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
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
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
சொற்கள்
| English | Pronunciation | Tamil |
|---|---|---|
| the man who is standing there | thuh man hoo iz STAN-ding thair | அங்கே நிற்கும் மனிதன்angē niṟkum manithan |
| the book which I bought | thuh book wich eye bawt | நான் வாங்கின புத்தகம்nān vānginn puthagam |
| the woman that I met | thuh WUM-an that eye met | நான் சந்தித்த பெண்nān sandhiththa peṇ |