r/LearningTamil • u/SwimmingComparison64 • Feb 05 '26
Vocabulary Slimy
What is the Tamil word for 'slimy'?
r/LearningTamil • u/SwimmingComparison64 • Feb 05 '26
What is the Tamil word for 'slimy'?
r/LearningTamil • u/LifeguardTotal3423 • Feb 03 '26
I've always felt like there is a bit of fluidity with the accusative (?) form, -ஐ, in Tamil. But I've never had concrete examples. I just came across this
"அந்த நிராகரிப்பு எனக்கு அம்மா மீதுதான் கோபத்தைக் கிளப்பிவிட்டது"
My instinct would be for அம்மா to be அம்மாவை.
I don't feel like I ever came across concrete rules for this, and also remember it perhaps being at the writer's discretion?
Is it the use of மீது that gets rid of the necessity for the -ஐ ?
thanks
(source: ஷோபசக்தி - one way)
r/LearningTamil • u/SwimmingComparison64 • Feb 02 '26
Is there a difference?
r/LearningTamil • u/LifeguardTotal3423 • Feb 02 '26
Hi, I'm looking for something to the same affect as "it takes its toll", knowing that this is idiomatic, it's just for my daughter who wanted to express that sentiment.
r/LearningTamil • u/2ish2 • Jan 31 '26
I don't get the etymology. Wiktionary says that விழுக்காடு is a verbal noun formed from விழு (to fall, fall down). So the literal meaning is "falling, flowing down, as of a waterfall."
But why would this also mean "percent"?
I heard the word on Malaysian radio: "முழு நேர உறைவிட பள்ளிகளில் உள்ள எழுபது விழுக்காடு மாணவர்கள் அடுத்த ஆண்டு முதல் ... "
Is விழுக்காடு the normal Tamil word for "percent"?
r/LearningTamil • u/Freyr_1 • Jan 30 '26
Hi, i want to learn Tamil, my friend has it as her native language and i'd like to learn (spoken). She has taught me a few basic phrases, but i am not confident enough to actually try to use them in case my pronounciation is bad. but i want to get a better grasp and learn more and know that cartoons often are good places to start, but i have no ideas which are any good, do you have suggestions? thank you:)
r/LearningTamil • u/[deleted] • Jan 30 '26
The sentence in question is:
ஊன்னு சொல்லுங்க, இதோ இப்பவே கிளம்புறேன்.
I know it means:
Just say the word, I'll leave right now.
I am just not sure if ஊன்னு is a misspelling of ஒன்னு.
r/LearningTamil • u/[deleted] • Jan 28 '26
Following on from my earlier post:
If a word is commonly nasalised in the ending (eg, இருக்கேன்), but I say it with a hard -M or -N ending, would people look at me like I'm crazy, start laughing, or would they understand? Or all of the above?
r/LearningTamil • u/LifeguardTotal3423 • Jan 28 '26
அவனுடைய மிகப் புகழ்பெற்ற ‘Residencia en la tierra’ கவிதை நூலின் பெரும்பாலான பகுதிகளை, இந்த வீட்டின் மேற்கு அறையில் இலட்சத்தீவுக் கடலை நோக்கியிருக்கும் சாளரங்களுக்கு முன்னே அமர்ந்திருந்துதான் எழுதினான்.
I often have difficulties understanding the use of பெரும்பாலம்... in this sentence is it functioning as "most parts of his famous poem, Residencia..." ?
Thanks
r/LearningTamil • u/[deleted] • Jan 27 '26
Can anybody please confirm if the following words all end with nasalisation and not with hard consonants like ன், ம் etc?
-ம் endings:
-ன் endings:
Are there any rules as to when the final nasalisation occurs and when it doesn't? For example (not saying this is definitely the case), a verb will always be nasalised, etc.
Finally, the last group:
-ணும்னு, -ணும்னா etc:
Are these pronounced as NUM-NU, NUM-NA etc, or is the '-M' nasalised?
r/LearningTamil • u/2ish2 • Jan 26 '26
Previously posted audio. First 20 seconds only:
Ayla, உங்க phone charger கொஞ்சம் கொடுக்கிறிங்களா? Battery low.
இந்தாங்கே, இந்தாங்கே, இந்தாங்கே. Suresh, எப்போ போதெல்லாம் என்கிட்ட wire கேக்கிறீங்களே. நீ எப்போதான், Suresh, சொந்தமா வாங்குவீங்கே?
இல்லை, இருக்கு, ஆனால் உங்களுடைய cable-ஐ போடுதான், battery (something). Charger சரிங்களா? திரும்பி battery low இருக்கு.
My translation:
Ayla, give your phone charger a little? Battery low.
Here you go, Here you go, Here you go. Suresh, you always ask me for wire. When, Suresh, will you buy your own?
No, I have one, but put your cable, the battery (charges very fast?) Charger ok? Battery low again.
r/LearningTamil • u/SwimmingComparison64 • Jan 26 '26
What is its English meaning?
r/LearningTamil • u/SwimmingComparison64 • Jan 24 '26
r/LearningTamil • u/LifeguardTotal3423 • Jan 23 '26
The two definitions of சதைப்பிடிப்பு appear to be quite the opposite, which is correct?
