முந்தாநாள்
“முந்தாநாள்” (mundānāḷ) — the day before yesterday in Tamil. Adverb, level A2. mun-daa-nal; the th after a nasal sounds like d, the final l is retroflex. In a live sentence: “முந்தாநாள் ரொம்ப மழை பெய்தது” — The day before yesterday there was heavy rain. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ம, ு, ந, ், த, ா, ந, ா, ள, ். A word from the everyday Tamil course, level A2.
In short
| Written in Tamil | முந்தாநாள் |
| Read in Latin letters | mundānāḷ |
| Translation | the day before yesterday |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A2 |
- முந்தாநாள்mundānāḷthe day before yesterday
How to pronounce it
mun-daa-nal; the th after a nasal sounds like d, the final l is retroflex
Why it looks that way
mundi 'earlier' + naal 'a day'. The partner of 'yesterday'
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.
- முந்தாநாள் ரொம்ப மழை பெய்ததுmundānāḷ romba maḻai peydaduThe day before yesterday there was heavy rain
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 “the day before yesterday” in Tamil?
«முந்தாநாள்», read “mundānāḷ”. mun-daa-nal; the th after a nasal sounds like d, the final l is retroflex. In a live sentence: “முந்தாநாள் ரொம்ப மழை பெய்தது” — The day before yesterday there was heavy rain. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adverb, level A2; written with the characters ம, ு, ந, ், த, ா, ந, ா, ள, ்.
How is “முந்தாநாள்” written in Latin letters?
mundānāḷ. 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?
mundi 'earlier' + naal 'a day'. The partner of 'yesterday'. 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.