Language/Tamil/Grammar/Plural-Noun-Suffix-Addition

Plural Noun Suffix Addition

The suffix to transform a singular noun into a plural noun is கள். Since கள் does not start with a vowel, none of the special rules learned previously for adding suffixes apply. In addition, words that end with certain letters change by becoming plural.

Forming Plural Nouns

• If the word ends in -ம், remove the -ம் and add -ங்கள்
• If the word is a syllable ...
  • and ends with a long vowel, add -ங்கள்
  • has a short vowel and ends with ...
    • -ல், remove the -ல் and add -ற்கள்
    • -ள், remove the -ள் and add -ட்கள்
• For all other names, add -கள்

It may sound like a lot, but it isn't. Most of the nouns fall into the last category, which is straightforward. One-syllable words that end in a vowel are actually one-letter words. Words like this are பூ, ஈ, தீ, but there aren't too many of them. There are also not many short vowel sound, one-syllable words ending in ல் or ள், but some are பல் and கல்.

So, while all rules can be useful, it is common to use the first rule and the last rule the most.