Lesson 2: Participles and Verbal Nouns

Welcome to Lesson 2 of Module 3! In this lesson, we'll explore participles and verbal nouns in Tamil. These forms allow you to create more complex and nuanced sentences, bridging the gap between verbs and other parts of speech.

Adverbial participles in Tamil express actions that occur before, during, or as a result of the main verb. They are formed by adding specific suffixes to the verb stem.

Types of Adverbial Participles:

• Perfective Adverbial Participle (-து):

  சாப்பிட்டு வந்தேன்

  (cāppiṭṭu vantēṉ) - Having eaten, I came

• Simultaneous Adverbial Participle (-உம்போது):

  படிக்கும்போது இசை கேட்டேன்

  (paṭikkumpōtu icai kēṭṭēṉ) - While studying, I listened to music

• Purposive Adverbial Participle (-ச்):

  பார்க்கச் சென்றேன்

  (pārkka ceṉṟēṉ) - I went to see

Adjectival participles function as adjectives, modifying nouns. They can be formed for past, present, and future tenses.

• Past Adjectival Participle (-த):

  வந்த மனிதன்

  (vanta maṉitaṉ) - The man who came

• Present Adjectival Participle (-கிற):

  ஓடுகிற குதிரை

  (ōṭukiṟa kutirai) - The running horse

• Future Adjectival Participle (-உம்):

  வரும் நேரம்

  (varum nēram) - The time that will come

Verbal nouns are formed from verbs and function as nouns in a sentence. They are created by adding -தல் (-tal) to the verb stem.

• படித்தல்

  (paṭittal) - Reading (the act of reading)

• எழுதுதல்

  (eḻututal) - Writing (the act of writing)

Verbal nouns can be used as subjects or objects in a sentence:

படித்தல் நல்லது

(paṭittal nallatu) - Reading is good