Relative Clauses: who, which, that
தொடர்பு வாக்கியங்கள்
English attaches extra information to a noun with a relative clause after the noun — the reverse of how Tamil folds the same information into a participle placed before the noun.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
After the noun with a pronoun vs. before the noun with a participle
the man who is standing there (who + clause, placed AFTER the noun)
அங்கே நிற்கும் மனிதன் (a participle, நிற்கும், placed BEFORE the noun — no relative pronoun at all)
Tamil has no relative pronoun — it converts the whole description into a participle (நிற்கும், 'standing') and places it directly in front of the noun, like a long adjective. English instead follows the noun with a relative pronoun (who for people, which for things, that for either) and a full clause after it. When turning a Tamil before-the-noun participle phrase into English, expect to flip the entire description to after the noun and insert a pronoun that doesn't exist in the Tamil original.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- Tamil (English explanations)
- அங்கே நிற்கும் மனிதன்angē niṟkum manithan
- Tamil (English explanations)
- நான் வாங்கின புத்தகம்nān vānginn puthagam
- Tamil (English explanations)
- நான் சந்தித்த பெண்nān sandhiththa peṇ