LingoflySmoking is harmful: how a verb becomes a noun
English gets by with 'to smoke' or 'smoking'. Tamil has no such form: only a noun can be the main word of a phrase. So the verb is first turned into a noun, and there are three routes. For example: “சிகரெட் (sigareṭ) குடிக்கிறது உடம்புக்கு (uḍambukku) கெடுதி” (keḍudi) — Smoking is harmful to health. A rule from the Tamil course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English gets by with 'to smoke' or 'smoking'. Tamil has no such form: only a noun can be the main word of a phrase. So the verb is first turned into a noun, and there are three routes.
-றது is the working, spoken one. Take the present and change the end: சொல்றது (solṟadu) 'saying', நடக்கிறது (naḍakkiṟadu) 'walking'. After that it is an ordinary noun: சொல்றது கஷ்டம் (solṟadu kaṣṭam) 'hard to say', படிக்கிறதுக்கு நேரம் (nēram) 'time for study'.
-தல் is the same thing, only bookish: புகைப்பிடித்தல். You will meet it on a board and in a law, and hardly ever say it aloud.
-ப்பு and -வு give ready nouns you simply learn: கண்டுபிடிப்பு (kaṇḍubiḍippu) 'invention', ஆய்வு (āyvu) 'research'. Such a word sits in the dictionary on its own and cannot be guessed.
Table
| Verb | Action noun | Case | What came out |
|---|---|---|---|
| புகைப்பிடி | புகைப்பிடிக்கிறது (pugaippiḍikkiṟadu) | — | smoking |
| சொல் (sol) | சொல்றது (solṟadu) | — | சொல்றது கஷ்டம் (solṟadu kaṣṭam) |
| விடு | விடுறது | -ஐ | விடுறதை விரும்பேல்லை (virumbēllai) |
| படி (paḍi) | படிக்கிறது (paḍikkiṟadu) | -க்கு | படிக்கிறதுக்கு நேரம் (nēram) |
| நட | நடக்கிறது (naḍakkiṟadu) | -க்காக (-kkāga) | நடக்கிறதுக்காக |
| bookish | புகைப்பிடித்தல் | — | on the notice |
| a ready-made noun | கண்டுபிடிப்பு (kaṇḍubiḍippu) | — | invention |
By example
- சிகரெட் குடிக்கிறது உடம்புக்கு கெடுதிsigareṭ kuḍikkiṟadu uḍambukku keḍudiSmoking is harmful to health
- eppa muḍiyum eṇḍu solṟadu kaṣṭamIt is hard to say when it will end
- கஷ்டப்படுறதுக்குப் பதிலா ஒரு நிபுணரிட்ட கேளுங்கோkaṣṭappaḍuṟadukkup padilā oru nibuṇariṭṭa kēḷuṅgōInstead of struggling, ask a specialist
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
Smoking is harmful: how does it work in Tamil?
English gets by with 'to smoke' or 'smoking'. Tamil has no such form: only a noun can be the main word of a phrase. So the verb is first turned into a noun, and there are three routes.
What does it look like in a Tamil example sentence?
“சிகரெட் (sigareṭ) குடிக்கிறது உடம்புக்கு (uḍambukku) கெடுதி” (keḍudi) (sigareṭ kuḍikkiṟadu uḍambukku keḍudi) — Smoking is harmful to health. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.