Can & Basic Modal Verbs
இயலுமை வினைச்சொற்கள்
'Can' behaves nothing like a regular English verb — it never takes -s, never needs 'to', and pushes the real action verb after it, echoing a Tamil pattern you may already sense.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
can + bare verb ≈ Tamil's ability construction
I can speak English. (can, then the plain verb 'speak', no 'to')
எனக்கு ஆங்கிலம் பேசத் தெரியும். (the ability marker தெரியும் also comes after the action, at the end)
Tamil expresses ability with a construction where the action verb comes first and the ability marker (தெரியும்/முடியும்) follows it, both sitting toward the end of the sentence. English's can works on a related principle: it sits in the normal verb position, but the real action verb that follows it stays in its plain, unchanged form (speak, not speaks or to speak) — can never takes -s even for he/she/it, and never pairs with 'to'. Treat can plus a bare verb as a fixed two-word unit, similar to how ability phrases work as a unit in Tamil.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| English | Pronunciation | Tamil |
|---|---|---|
| I can swim. | eye kan swim | எனக்கு நீச்சல் தெரியும்.enakku nīchal theriyum. |
| She can drive. | shee kan dryv | அவளுக்கு வண்டி ஓட்ட தெரியும்.avaḷukku vaṇḍi ōṭṭa theriyum. |
| Can you help me? | kan yoo help mee | நீங்க எனக்கு உதவ முடியுமா?nīnga enakku udhava muḍiyumā? |
| I can't swim. | eye kant swim | எனக்கு நீச்சல் தெரியாது.enakku nīchal theriyādhu. |