LingoflyThe verb knows who is speaking
Here Tamil takes the opposite road to English: the verb changes for person, and the ending names the speaker by itself. For example: “நான் (nāṉ) போறன்” (pōṟaṉ) — I go. A rule from the Tamil course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Here Tamil takes the opposite road to English: the verb changes for person, and the ending names the speaker by itself.
போறன் (pōṟaṉ) — 'I go', போறம் (pōṟam) — 'we go', போறியள் (pōṟiyaḷ) — 'you go'. The pronoun is often dropped: the ending has already said it all.
A request is made with the ending -உங்கோ (-uṅgō): போங்கோ (pōṅgō) — 'go', சொல்லுங்கோ (solluṅgō) — 'say'. This is the polite form, and with a stranger it is the one you need.
Table
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Tamil verb conjugation?
Here Tamil takes the opposite road to English: the verb changes for person, and the ending names the speaker by itself.
Does the Tamil verb change for person?
Here Tamil takes the opposite road to English: the verb changes for person, and the ending names the speaker by itself.
Why the pronoun can be dropped in Tamil?
போறன் (pōṟaṉ) — 'I go', போறம் (pōṟam) — 'we go', போறியள் (pōṟiyaḷ) — 'you go'. The pronoun is often dropped: the ending has already said it all.
What does it look like in a Tamil example sentence?
“நான் (nāṉ) போறன்” (pōṟaṉ) (nāṉ pōṟaṉ) — I go. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.