Tamil grammar
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.
what
என்ன
eṉṉa
—
where
எங்கே
eṅkē
—
when
எப்போது
eppōtu
—
who
யார்
yār
—
why
ஏன்
ēṉ
—
Did you come?
வந்தாயா?
vantāyā?
The suffix -ஆ (-ā) turns a statement into a yes/no question.
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Tamil personal pronouns
Tamil pronouns vary by formality and inclusivity. Master these and you can structure most basic sentences.
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 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.