Advanced Tamil Lesson 2: Tamil Verb Conjugation – Tenses & Forms

Welcome! (வணக்கம்!)

In this lesson, we will:
✅ Learn how Tamil verbs change based on tense, gender, and number.
✅ Understand regular vs. irregular verb conjugation.
✅ Practice forming complex Tamil sentences.
✅ Try exercises to improve fluency.

1️⃣ Understanding Tamil Verb Conjugation

Tamil verbs change their form depending on:
1️⃣ Tense (காலம்) – Past, Present, Future
2️⃣ Subject (Pronoun) – Who is performing the action? (I, You, He, She, etc.)
3️⃣ Gender (பாலினம்) – Masculine (He), Feminine (She), or Neutral (It/They)
4️⃣ Number (எண்) – Singular (one person) or Plural (many people)

To conjugate a verb, we modify its ending based on these factors. Let’s see how it works!

2️⃣ Regular Tamil Verb Conjugation

Most Tamil verbs follow a pattern when conjugated.

📌 Example Verb: ‘செல்’ (to go)

💡 Pattern:

• Past tense → Ends with -ன் (-n) / -ள் (-L) / -ார்கள் (-argal)
• Present tense → Uses “கிறு” (-kiru) form
• Future tense → Ends with -வேன் (-vEn) / -வான் (-vAn) / -வார்கள் (-vArgaL)

3️⃣ Irregular Tamil Verb Conjugation

Some verbs do not follow the standard pattern. Let’s look at one example.

📌 Example Verb: ‘வரு’ (to come)

💡 Notice the past tense change:

• Regular verbs → Change the root (செல் → சென்றேன்)
• Irregular verbs → Change differently (வரு → வந்தேன்)

4️⃣ How Gender & Number Change Verbs

Verbs also change based on gender and number.

📌 Example Verb: ‘சாப்பிடு’ (to eat)

💡 Notice the changes:

• Singular masculine: “He ate” → சாப்பிட்டான் (saappittAn)
• Singular feminine: “She ate” → சாப்பிட்டாள் (saappittAl)
• Plural (They ate) → சாப்பிட்டார்கள் (saappittArgaL)

5️⃣ Building More Complex Sentences

Now that we know how verbs change, let’s build full sentences!

📌 Past Tense Sentences

✅ “I studied well for the exam.” → நான் தேர்வுக்கு நன்றாக படித்தேன். (nAn tErvukku nanRAga paDittEn)
✅ “She cooked delicious food.” → அவள் சுவையான உணவு செய்தாள். (avaL suvaiyAna uNavu seithAl)
✅ “They traveled to India last year.” → அவர்கள் இந்தியா சென்றார்கள். (avarkaL IndiyA senRArgaL)

📌 Present Tense Sentences

✅ “I am reading a Tamil book.” → நான் தமிழ் புத்தகம் படிக்கிறேன். (nAn tamiL puththagam paDikkirEn)
✅ “He is writing a letter.” → அவன் கடிதம் எழுதுகிறான். (avan kaDitham ezuthugirAn)
✅ “They are working in the office.” → அவர்கள் அலுவலகத்தில் வேலை செய்கிறார்கள். (avarkaL aluvazhagaththil vElai seykirArgaL)

📌 Future Tense Sentences

✅ “I will visit my friend tomorrow.” → நான் நாளை என் நண்பனை சந்திப்பேன். (nAn nALai en naNbanai santhippEn)
✅ “She will buy a new dress.” → அவள் புதிய உடை வாங்குவாள். (avaL puthiya uDai vAnguvAl)
✅ “We will go to the temple next week.” → நாம் அடுத்த வாரம் கோயிலுக்கு செல்வோம். (nAm aDutha vAram kOyilukku selvOm)

6️⃣ Exercises – Time to Practice!

✅ Exercise 1: Conjugate These Verbs in Past, Present, & Future

1. நட (to walk)
2. வாசி (to read)
3. எழுது (to write)
4. கேள் (to listen)
5. தூங்கு (to sleep)

✅ Exercise 2: Translate These Sentences into Tamil

1. “She is watching TV now.”
2. “I ate dosa for breakfast.”
3. “They will travel to Chennai next week.”
4. “We are learning Tamil together.”
5. “He wrote a letter to his friend.”

🌟 What’s Next? (அடுத்து என்ன?)

In Advanced Lesson 4, we will focus on Tamil Sentence Structure – how to build longer, more natural Tamil sentences! 🚀