എപ്പോൾ
eppōḷ/eppoːɭ/
The English word 'when' can be expressed in Malayalam as എപ്പോൾ (eppōḷ).
In Malayalam, എപ്പോൾ is primarily used as an interrogative to ask 'when' to ask a question.
Meaning: as soon as, at the time that (conj)
Which one should you use?
The word എപ്പോൾ (eppōḷ) is primarily used as an interrogative 'when' to ask a question, whereas the conjunction 'when' (at the time that) is often expressed using different grammatical structures in Malayalam.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced as /eppoːɭ/ (eppōḷ).
Did you know?
- To express 'whenever' or 'every time', Malayalam often shifts from the interrogative എപ്പോൾ to using the suffix -പ്പോഴ (pōḻa) attached to verbs.
- The word എപ്പോൾ belongs to a family of 'e-' prefixed question words in Malayalam, such as എവിടെ (evide) for 'where' and എങ്ങനെ (engane) for 'how'.
- In many Malayalam dialects, the 'l' sound in എപ്പോൾ is a retroflex liquid, meaning your tongue should curl back to touch the roof of your mouth.
Example conversation
Anjali and Arjun are discussing a meeting time.
- അഞ്ജലി Anjaliഅർജുൻ, നീ എപ്പോൾ വരും?Arjun, nee eppol varum?Arjun, when will you come?
- അർജുൻ Arjunഞാൻ വൈകുന്നേരം വരും.njaan vaikunneram varum.I will come in the evening.
- അഞ്ജലി Anjaliഎപ്പോൾ എത്തുമെന്ന് കൃത്യമായി പറയൂ.eppol ethumennu krithyamayi parayoo.Tell me exactly when you will arrive.
- അർജുൻ Arjunഅഞ്ച് മണിക്ക് ഞാൻ അവിടെ ഉണ്ടാകും.anju manikku njaan avide undakum.I will be there at five o'clock.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry എപ്പോൾ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
