தங்கச்சி
“தங்கச்சி” (taṅgacci) — little sister in Tamil. Noun, level A1. The elder one is akkaa, the younger one thangachchi, and you cannot choose: age sits inside the word. The bookish form is thangai. In a live sentence: “தங்கச்சி என்னிலும் மூன்று வயது சின்னவ” — My little sister is three years younger than me. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters த, ங, ், க, ச, ், ச, ி. A word from the everyday Tamil course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Tamil | தங்கச்சி |
| Read in Latin letters | taṅgacci |
| Translation | little sister |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- தங்கச்சிtaṅgaccilittle sister
Why it looks that way
The elder one is akkaa, the younger one thangachchi, and you cannot choose: age sits inside the word. The bookish form is thangai
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.
- தங்கச்சி என்னிலும் மூன்று வயது சின்னவtaṅgacci eṉṉiluma mūṉṟa vayadu siṉṉavaMy little sister is three years younger than me
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 “little sister” in Tamil?
«தங்கச்சி», read “taṅgacci”. In a live sentence: “தங்கச்சி என்னிலும் மூன்று வயது சின்னவ” — My little sister is three years younger than me. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1; written with the characters த, ங, ், க, ச, ், ச, ி.
How is “தங்கச்சி” written in Latin letters?
taṅgacci. 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?
The elder one is akkaa, the younger one thangachchi, and you cannot choose: age sits inside the word. The bookish form is thangai. 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.