Tamil grammar
Tamil personal pronouns
Tamil pronouns vary by formality and inclusivity. Master these and you can structure most basic sentences.
I
நான்
nāṉ
First person singular.
You (informal)
நீ
nī
Singular informal — close friends, children.
You (formal/plural)
நீங்கள்
nīṅkaḷ
Polite or plural "you".
He
அவன்
avaṉ
Informal masculine. Use அவர் (avar) for polite.
She
அவள்
avaḷ
Informal feminine. Polite form: அவர் (avar).
We (inclusive)
நாம்
nām
Includes the listener.
We (exclusive)
நாங்கள்
nāṅkaḷ
Excludes the listener.
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More Tamil grammar lessons
Tamil present tense verbs
Tamil present tense inserts the marker -கிற- (-kiṟ-) between the verb stem and the person-and-number ending. Here it is conjugated for "செய்" (sey, "to do").
Tamil negation with இல்லை
இல்லை (illai) is Tamil's all-purpose negator — it denies existence, possession, and identity, and is also the everyday word for "no."
Tamil case suffixes
Tamil is agglutinative — case suffixes attach directly to the end of a noun instead of using separate preposition words.
Tamil question words & yes/no questions
Tamil wh-questions use a fixed set of question words; yes/no questions are formed by adding -ஆ (-ā) to the end of the verb or word being questioned.
Tamil sentence structure — building a basic sentence
Tamil follows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. Descriptive words come before the noun, and case suffixes attach after it.
Tamil numbers 1–10
The Tamil numerals 1 through 10.