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Lesson 10A1

Possessives: my, your, his, her, and 's

உடைமைச் சொற்கள்

English marks possession two different ways depending on whether you're using a pronoun or a full noun — a split with no equivalent in Tamil's single, consistent possessive suffix.

Grammar Comparison

Grammar Comparison

Two systems: possessive pronouns, and 's for nouns

English

my book (possessive pronoun) vs. Priya's book (noun + 's)

Tamil (English explanations)

என் புத்தகம் / பிரியாவின் புத்தகம் — the same suffix pattern works for both cases

Tamil attaches the same possessive suffix pattern whether the owner is a pronoun (என், 'my') or a proper noun (பிரியாவின், 'Priya's') — one consistent mechanism throughout. English splits this into two unrelated systems: a dedicated set of possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our, their) for pronoun-owners, and an apostrophe-s ('s) tacked onto the end of a noun-owner. Learn these as two separate small systems rather than expecting one rule to cover both, the way Tamil's does.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

my bookmy book
Tamil (English explanations)
என் புத்தகம்en puthagam
your bookyor book
Tamil (English explanations)
உன் புத்தகம்un puthagam
his bookhiz book
Tamil (English explanations)
அவன் புத்தகம்avan puthagam
her bookhur book
Tamil (English explanations)
அவள் புத்தகம்avaḷ puthagam
Priya's bookPREE-yaz book
Tamil (English explanations)
பிரியாவின் புத்தகம்priyāvin puthagam
our houseow-er hows
Tamil (English explanations)
எங்க வீடுenga vīḍu