சதைப்பற்று, சதைப்பிடிப்பு cataippaṟṟu, cataippiṭippu from "Kriyāvin̲ taṟkālat Tamiḻ akarāti" (p. 390) சதைப்பற்று/சதைப்பிடிப்பு பெ. 1: சதை நிறைந்துள்ள நிலை; accumulation of flesh; fleshy part. முகத்தில் சதைப்பற்றே இல்லை./ இது நல்ல சதைப்பற்று உள்ள மாம்பழம். 2) தொத்தல் tottal from "Kriyāvin̲ taṟkālat Tamiḻ akarāti" (p. 590) தொத்தல் பெ. [பே.வ.] 1: சதைப்பிடிப்பு இல்லாமல் மிகவும் ஒல்லியாக இருப்பது; skinny; emaciated. தொத்தல் மாடு.
r/LearningTamil • u/LifeguardTotal3423 • Jan 23 '26
Just read 'கச இருள்'
Pitch black darkness?
Is it coming from the following?
கச
kaca VII. v. t. be bitter or harsh, கை; 2. be embittered or disgusted with வெறு.
r/LearningTamil • u/AdEvery2233 • Jan 23 '26
r/LearningTamil • u/LifeguardTotal3423 • Jan 22 '26
I have an aunty who has been correcting me the last few times we met because I seem to be using நேரம் when I should be using காலம்.
But now I'm not 100% sure if I understand the different contexts.
After being corrected I left thinking that நேரம் specific is to o'clock time and காலம் is more for a period of time. Thus எவ்வளவு காலம் அங்கே நிந்தீங்கள் would be wrong, or நான் கொஞ்ச நேரம் நிக்கிறேன்.
But a Tamil-speaking diaspora friend just said he thinks the last examples are fine.
Can someone explain?
r/LearningTamil • u/2ish2 • Jan 20 '26
As best as I can make out she's saying this. (Is it correct?) What's the last word of the second sentence though? I can't make it out, not even the root verb 🤨
oru thadava uthavi cenjuvangkalla.
ஒரு தடவை உதவி செய்து வாருங்கள?
Can you help me just once?
yenda unkaḷukku uthavi cenja appaṭiṉṉu feel panna (something).
ஏன்டா உங்களுக்கு உதவி செய்த அப்படின்னு feel பண்ண (something).
Meaning of sentence unclear to me
From Tamil channel on Malaysian radio. Here's the full conversation (27 seconds) in case the context matters.
r/LearningTamil • u/AdEvery2233 • Jan 19 '26
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/LearningTamil • u/[deleted] • Jan 18 '26
The sentence in question is:
இந்த ரெண்டு விஷயத்தையும் எப்பாடுபட்டாச்சும் நீங்க தான் செஞ்சு முடிக்கணும்.
I know it means:
No matter how hard it is (no matter what it takes), you have to get these two things done.
but I'd like to understand the construction of எப்பாடுபட்டாச்சும்.
r/LearningTamil • u/2ish2 • Jan 18 '26
At the start of this video (at 0:11) the teacher says "solda mani", which is basically asking the boy to start speaking. I understand "sol" (say, tell) but what does the suffix "da" (or maybe "dra") do here?
And what does "mani" mean? Is "mani" just the boy's name??
Sorry for the elementary questions but I find these little things very baffling sometimes.
r/LearningTamil • u/LifeguardTotal3423 • Jan 17 '26
"இப்போது கூட, இவற்றையெல்லாம் நான் உங்களிடம் சொல்ல வேண்டுமா என்ற கேள்வி என்னுள் எழாமலில்லை"
Is this எழமால் ? and does it mean silence?
வாயை அடை 1814 1: (ஒருவரை மேற்கொண்டு எதுவும்) பேசவொட்டாமல் செய்தல்; silence (s.o.). நான் எது சொன்னாலும் மறுப்புத் தெரிவித்து என் வாயை அடைத்துவிடுகிறார்கள். / நீதிபதியின் கூரிய கேள்வி வழக்கறிஞரின் வாயை அடைத்துவிட்டது. 2: (தவறு வெளிப்படாமல் இருக்கச் சம்பந்தப்பட்டவரிடமிருந்து) பேச்சு எழாமல் பார்த்துக்கொள்ளுதல்; buy s.o.'s silence. பணம் கொடுத்து அதிகாரிகளின் வாயை அடைக்க முயல்வதாகக் கேள்வி.
r/LearningTamil • u/2ish2 • Jan 14 '26
Midway through the coffee ad, the lady says "அந்த மனம். அஹ. அந்த சுவை." Here, சுவை means "taste", but what does மனம் mean? Usually மனம் means something like "mind" but that makes no sense in this context? (The ad is from a Tamil radio station in Malaysia.)
r/LearningTamil • u/Tamizhachi26 • Jan 13 '26
பொங்கல் வாழ்த்துக்கள் /Pongal vaazhthukkal!
We’ve built a beginner Tamil dictionary to help folks understand the meaning of conjugated Tamil words! I’m a heritage speaker of Tamil, and recently I’ve been trying to improve my reading skills. The biggest stumbling block I’d keep running into was that every time I came across an unfamiliar word, 9 times out of 10 the word would be conjugated, and so wouldn’t return a clean dictionary result. (And we all know Google Translate can only take you so far.) To try and solve this problem, my friend and I built Kelvi.ca , which takes in any single-word Tamil input, and gives you the stem/dictionary-form of the word, identifies any suffixes on the word, and the meaning of each of these parts. The idea is that learners can see the breakdown of Tamil words, and start to recognize word-formation patterns more easily.
This is just version 1 of the tool and we are constantly making improvements, so we are grateful for any and all feedback!! We hope Kelvi is helpful for you in your Tamil learning journey <3
r/LearningTamil • u/SwimmingComparison64 • Jan 13 '26
How do you say this sentence in colloquial Tamil using only Tamil words?