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Lesson 22A2

Subordinate Clauses: parce que, que, quand

துணை வாக்கியங்கள்: parce que, que, quand

French links clauses together with connector words placed at the seam, while word order inside each clause stays fixed SVO — no verb-final shuffling like Tamil subordinate clauses ever happens.

Grammar Comparison

இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு

parce que: because

French

Je reste à la maison parce qu'il pleut. (I'm staying home because it's raining.)

Tamil

மழை பெய்வதால் நான் வீட்டில் இருக்கிறேன்.

parce que introduces a reason and behaves exactly like English 'because' — the clause after it keeps normal SVO order (il pleut, not a reordered verb). Tamil instead builds the reason into the sentence with -ால் ('because of') attached to the earlier clause, so the logical connector sits in a different place in the sentence architecture.

que: introducing what someone thinks, says, or knows

French

Je pense que tu as raison. (I think that you're right.)

Tamil

நீ சரி என்று நான் நினைக்கிறேன்.

After verbs like penser, dire, savoir, croire, espérer, French uses que to introduce the reported content, and — unlike English, where 'that' is often optional ('I think you're right') — que can never be dropped in French. Tamil marks the same idea with என்று ('that/so') placed at the end of the quoted clause rather than at the start.

quand: when, for both questions and clauses

French

Quand tu arrives, appelle-moi. (When you arrive, call me.)

Tamil

நீ வரும்போது, என்னைக் கூப்பிடு.

quand introduces a time clause the same way it introduces a question. Note that French uses the present tense in both halves of a quand-clause about the future (Quand tu arrives, appelle-moi), where Tamil naturally uses -போது ('at the time of') attached to the verb stem — a tidy structural match, just built with a separate word instead of a suffix.

Vocabulary

சொற்கள்

FrenchPronunciationTamilEnglish
parce quepar-suh KUHஏனென்றால்ēṉeṉṟālbecause
quekuhஎன்றுeṉṟuthat (introducing a clause)
quandkahnஎப்போதுeppōdhuwhen
puisquepweeskஎன்பதால்eṉbadhālsince / as (giving a reason)
commekumஎன்பதால் (வாக்கியத்தின் முதலில்)eṉbadhāl (vākkiyaththiṉ muthalil)as / since (used at the start of a sentence)
pendant quepahn-dahn KUH-ற போது-ṟa pōdhuwhile
je pense quezhuh pahns KUHநான் நினைக்கிறேன் என்றுnān niṉaikkiṟēṉ eṉṟuI think that
je sais quezhuh say KUHஎனக்குத் தெரியும் என்றுeṉakkuth theriyum eṉṟuI know that