేను తినను. (Naenuthinanu.) (I don’t eat.)

·         First-person plural – mu (ము), Example: మేము తినము. (Maemuthinamu.) (We don’t eat.)

·         Second-person singular – vu (వు), Example: నువ్వు తినవు. (Nuvvuthinavu.) (You don’t eat.)

·         Second-person plural – ru(రు), Example: మీరు తినరు. (Meeruthinaru.) (You don’t eat.)

·         Third-person singular – du (డు) (he) dhu(దు) (she and it); Examples: అతడు తినడు (Athaduthinadu) (He doesn’t eat); ఆమె తినదు (Aamethinadhu) (She doesn’t eat); అది తినదు (Adhi thinadhu– used for pets, animals, birds) (It doesn’t eat)

·         Third-person plural – ru(రు)

In the next class, you will learn about ‘kaadhu’ (కాదు).