LingoflyNo articles: ஒரு and the bare word
Tamil has no articles, so 'a shop', 'one shop' and 'the shop' are told apart by other means. There are three, and all are ordinary words. For example: “ஒரு (oru) காலி அறை இருக்கா?” (kāli aṟai irukkā) — Is there a vacant room? A rule from the Tamil course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Tamil has no articles, so 'a shop', 'one shop' and 'the shop' are told apart by other means. There are three, and all are ordinary words.
The first is ஒரு (oru) 'one'. It brings a thing into the talk for the first time: ஒரு (oru) காலி அறை இருக்கா (kāli aṟai irukkā) (oru kāli aṟai irukkā)? — 'is there a free room?'. Counting is done with ஒண்டு (oṇḍu); ஒரு (oru) only stands before a noun.
The second is அந்த (anda) 'that' and இந்த (inda) 'this'. Once the thing has a name, you come back to it with a pointer: அந்த (anda) அறையை (aṟaiyai) எடுக்கிறன் (eḍukkiṟaṉ) (anda aṟaiyai eḍukkiṟaṉ) 'I will take that room'.
The third is the bare word, and it is the commonest. மீன் (mīṉ) விலை அதிகம் (vilai adigam) (mīṉ vilai adigam) means fish is expensive as a kind of thing. Put ஒரு (oru) there and it turns into one single fish.
Table
| Phrase | What it means |
|---|---|
| ஒரு (oru) டிக்கட் (ṭikkaṭ) வேணும் (vēṇum) | a ticket is needed — some ticket, first mention in the talk |
| அந்த (anda) டிக்கட் (ṭikkaṭ) எங்கே? (eṅgē) | where is the very ticket we are talking about |
| டிக்கட் (ṭikkaṭ) விலை அதிகம் (vilai adigam) | tickets are expensive in general |
| டிக்கட்டை (ṭikkaṭṭai) எடுத்தன் (eḍuttaṉ) | took the very ticket |
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
No articles: how does it work in Tamil?
Tamil has no articles, so 'a shop', 'one shop' and 'the shop' are told apart by other means. There are three, and all are ordinary words.
What does it look like in a Tamil example sentence?
“ஒரு (oru) காலி அறை இருக்கா?” (kāli aṟai irukkā) (oru kāli aṟai irukkā?) — Is there a vacant room? A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.