LingoflyVerbs in Tamil
27 words in Tamil on the topic “verbs”: வேணும் (vēṇum) — want; need, போறன் (pōṟaṉ) — to go, சாப்பிடுறன் (sāppiḍuṟaṉ) — to eat, குடிக்கிறன் (kuḍikkiṟaṉ) — to drink. 27 words can be played from recordings.
27 words on the topic
- வேணும்vēṇumwant; needBuilt like 'to me ... is wanted': eṉakku ṭī vēṇum, 'I need tea'. The wanting one stands in the 'to whom' form
- போறன்pōṟaṉto goTamil has no dictionary form at all: the lexicon holds the stem, and the verb is named in the first person, 'I go'. The ending -ēṉ is the 'I'. On foot or by bus — the verb is one
- சாப்பிடுறன்sāppiḍuṟaṉto eatFirst person, 'I eat'; the lexicon stem is sāppiṭu-. Nothing to do with 'there is, to have': existence is a different verb
- குடிக்கிறன்kuḍikkiṟaṉto drinkFirst person, 'I drink'. The same verb smokes: 'I drink a cigarette', literally
- பேசுறன்pēsuṟaṉto speakFirst person, 'I speak'. On the island the livelier verb is 'to chat', but this one is understood everywhere
- இருக்கிறன்irukkiṟaṉto beFirst person, 'I am'. Also 'I am located' and 'I live': 'I am in Jaffna' is how one says 'I live in Jaffna'
- கத்துக்கிறன்kattukkiṟaṉto studyFirst person, 'I learn, I study'. One word for both 'to study something' and 'to be a student'. Teaching someone is a different verb — literally 'to give learning'
- தேர்ந்தெடுக்கிறன்tērndeḍukkiṟaṉto chooseThe verb is given in the 'I do' form — here 'I choose'. In the shop people say it simpler: 'I will look and take'
- படிக்கிறன்paḍikkiṟaṉto be a studentIt also means 'I read': the root serves both studying and reading. The other verb is about mastering a skill
- ஞாபகம் வைக்கிறன்ñābagam vaikkiṟaṉto memorizeLiterally 'I place into memory': 'memory' is the first word. 'I forgot' is another verb
- பாக்கிறன்pākkiṟaṉto seepaak-ki-ran; the ṟ is a rolled r, crisper than the soft r of maram
- கேக்கிறன்kēkkiṟaṉto hearkeek-ki-ran; a rolled r, and the t of the bookish form disappears in speech
- தூங்குறன்tūṅguṟaṉto sleepThe bookish form loses a syllable in speech. 'I feel sleepy' is said impersonally: literally 'sleep is coming to me'
- கொண்டு போறன்koṇḍu pōṟaṉto carrykon-du poo-ran; the n is made with the tongue curled back
- வைக்கிறன்vaikkiṟaṉto placevaik-ki-ran; the ṟ is a rolled r
- உடைக்கிறன்uḍaikkiṟaṉto breakAbout what flies into pieces: dishes, a branch, a coconut. Machinery in Tamil does not break — it spoils, and that takes a different phrase. What got broken uses the same participle
- கட்டுறன்kaṭṭuṟaṉto buildkat-tu-ran; the tt is made with the tongue curled back — that is the only difference from 'I shout'
- சூடாக்குறன்sūḍākkuṟaṉto heatFrom 'heat': the insert makes an action out of a property — 'I make it hot'. To reheat food keeps the same verb; what heats by itself takes the plain form
- பார்க்கிறன்pārkkiṟaṉto watchThe Jaffna shortened 'to see' names what falls into the eyes on its own. One root, but the full form stands where one looks on purpose: a film, a book, out of the window
- பறக்கிறன்paṟakkiṟaṉto flyBuilt on 'aeroplane'. The verb is first of all a bird's; about a person it is said when they fly by plane, and 'by plane' stands nearby. The Jaffna r is the same as in 'firewood'
- பாவிக்கிறன்pāvikkiṟaṉto useThe Lankan word: Tamil Nadu says two other verbs, but on the island, in the shop and at home alike, it is this one. It fits things and languages alike: 'I use Tamil'
- சந்திக்கிறன்sandikkiṟaṉto meetThe root behind 'gathering, meeting' means both 'crossroads' and the verb 'to meet': roads converge the way people do. Meeting an arrival at the station is another matter — there one says 'to go and fetch'
