நீ
“நீ” (nī) — you (informal) in Tamil. Pronoun, level A0, topic — pronouns. Only for close friends and children. With anyone else it sounds rude — switch to nīṅga. In a live sentence: “நீ எங்க போற?” — Where are you going? You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ந, ீ. One of 26 words in the set “pronouns” in the Tamil course.
In short
| Written in Tamil | நீ |
| Read in Latin letters | nī |
| Translation | you (informal) |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A0 |
- நீnīyou (informal)
Why it looks that way
Only for close friends and children. With anyone else it sounds rude — switch to nīṅga
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.
- நீ எங்க போற?nī eṅga pōṟa?Where are you going?
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'
- நீங்கnīṅgayou (polite)The polite you: for strangers, elders and everyone you are not on first-name terms with. Its verbs take the ending -īṅga
- அவர்avarheThe respectful form — so respectful that it is used about women too, whenever deference is due
- 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 “you (informal)” in Tamil?
Only for close friends and children. With anyone else it sounds rude — switch to nīṅga
- 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 “he” in Tamil?
The respectful form — so respectful that it is used about women too, whenever deference is due
- 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 “you (informal)” in Tamil?
«நீ», read “nī”. In a live sentence: “நீ எங்க போற?” — Where are you going? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Pronoun, level A0, from the set “pronouns”; written with the characters ந, ீ.
How is “நீ” written in Latin letters?
nī. 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?
Only for close friends and children. With anyone else it sounds rude — switch to nīṅga. 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.