அவர்
“அவர்” (avar) — he in Tamil. Pronoun, level A0, topic — pronouns. The respectful form — so respectful that it is used about women too, whenever deference is due. In a live sentence: “அவர் ஒரு டாக்டர்” — He is a doctor. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters அ, வ, ர, ். One of 26 words in the set “pronouns” in the Tamil course.
In short
| Written in Tamil | அவர் |
| Read in Latin letters | avar |
| Translation | he |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A0 |
- அவர்avarhe
Why it looks that way
The respectful form — so respectful that it is used about women too, whenever deference is due
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- அவர் ஒரு டாக்டர்avar oru ḍākṭarHe is a doctor
Nearby words: pronouns
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
- நான்nāṉIUsually dropped in speech: the verb ending already shows who acts. Naan is added for emphasis — 'I, personally'
- நீnīyou (informal)Only for close friends and children. With anyone else it sounds rude — switch to nīṅga
- நீங்கnīṅgayou (polite)The polite you: for strangers, elders and everyone you are not on first-name terms with. Its verbs take the ending -īṅga
- அவள்avaḷsheFor a younger woman or one of your own circle. About an elder or a stranger you switch to the respectful avar, the same word as 'he'
- நாங்கnāṅgaweWe without you: me and mine. If the 'we' includes the listener, Tamil reaches for a different word, nām — a distinction English never makes
- என்னோடeṉṉōḍamyThe spoken form of the bookish eṉṉuṭaiya. The tail -ōḍa is what makes it possessive
- உன்னோடuṉṉōḍayour (informal)For an equal or a younger person. For an elder it is uṅgaḷōḍa, and mixing the two up is no small matter
- எங்களோடeṅgaḷōḍaourTamil splits 'our without you' (eṅgaḷ) from 'our with you' (nammaḷ) — a rare distinction
- உங்களோடuṅgaḷōḍayour (polite)Doubles as the polite 'your' singular. With elders and strangers this is the one to take
- அவரோடavarōḍahis, her, their (whose)Tamil is more precise than English here: avaṉōḍa about a man, avaḷōḍa about a woman, avarōḍa politely about anyone
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “pronouns”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “he” in Tamil?
The respectful form — so respectful that it is used about women too, whenever deference is due
- How do you say “your (informal)” in Tamil?
For an equal or a younger person. For an elder it is uṅgaḷōḍa, and mixing the two up is no small matter
- How do you say “you (polite)” in Tamil?
The polite you: for strangers, elders and everyone you are not on first-name terms with. Its verbs take the ending -īṅga
- How do you say “his, her, their (whose)” in Tamil?
Tamil is more precise than English here: avaṉōḍa about a man, avaḷōḍa about a woman, avarōḍa politely about anyone
- How do you say “my” in Tamil?
The spoken form of the bookish eṉṉuṭaiya. The tail -ōḍa is what makes it possessive
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “he” in Tamil?
«அவர்», read “avar”. In a live sentence: “அவர் ஒரு டாக்டர்” — He is a doctor. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Pronoun, level A0, from the set “pronouns”; written with the characters அ, வ, ர, ்.
How is “அவர்” written in Latin letters?
avar. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The respectful form — so respectful that it is used about women too, whenever deference is due. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.