ஒரு பத்து
“ஒரு பத்து” (oru pattu) — a dozen or so in Tamil. Noun, level B1. Literally 'one ten'. Tamil sets 'one' before the number, and that means 'about ten' — like English 'a dozen or so'. In a live sentence: “ஒரு பத்து மாங்காய் வாங்கினன்” — I bought a dozen or so mangoes. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ஒ, ர, ு, ப, த, ், த, ு. A word from the everyday Tamil course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Tamil | ஒரு பத்து |
| Read in Latin letters | oru pattu |
| Translation | a dozen or so |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- ஒரு பத்துoru pattua dozen or so
Why it looks that way
Literally 'one ten'. Tamil sets 'one' before the number, and that means 'about ten' — like English 'a dozen or so'
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.
- ஒரு பத்து மாங்காய் வாங்கினன்oru pattu māṅkāy vāṅgiṉaṉI bought a dozen or so mangoes
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 “a dozen or so” in Tamil?
«ஒரு பத்து», read “oru pattu”. In a live sentence: “ஒரு பத்து மாங்காய் வாங்கினன்” — I bought a dozen or so mangoes. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1; written with the characters ஒ, ர, ு, ப, த, ், த, ு.
How is “ஒரு பத்து” written in Latin letters?
oru pattu. 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?
Literally 'one ten'. Tamil sets 'one' before the number, and that means 'about ten' — like English 'a dozen or so'. 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.