விமானம் இரத்தானது
“விமானம் இரத்தானது” (vimāṉam irattāṉadu) — the flight was cancelled in Tamil. Phrase, level A2. In English someone cancelled; in Tamil the flight 'cancelled itself'. The language names no culprit — the ordinary way to do without the passive. In a live sentence: “மழையால விமானம் இரத்தானது” — Because of the rain the flight was cancelled. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters வ, ி, ம, ா, ன, ம, ், இ, ர, த, ், த.
In short
| Written in Tamil | விமானம் இரத்தானது |
| Read in Latin letters | vimāṉam irattāṉadu |
| Translation | the flight was cancelled |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
- விமானம் இரத்தானதுvimāṉam irattāṉaduthe flight was cancelled
Why it looks that way
In English someone cancelled; in Tamil the flight 'cancelled itself'. The language names no culprit — the ordinary way to do without the passive
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.
- மழையால விமானம் இரத்தானதுmaḻaiyāla vimāṉam irattāṉaduBecause of the rain the flight was cancelled
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 “the flight was cancelled” in Tamil?
«விமானம் இரத்தானது», read “vimāṉam irattāṉadu”. In a live sentence: “மழையால விமானம் இரத்தானது” — Because of the rain the flight was cancelled. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A2; written with the characters வ, ி, ம, ா, ன, ம, ், இ, ர, த, ், த.
How is “விமானம் இரத்தானது” written in Latin letters?
vimāṉam irattāṉadu. 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?
In English someone cancelled; in Tamil the flight 'cancelled itself'. The language names no culprit — the ordinary way to do without the passive. 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.