விசயம் தெரியும்
“விசயம் தெரியும்” (visayam teriyum) — be in the know in Tamil. Phrase, level A2. Literally 'the matter is known'. Tamil does not say 'I am in the know', it says 'it is known to me', and the person slips into the dative. In a live sentence: “எனக்கு விசயம் தெரியும், சொல்லிட்டாங்க” — I am in the know, I have been told already. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters வ, ி, ச, ய, ம, ், த, ெ, ர, ி, ய, ு.
In short
| Written in Tamil | விசயம் தெரியும் |
| Read in Latin letters | visayam teriyum |
| Translation | be in the know |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
- விசயம் தெரியும்visayam teriyumbe in the know
Why it looks that way
Literally 'the matter is known'. Tamil does not say 'I am in the know', it says 'it is known to me', and the person slips into the dative
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.
- எனக்கு விசயம் தெரியும், சொல்லிட்டாங்கeṉakku visayam teriyum, solliṭṭāṅgaI am in the know, I have been told already
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 “be in the know” in Tamil?
«விசயம் தெரியும்», read “visayam teriyum”. In a live sentence: “எனக்கு விசயம் தெரியும், சொல்லிட்டாங்க” — I am in the know, I have been told already. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A2; written with the characters வ, ி, ச, ய, ம, ், த, ெ, ர, ி, ய, ு.
How is “விசயம் தெரியும்” written in Latin letters?
visayam teriyum. 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 'the matter is known'. Tamil does not say 'I am in the know', it says 'it is known to me', and the person slips into the dative. 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.