- தொடுறன்toḍuṟaṉto touchA brief touch with the hand: to check whether it is hot, or to tap a shoulder. In a temple and before elders the word carries weight — the elder's feet are touched as a sign of respect, with the same verb. The prohibition is 'do not touch'
- வாழுறன்vāḻuṟaṉto liveFrom the same root as 'life'. This is to live a life somewhere or somehow; about merely residing at an address one says 'to be'
- வேலை செய்யிறன்vēlai seyyiṟaṉto workBuilt on 'work' and the phrase 'does not do work', about a device. Tamil keeps no single verb: work is done — the noun plus 'to do' — and the same turn covers a person and a machine
- வாசிக்கிறன்vāsikkiṟaṉto readIn Tamil Nadu the same verb covers both 'to read' and 'to study', which muddles things. On the island one reads with this verb and leaves the other to study. It also plays an instrument: 'I play the veena' is 'I read the veena'
- இருக்குirukkuthere isThe partner of 'to be' in the 'I' form. This is the form for things, and with it Tamil says 'there is, there exists': the place in the location case, the thing simply beside it. The negation is the plain 'not'
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
வேணும் (vēṇum) — want; need. Built like 'to me ... is wanted': eṉakku ṭī vēṇum, 'I need tea'. The wanting one stands in the 'to whom' form.
போறன் (pōṟaṉ) — to go. Tamil has no dictionary form at all: the lexicon holds the stem, and the verb is named in the first person, 'I go'. The ending -ēṉ is the 'I'. On foot or by bus — the verb is one.
சாப்பிடுறன் (sāppiḍuṟaṉ) — to eat. First person, 'I eat'; the lexicon stem is sāppiṭu-. Nothing to do with 'there is, to have': existence is a different verb.
குடிக்கிறன் (kuḍikkiṟaṉ) — to drink. First person, 'I drink'. The same verb smokes: 'I drink a cigarette', literally.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is வேணும் (vēṇum) — want; need.
- What is this word?
It is தேர்ந்தெடுக்கிறன் (tērndeḍukkiṟaṉ) — to choose.
- What is this word?
It is வைக்கிறன் (vaikkiṟaṉ) — to place.
- What is this word?
It is சந்திக்கிறன் (sandikkiṟaṉ) — to meet.
- What is this word?
It is போறன் (pōṟaṉ) — to go.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “want; need” in Tamil?
Built like 'to me ... is wanted': eṉakku ṭī vēṇum, 'I need tea'. The wanting one stands in the 'to whom' form
- How do you say “to choose” in Tamil?
The verb is given in the 'I do' form — here 'I choose'. In the shop people say it simpler: 'I will look and take'
- How do you say “to place” in Tamil?
One verb for 'to put, to set, to lay': upright or flat, Tamil does not care. It is also inside 'to remember' and 'to trust' — 'to place memory', 'to place trust'
- How do you say “to meet” in Tamil?
The root behind 'gathering, meeting' means both 'crossroads' and the verb 'to meet': roads converge the way people do. Meeting an arrival at the station is another matter — there one says 'to go and fetch'
- How do you say “to go” in Tamil?
Tamil has no dictionary form at all: the lexicon holds the stem, and the verb is named in the first person, 'I go'. The ending -ēṉ is the 'I'. On foot or by bus — the verb is one
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “want; need” in Tamil?
«வேணும்» (vēṇum), read “vēṇum”. Built like 'to me ... is wanted': eṉakku ṭī vēṇum, 'I need tea'. The wanting one stands in the 'to whom' form. It is one of 27 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 27 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
Is there audio?
Yes, 27 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.