Language/Tamil/Grammar/Interrogation

Tamil Grammar → Negation and Interrogation → Interrogation

As a Tamil language teacher with over 20 years of experience, I am excited to teach you how to ask questions in Tamil. This lesson is a part of the "Complete 0 to A1 Tamil Course" for beginners, which aims to help you become proficient in Tamil.

With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Tamil Finite Verbs Conjugation & How to Use Have.

Interrogation

Asking questions is an essential part of learning a new language. Here, we will learn how to ask questions in Tamil. In Tamil, just like in English, we need to adjust the subject-verb order accordingly to ask questions.

Here's an example sentence in Tamil:

நீ சபம் புகுந்தா? (Nī sapam pukuntha?)

Translation: Are you entering the shop?

The word order of this sentence is subject-verb-object, which is the standard word order in Tamil. However, if we want to make this sentence into a question, we change the order of the subject and verb to verb-subject-object. In this case, we move the subject நீ (nī) after புகுந்தா (pukuntha).

Here's the same sentence in question form:

சபம் புகுந்தா நீ? (Sapam pukuntha nī?)

Translation: Are you entering the shop?

As you can see, we have changed the word order of the sentence to make it into a question.

Question Words

In English, we use a variety of question words to ask different types of questions like 'what', 'where', 'when', 'why', and 'who'. Similarly, Tamil has question words to ask different types of questions.

Here's a list of some of the most common question words in Tamil:

• எங்கு (eṅku): where
• எப்போது (eppōtu): when
• என்ன (enna): what
• எவ்வளவு (evvaḷavu): how much/how many
• எவன் (evan): who

For example, to ask "What is your name?" in Tamil, you would say:

உங்க பெயர் என்ன? (Uṅga peyar enna?)

Translation: What is your name?

Question Particles

In addition to changing the word order, Tamil also has question particles, which are added to the end of sentences to indicate that it is being asked as a question.

Here are a few common question particles in Tamil:

• அல்லது (allathu): or
• என்ன (enna): what
• என்னவென்றால் (ennavenṟāl): if so
• எப்படி (eppaṭi): how
• ஆண்டு (aṇṭu): isn't it?/correct?/right?

For example, to ask "Is she coming?" in Tamil, you would say:

அவள் வருகிறாள் அல்லது அல்லது அவள் வருகிறாளா? (Avaḷ varukiṟāḷ allathu allathu avaḷ varukiṟāḷā?)

Translation: Is she coming?

Conversational Questions

In Tamil, like any other language, there are conversational questions that we use in our day-to-day conversations. Some common conversational questions in Tamil include:

• எப்படி போனீர்கள்? (Eppaṭi pōnīrkaḷ?): How did you go?
• உங்க வாழ்க்கை எப்படி இருக்கு? (Uṅga vāḻkai eppaṭi irukku?): How is your life?
• உங்க தந்தை/அம்மா/சகோதரி யார்? (Uṅga tanta/ammā/sakōtari yār?): Who is your father/mother/sister?

Negation

Negation is another critical aspect of language learning. It is used to express negative sentences in Tamil. To form a negative sentence in Tamil, we add the negative particle 'இல்லை' (illai) after the verb.

For example:

அவன் வாழ்க்கை நல்லதல்ல. (Avan vāḻkai nallathalla.)

Translation: His life is not good.

Let us see how we can change this sentence into a negative sentence:

அவன் வாழ்க்கை நல்லதல்ல என்னும் இல்லை. (Avan vāḻkai nallathalla enņum illai.)

Translation: His life is not good.

As you can see, we have added the negative particle 'இல்லை' (illai) after the verb to make this sentence negative.

Double Negatives

In Tamil, it is common to use double negatives to emphasize negativity in a sentence.

For instance:

நான் யாருக்கும் உதவ முடியாது. (Nāṉ yārukkuṃ udhava muṭiyādhu.)

Translation: I cannot help anyone.

To add emphasis, you can use a double negative like this:

நான் யாருக்கும் உதவ முடியாது என்னும் எங்கேயாயிருக்கின்றேன். (Nāṉ yārukkuṃ udhava muṭiyādhu enņum eṅkēyāyirukkiṉṟēṉ.)

Translation: I cannot help anyone at all.

Negative Particles

Here are a few common negative particles in Tamil:

• இல்லை (illai): not
• அல்ல (alla): not
• ஒதுக்காமல் (otukkāmal): without

For example, to say "I don't like tea" in Tamil, you would say:

நான் தேயில்கார ஆசையை கைவிட முடியாது. (Nāṉ tēyilkaāra ācaiyai kaiviṭa muṭiyādhu.)

Translation: I cannot give up the dislike of tea.

Quiz

Test your knowledge of Tamil question formation by translating the following sentences:

1. Where is the temple?
2. When are you coming?
3. How much is this?
4. Who are you?
5. Did you have lunch?

Answers:

1. கோயில் எங்கு உள்ளது? (Kōyil eṅku uḷḷadhu?)
2. நீ எப்போது வருகிறாய்? (Nī eppōtu varukiṟāy?)
3. இது எவ்வளவு ரூபாய்? (Itu evvaḷavu rūpāy?)
4. நீ யார்? (Nī yār?)
5. உங்களுக்கு உணவு சாப்பிட்டீர்களா? (Uṅkaḷukku uṇavu sāppiṭṭīrkaḷā?)

Conclusion

I hope this article was helpful in enhancing your knowledge of Tamil grammar. In the next lesson, we will cover more topics related to Tamil grammar. Keep practicing and learning Tamil to become a proficient Tamil speaker.

Sources

• Tamil Language
• Tamil Grammar

Excellent job on conquering this lesson! Consider delving into these related pages: 0 to A1 Course & Personal Pronouns.

Table of Contents - Tamil Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Introduction to Tamil Grammar

• Tamil Script and Pronunciation
• Nouns and Pronouns

  ---

Daily Life Vocabulary

• Greetings and Introductions
• Numbers and Time
• Food and Drink
• Family and Relationships
• Travel and Transportation

  ---

Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Past Tense
• Future Tense

  ---

Profession and Work Vocabulary

• Jobs and Professions
• Office and Workplace
• Business Communication

  ---

Tamil Culture and Customs

• Festivals and Celebrations
• Art and Music
• Cuisine and Eating Habits
• Tamil Cinema

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjectives
• Adverbs

  ---

Health and Fitness Vocabulary

• Body Parts and Symptoms
• Physical Fitness and Exercise

  ---

Cases and Postpositions

• Nominative and Accusative Cases
• Postpositions

  ---

Nature, Environment and Wildlife Vocabulary

• Flora and Fauna
• Environment and Pollution

  ---

Tamil Literature and History

• Sangam Literature
• Chola Empire

  ---

Negation and Interrogation

• Negation
• Interrogation

Sources

• The Enclitic Vowels (-a, -e, -o) in Modern Tamil
• Welcome To Tamil Virtual University - Learn Tamil by prof. T.B. ...
• Learn tamil through English- interrogative sentences

Other Lessons

• Negation
• Prepositions
• Adjective (பெயரடை)
• Past tense
• Plural Noun Suffix Addition
• How to Use Have
• Give your Opinion
• Postpositions
• Negatives
• Verb Classes