Lingoflyஞாபகம் இருக்கு
- ஞாபகம் இருக்குñābagam irukkuto remember
“ஞாபகம் இருக்கு” (ñābagam irukku) — to remember in Tamil. Verb, level A1. Literally 'there is memory'. The initial sign is a rare sound, met at the start of few words. In a live sentence: “அவர்ர பேரு எனக்கு ஞாபகம் இல்ல” (avarra pēr eṉakku ñābagam illai) — I don't remember his name. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ஞ, ா, ப, க, ம, ், இ, ர, ு, க, ், க… A word from the everyday Tamil course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Tamil | ஞாபகம் இருக்கு (ñābagam irukku) |
| Read in Latin letters | ñābagam irukku |
| Translation | to remember |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'there is memory'. The initial sign is a rare sound, met at the start of few words
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.
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 “to remember” in Tamil?
«ஞாபகம் இருக்கு» (ñābagam irukku), read “ñābagam irukku”. In a live sentence: “அவர்ர பேரு எனக்கு ஞாபகம் இல்ல” (avarra pēr eṉakku ñābagam illai) — I don't remember his name. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A1; written with the characters ஞ, ா, ப, க, ம, ், இ, ர, ு, க, ், க…
How is “ஞாபகம் இருக்கு” (ñābagam irukku) written in Latin letters?
ñābagam irukku. 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 'there is memory'. The initial sign is a rare sound, met at the start of few words. 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 this 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.