நடைபாதை
“நடைபாதை” (naḍaipādai) — pavement in Tamil. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. nadai 'walking' + paadhai 'a path'. In the northern towns there is often no pavement at all, so the word is heard more in the news. In a live sentence: “நடைபாதையால நடங்க, வீதியில வேண்டாம்” — Walk on the pavement, not on the road. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ந, ட, ை, ப, ா, த, ை.
In short
| Written in Tamil | நடைபாதை |
| Read in Latin letters | naḍaipādai |
| Translation | pavement |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- நடைபாதைnaḍaipādaipavement
Why it looks that way
nadai 'walking' + paadhai 'a path'. In the northern towns there is often no pavement at all, so the word is heard more in the news
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.
- நடைபாதையால நடங்க, வீதியில வேண்டாம்naḍaipādaiyāla naḍaṅga, vīdiyila vēṇḍāmWalk on the pavement, not on the road
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- கடைkaḍaishopHere the position rule is audible: ḍ between vowels stays soft d — kaḍay, not kaṭay
- சந்தைsandaimarketFrom candi, 'to meet' — the place where people come together. Its relative candi means 'crossroads', and mixing them up is easy
- மருந்துக்கடைmarundukkaḍaipharmacyMarundu is 'medicine', kaḍai is 'shop'. Compound words in Tamil assemble exactly like this, edge to edge
- வங்கிvaṅgibankThe English bank written in Tamil script. In live speech people more often just say 'bank'
- சாலைsālaistreetA road you drive on. The way in general and the lane are vaḻi; a small side street is 'the inner road'
- மளிகைக் கடைmaḷigaik kaḍaigrocery storema-li-gay ka-day; the ḷ is made with the tongue curled back — not the plain l
- வரிசைvarisaiqueueAlso 'a row'. 'Stand in the queue' is 'stand in the row'. People often say the English 'queue' too
- திறந்திருக்குtiṟandirukkuis openLiterally 'stands opened'. On the door they write the longer bookish form
- மூடியிருக்குmūḍiyirukkuis closedThe partner of 'is open'. If it is locked with a key, a third form appears: 'is locked'
- மாடிmāḍifloor (storey)Also 'the top of a house': a house of two māḍi is a two-storey house
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “pavement” in Tamil?
nadai 'walking' + paadhai 'a path'. In the northern towns there is often no pavement at all, so the word is heard more in the news
- How do you say “queue” in Tamil?
Also 'a row'. 'Stand in the queue' is 'stand in the row'. People often say the English 'queue' too
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Tamil?
Marundu is 'medicine', kaḍai is 'shop'. Compound words in Tamil assemble exactly like this, edge to edge
- How do you say “floor (storey)” in Tamil?
Also 'the top of a house': a house of two māḍi is a two-storey house
- How do you say “grocery store” in Tamil?
The first word is 'groceries': rice, lentils, spices. Snapped together like the pharmacy you know
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 “pavement” in Tamil?
«நடைபாதை», read “naḍaipādai”. In a live sentence: “நடைபாதையால நடங்க, வீதியில வேண்டாம்” — Walk on the pavement, not on the road. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters ந, ட, ை, ப, ா, த, ை.
How is “நடைபாதை” written in Latin letters?
naḍaipādai. 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?
nadai 'walking' + paadhai 'a path'. In the northern towns there is often no pavement at all, so the word is heard more in the news. 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.