A verb root is just that – the basic form of a verb to which suffixes are added. By adding suffixes, you can create all the different tenses in Thamil.
Verbs roots, by themselves, can be used as commands. A command is a statement requesting something to be done.
Thamil verbs have been organized into 7 classes based on the changes made when adding suffixes. Weak verbs refer to verbs in classes 1-4. Strong verbs refer to verbs in classes 6-7. There are no more than 10 or so verbs in class 5, so we’ll leave it alone.
When verbs show action in a sentence, a suffix is added to the verbs that match up with the subject of the sentence. Each pronoun is associated with a verb suffix. This means that if a pronoun appears in a sentence, then its corresponding verb suffix is adding to the end of the verb. (Verb suffixes are also known as PGN or PNG suffixes.) The table below shows pronouns and the corresponding verb suffixes:
| Singluar | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pronoun | Verb Suffix | Pronoun | Verb Suffix | |
| 1st Person | நான் | -ஏன் | நாம் | -ஓம் |
| நாங்கள் | -ஓம் | |||
| 2nd Person | நீ | -ஆய் | நீங்கள் | -ஈர்கள் |
| நீங்கள் | -ஈர்கள் | |||
| 3rd Person | அவன் | -ஆன் | அவர்கள் | -ஆர்கள் |
| அவள் | -ஆள் | |||
| அவர் | -ஆர் | |||
| அது | -அது(past/present tense) -உம் (future tense) |
அவை | N/A* (past/present tense) -உம் (future tense) |
|
*Present tense verbs used with அவை are made differently. Since அது and அவை present quite a few excpetions, verbs with அது, அவை will be taught later.
If the subject of the sentence isn’t a pronoun, then the subject will have a related pronoun. Then the verb suffix corresponding to the related prnoun is added to the verb. Ex:
| Some Weak Verbs | |
|---|---|
| விளையாடு | play |
| தூங்கு | sleep |
| உட்கார் | sit |
| வாங்கு | buy, receive |
| ஓடு | run |
| Some Strong Verbs | |
|---|---|
| படி | read |
| கொடு | give |
| பார் | see |
| நினை | think |