100 Essential Telugu Words
These are 100 essential Telugu words, curated for learners: the pronouns, verbs, and everyday nouns that unlock simple sentences. Core-first learning works: a small set of essential words does most of the work in daily speech, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.
| # | Word | Pronunciation | English meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | నేను | NEH-noo | I |
| 2 | నువ్వు | NOOV-voo | you |
| 3 | అతను | AH-tah-noo | he |
| 4 | ఆమె | AH-meh | she |
| 5 | మేము | MEH-moo | we |
| 6 | వారు | VAH-roo | they |
| 7 | ఇది | EE-dee | this |
| 8 | అది | AH-dee | that |
| 9 | ఏమి | EH-mee | what |
| 10 | ఎవరు | EH-vah-roo | who |
| 11 | లేదు | LEH-doo | no |
| 12 | మరియు | MAH-ree-yoo | and |
| 13 | లేదా | leh-DAH | or |
| 14 | కానీ | KAH-nee | but |
| 15 | లోపల | LOH-pah-lah | in |
| 16 | తో | toh | with |
| 17 | ఒకటి | OH-kah-tee | one |
| 18 | రెండు | REN-doo | two |
| 19 | పెద్ద | PED-dah | big |
| 20 | చిన్న | CHIN-nah | small |
| 21 | మంచి | MAHN-chee | good |
| 22 | కొత్త | KOHT-tah | new |
| 23 | మనిషి | mah-NEE-shee | person |
| 24 | నీరు | NEE-roo | water |
| 25 | రోజు | ROH-joo | day |
| 26 | సంవత్సరం | sahm-VAHT-sah-rahm | year |
| 27 | సమయం | SAH-mah-yahm | time |
| 28 | ఇల్లు | IL-loo | house |
| 29 | పని | PAH-nee | work |
| 30 | జీవితం | JEE-vee-tahm | life |
| 31 | మాట | MAH-tah | word |
| 32 | ఉండు | OON-doo | be |
| 33 | చేయు | CHEH-yoo | do |
| 34 | చెప్పు | CHEP-poo | say |
| 35 | తెలియు | TEH-lee-yoo | know |
| 36 | చూడు | CHOO-doo | see |
| 37 | వెళ్ళు | VEL-loo | go |
| 38 | రా | rah | come |
| 39 | ఇవ్వు | IV-voo | give |
| 40 | తీసుకో | TEE-soo-koh | take |
| 41 | కోరు | KOH-roo | want |
| 42 | తిను | TEE-noo | eat |
| 43 | తాగు | TAH-goo | to drink |
| 44 | ఇప్పుడు | IP-poo-doo | now |
| 45 | ఇక్కడ | IK-kah-dah | here |
| 46 | అక్కడ | AHK-kah-dah | there |
| 47 | ఎక్కడ | EK-kah-dah | where |
| 48 | ఎందుకు | EN-doo-koo | why |
| 49 | అన్నీ | AHN-nee | all |
| 50 | చాలా | CHAH-lah | very |
| 51 | పొడుగు | POH-doo-goo | long |
| 52 | వస్తువు | VAHS-too-voo | thing (object) |
| 53 | ఎక్కువ | EK-koo-vah | more (a greater amount) |
| 54 | సాధ్యం | SAHD-yahm | can (possible) |
| 55 | నా | nah | my |
| 56 | శబ్దం | SHAHB-dahm | sound (noise) |
| 57 | సంఖ్య | SAHNK-yah | number |
| 58 | పైన | PAHY-nah | above, over |
| 59 | కంటే | KAHN-teh | than (comparison) |
| 60 | పిలుచు | PEE-loo-choo | to call (summon) |
| 61 | మొదటి | MOH-dah-tee | first |
| 62 | ప్రజలు | PRAH-jah-loo | people |
| 63 | కింద | KEEN-dah | down, below |
| 64 | పక్క | PAHK-kah | side |
| 65 | కనుగొను | kah-noo-GOH-noo | to find, discover |
| 66 | పొందు | POHN-doo | to get, obtain |
| 67 | స్థలం | STAH-lahm | place |
| 68 | జీవించు | jee-VEEN-choo | to live (be alive) |
| 69 | తర్వాత | tar-VAH-tah | after, later |
| 70 | తిరిగి | TEE-ree-gee | back (returning) |
| 71 | మాత్రమే | MAH-trah-meh | only |
| 72 | గుండ్రని | GOON-drah-nee | round (circular) |
| 73 | మగవాడు | MAH-gah-vah-doo | man (adult male) |
| 74 | ఏదైనా | EH-dahy-nah | any, anything |
| 75 | భాగం | BAH-gahm | part, portion |
| 76 | చూపించు | choo-PEEN-choo | to show |
| 77 | ఆలోచించు | ah-loh-CHEEN-choo | to think |
| 78 | అడుగు | AH-doo-goo | to ask |
| 79 | జవాబు | jah-VAH-boo | answer, reply |
| 80 | నేర్చుకొను | nehr-choo-KOH-noo | to learn |
| 81 | చదువు | CHAH-doo-voo | to read |
| 82 | పెట్టు | PET-too | to put, place |
| 83 | మళ్ళీ | mahl-LEE | again |
| 84 | అమ్మ | AHM-mah | mother |
| 85 | నాన్న | NAHN-nah | father |
| 86 | చేయి | CHEH-yee | hand |
| 87 | కన్ను | KAHN-noo | eye |
| 88 | తల | TAH-lah | head |
| 89 | ఆహారం | ah-HAH-rahm | food |
| 90 | మూడు | MOO-doo | three |
| 91 | వేరే | VEH-reh | different, other |
| 92 | పాత | PAH-tah | old (of things) |
| 93 | ముందు | MOON-doo | before; in front |
| 94 | దగ్గర | DAHG-gah-rah | near, close to |
| 95 | దూరం | DOO-rahm | far; distance |
| 96 | కుడి | KOO-dee | right (direction) |
| 97 | వెలుగు | VEH-loo-goo | light (illumination) |
| 98 | కారణం | KAH-rah-nahm | cause, reason |
| 99 | అర్థం | AHR-tahm | meaning |
| 100 | రకం | RAH-kahm | kind, type |
Curated for learners: Telugu has no reliable public frequency corpus, so this list is ordered by usefulness, not by measured frequency. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.
Frequently asked questions about Telugu words
How many Telugu words do you need for a basic conversation?
Across languages, a small core of words does most of the work in everyday speech: the first few hundred words carry the bulk of simple conversation. You can manage basic exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.
What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?
Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.
Are 100 words enough to speak Telugu?
No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, keep growing your core vocabulary and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.
Where does this Telugu word list come from?
It is curated for learners rather than corpus-ranked: Telugu has no reliable public frequency corpus, so we selected the words that unlock everyday sentences and ordered them by usefulness. These are essential words, not a measured frequency ranking.