Numbers 0–10
எண்கள் 0–10
The first ten numbers show up constantly — ages, prices, phone numbers, quantities — and they set up the pattern the rest of the number system builds on.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
jeden Changes Like an Adjective — Tamil Numbers Never Do
jeden, jedna, jedno
ஒன்று (எப்போதும் மாறாது)
Unlike the other numbers, 'one' agrees with the gender of the noun it counts: jeden dom (one house, masculine), jedna książka (one book, feminine), jedno okno (one window, neuter). Tamil numbers have no equivalent behavior at all — ஒன்று ('one') stays ஒன்று whether you're counting a வீடு (house) or a புத்தகம் (book), so this gender-matching habit for 'one' is genuinely new territory, not something to map onto an existing Tamil instinct.
Age: 'To Have' in Polish, Neither 'To Be' Nor 'To Have' in Tamil
Mam dwadzieścia lat.
எனக்கு இருபது வயது.
Polish says age with mieć (to have) — Mam dwadzieścia lat is literally 'I have twenty years'. Tamil takes a third path, different from both Polish and a direct 'to be' translation: எனக்கு இருபது வயது (eṉakku irupadu vayadu) is literally 'to-me twenty age', using the dative 'to me' rather than either 'having' or 'being'. Since Tamil already avoids saying age with 'to be', the Polish habit of reaching for mieć instead of być won't feel entirely foreign — just don't assume Tamil's dative construction transfers directly, since Polish still needs its own 'I have' verb form here, not a 'to me' phrase.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
- Tamil
- பூஜ்ஜியம்pūjjiyam
- English
- zero
- Tamil
- ஒன்றுoṉṟu
- English
- one
- Tamil
- இரண்டுiraṇṭu
- English
- two
- Tamil
- மூன்றுmūṉṟu
- English
- three
- Tamil
- நான்குnāṉku
- English
- four
- Tamil
- ஐந்துaindhu
- English
- five
- Tamil
- ஆறுāṟu
- English
- six
- Tamil
- ஏழுēḻu
- English
- seven
- Tamil
- எட்டுeṭṭu
- English
- eight
- Tamil
- ஒன்பதுoṉbadhu
- English
- nine
- Tamil
- பத்துpaththu
- English
- ten
- Tamil
- உனக்கு என்ன வயது?uṉakku eṉṉa vayadu?
- English
- How old are you?