Tamil Grammatical Cases (வேற்றுமை) — A Guide for English Speakers
How a Tamil noun changes to show its role — with English equivalents & transliteration
📚 What is a வேற்றுமை (vēṟṟumai)?
A vēṟṟumai is a grammatical case. A Tamil noun adds a small ending — an உருபு (urubu = case-marker) — to show its job in the sentence: subject, object, tool, receiver, source, owner, location, or the one being called. Tamil has 8 cases. English expresses the same ideas using word order and prepositions (by, to, from, of, in, on…).
💡 One word, eight roles — கண்ணன் (Kaṇṇan)
1. Kaṇṇan came · 2. saw Kaṇṇan-ai · 3. done by Kaṇṇan-āl · 4. give to Kaṇṇan-ukku · 5. Kaṇṇan-in (from/than) · 6. Kaṇṇan-atu book (Kaṇṇan's) · 7. speak to Kaṇṇan-iṭam · 8. Kaṇṇā! (O Kaṇṇan!)
| # | Case (English) | Tamil name | Suffix (உருபு) | Lesson |
|---|
📖 What it does
Key uses:
✨ Examples (Tamil · transliteration · English)
Tamil School • Each case has a hands-on game (in Tamil) — tap “Lesson”. Switch to the தமிழ் version for the all-Tamil hub.