MozhiLingo
via
Learning
← All lessons
Lesson 3A1

Simple Present Tense

நிகழ்கால வினைச்சொல் (எளிய வடிவம்)

English marks the present tense with almost no ending at all — except for a lone -s that appears only in the third person, a small but famous trap for learners.

Grammar Comparison

Grammar Comparison

Only third-person singular gets a special ending

English

I eat, you eat, we eat, they eat — all identical to the base verb — but he/she/it eats

Tamil (English explanations)

நான் சாப்பிடுறேன், நீ சாப்பிடுற, அவன் சாப்பிடுறான் — every person gets its own distinct ending

Tamil verbs conjugate fully — a different ending for every single person, no exceptions. English gives up on this almost entirely in the present tense: the base verb form (eat, go, work) covers I/you/we/they without any change, and only he/she/it gets a special marker, a lone -s. Because Tamil trains you to expect a full conjugation table, it's easy to either over-apply -s to every person or forget it on he/she/it — drill this one exception deliberately, since it's the one place English still conjugates at all.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

I eateye eet
Tamil (English explanations)
நான் சாப்பிடுறேன்nān sāppiḍuṟēn
he eatshee eets
Tamil (English explanations)
அவன் சாப்பிடுறான்avan sāppiḍuṟān
she worksshee wurks
Tamil (English explanations)
அவள் வேலை செய்யிறாavaḷ vēlai seyyiṟā
they playthay play
Tamil (English explanations)
அவங்க விளையாடுறாங்கavanga viḷaiyāḍuṟānga
I goeye goh
Tamil (English explanations)
நான் போறேன்nān pōṟēn
it rainsit raynz
Tamil (English explanations)
மழை பெய்யுதுmaḻai peyyudhu