இலக்கத் தகடு
“இலக்கத் தகடு” (ilakkat tagaḍu) — number plate in Tamil. Noun, level B1. thagadu, 'a plate', plus the island number word. In conversation people simply say the English 'number plate'. In a live sentence: “இலக்கத் தகடு அழுக்கா இருக்கு” — The number plate is dirty. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters இ, ல, க, ், க, த, ், த, க, ட, ு. A word from the everyday Tamil course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Tamil | இலக்கத் தகடு |
| Read in Latin letters | ilakkat tagaḍu |
| Translation | number plate |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- இலக்கத் தகடுilakkat tagaḍunumber plate
Why it looks that way
thagadu, 'a plate', plus the island number word. In conversation people simply say the English 'number plate'
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.
- இலக்கத் தகடு அழுக்கா இருக்குilakkat tagaḍu aḻukkā irukkuThe number plate is dirty
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 “number plate” in Tamil?
«இலக்கத் தகடு», read “ilakkat tagaḍu”. In a live sentence: “இலக்கத் தகடு அழுக்கா இருக்கு” — The number plate is dirty. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1; written with the characters இ, ல, க, ், க, த, ், த, க, ட, ு.
How is “இலக்கத் தகடு” written in Latin letters?
ilakkat tagaḍu. 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?
thagadu, 'a plate', plus the island number word. In conversation people simply say the English 'number plate'. 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.