போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ்
“போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ்” (pōkkuvarattu polis) — traffic police in Tamil. Noun, level B1. pokkuvaraththu means 'coming and going' — from 'go' and 'come'. On the island it is written with one spelling, in Tamil Nadu with another: the difference shows in every line. In a live sentence: “போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ் சந்தியில நிக்கிறாங்க” — The traffic police are standing at the crossroads. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ப, ோ, க, ், க, ு, வ, ர, த, ், த, ு.
In short
| Written in Tamil | போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ் |
| Read in Latin letters | pōkkuvarattu polis |
| Translation | traffic police |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ்pōkkuvarattu polistraffic police
Why it looks that way
pokkuvaraththu means 'coming and going' — from 'go' and 'come'. On the island it is written with one spelling, in Tamil Nadu with another: the difference shows in every line
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.
- போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ் சந்தியில நிக்கிறாங்கpōkkuvarattu polis sandiyila nikkiṟāṅgaThe traffic police are standing at the crossroads
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 “traffic police” in Tamil?
«போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ்», read “pōkkuvarattu polis”. In a live sentence: “போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ் சந்தியில நிக்கிறாங்க” — The traffic police are standing at the crossroads. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1; written with the characters ப, ோ, க, ், க, ு, வ, ர, த, ், த, ு.
How is “போக்குவரத்து பொலிஸ்” written in Latin letters?
pōkkuvarattu polis. 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?
pokkuvaraththu means 'coming and going' — from 'go' and 'come'. On the island it is written with one spelling, in Tamil Nadu with another: the difference shows in every line. 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.