Thamil Paadanool, Chapter 8 by Elango Cheran

Possessive / Instrumental Cases

Possessive Case
The possessive case is added to nouns to indicate that the noun has
ownership or possession of something. It is something like the "--'s" that is
added to the end of a word in English for the same purpose.

Possessive Case
The possessive case is formed for
nouns ending in -k;, -L, or -W by adding the case suffix -,Dila
all other nouns by adding the case suffix -cila.

The possessive case may also be formed by adding the suffix -,d;. It is
equivalent to -cila except that it is not typically added to pronouns.

Instrumental Case
The instrumental case is added to nouns to mean "with the use of",
"because of", or "by means of".

Instrumental Case
The instrumental case is formed by adding the suffix -My;

Examples
mtd; fj;jpahy; khk;goj;jpDila Njhiy ntl;bdhd; = "He cut
the mango's skin with a knife"
mtSila fij nra;jpj;jhspy; tUkh? = "Will her story appear
in the newspaper?"

Verbs And Case Forms Of mJ,mit

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For many different forms, Thamil verbs are formed irregularly for the
inanimate mJ, mit (and nouns that could be replaced by these 2
pronouns). The following is a summary of how mJ and mit are dealt with
for verbs and cases.

Verb Endings

Class Past Tense Present Tense Future Tense

1-4 past tense stem + verb + fpw; + -mJ verb + -ck;**
mJ -mJ *
6-7 verb + f;fpw; + -mJ verb + f;f; + -ck;

1-4 past tense stem + verb + fpd;wd verb + -ck;**

mit -md *
6-7 verb + f;fpd;wd verb + f;f; + -ck;

* There are 2 extra ways to make the past tense for mJ for class 3 verbs,
while the past tense for mit for class 3 verbs is irregular.

** Verbs which are 2 short syllables and end in -c drop the final -c
before adding -ck;

Past Tense For mJ,mit Class 3 Verbs

The past tense of class 3 verbs for mJ can also be formed as
verb + ,aJ
verb + ,w;W
The past tense of class 3 verbs for mit is verb + ,d

Note: the information in the chart above completes the missing information
from Lesson 3 on Verb Roots / Verb Suffixes.

Cases
From background information about Thamil cases, we saw that mit

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changes to mtw;W- before adding cases. But mJ changes to one of two

possibilites. Sometimes, mJ changes to mjd;- before adding the case
suffix. Other times, mJ just adds the case suffix. And the dative is just
mjw;F

Case Suffix / Case mJ mit

-I mij mtw;iw
(Accusative)
-f;F mjw;F mtw;Wf;F
(Dative)
-cld; mjDld; mtw;Wld;
(Sociative)
-XL mNjhL mtw;NWhL
(Sociative)
-,lk; mjdplk; mtw;wplk;
(Locative)
-,y; mjpy; mtw;wpy;
(Locative)
-,ypUe;J mjpypUe;J mtw;wpypUe;J
(Ablative)
-cila mjDila mtw;Wila
(Possessive)
-My; mjdhy; mtw;why;
(Instrumental)
. = word changes with case suffix

Verbs Of The Dative Case

Some thoughts, such as "want"/"need", "know", "understand", etc. can be

expressed in Thamil only using the dative case and a certain set of verbs.
Sentences that use these verbs will be a little different from the sentences we

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Thamil Paadanool, Chapter 8 by Elango Cheran

have seen so far. The way the verbs are used will be different, and some
verbs have certain peculiarities.

Understanding this type of sentence entails understanding the particulars of

each verb. To say the least, this lesson may be challenging and a bit tricky, but
hopefully it will seem easier over time.

The Verbs

Positive Verbs
Past Tense Present/ Future Tense
~ NghJk; enough

~ Ntz;Lk; want / need

Past Tense Present Tense Future Tense

gpbj;jJ liked gpbf;fpwJ like gpbf;Fk; will like

Kbe;jJ KbfpwJ is/ am/ are KbAk;

was able will be able
able
njupe;jJ knew njupfpwJ know njupAk; will know

Gupe;jJ GupfpwJ GupAk; will

understood understand
understand
fpilj;J/ fpilf;fpwJ/
received receive fpilf;Fk; will receive
fpilj;jd fpilf;fpd;wd
,Ue;jJ/ ,Uf;fpwJ/
existed exist(s) ,Uf;Fk; will exist
,Ue;jd ,Uf;fpd;wd

Negative Verbs
Past Tense Present/ Future Tense
Nghjtpy;iy was not
enough
NghjhJ is not/ will not be enough

did not want / Ntz;lhk;

~ do not/ will not want / need
need

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Past/ Present Tense Future Tense

gpbf;ftpy;iy did/ do not like gpbf;fhJ will not like

will not be
Kbatpy;iy was/ is not able KbahJ able
njupatpy;iy did not/ do not know njupahJ will not know

will not
Gupatpy;iy did not/ do not understand GupahJ understand

fpilf;ftpy;iy did not/ do not receive fpilf;fhJ will not

receive
,y;iy did/ do not exist ,Uf;fhJ will not exist

From the chart of the positive verbs, we can see that the verbs can be put
into groups:

NghJk;, Ntz;Lk;
gpb, Kb, njup, Gup
fpil, ,U
This might help in understanding the verbs.

Verb Usage And Notes

Verbs With Dative Case

In dative-case sentences, the subject is put into the dative case and comes at the
beginning, while the verb comes at the end of the sentence.

For the positive forms of some verbs, there is a past, present, and future
tense. However, the group of verbs gpb , Kb, njup, Gup express ideas that
don't change from one moment to the next. For example, we reasonably
assume that knowledge or understanding of something is retained indefinitely.
The same idea applies to gpb and Kb. The constant action of these verbs is
a common usage of the habitual tense. Remember that the habitual tense is
expressed in Thamil by whatever the future tense is. This also applies to the
other verbs, but especially NghJk; and Ntz;Lk; and their negatives.

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,U7, has appeared before in creating a particular simple sentence. There, it

means something like the verb "be". Here, when used with the dative case,
,U means something like "be" or "exist" in a literal translation. However, in a
practical translation of the entire sentence, ,U might be translated as the
verb "have".

,U With The -,lk; Case Suffix

For sentences where ,U is the verb (and the objects are tangible), the case
suffix -,lk; should be used instead of the dative case suffix -cf;F for the
subject

For example, "I have a plate" would be vd;dplk;

jl;L ,Uf;fpwJ. But
emotions and ideas are expressed using the usual -cf;F for the dative
case.

Kb With The -My; Case Suffix

For sentences where Kb is the verb, the case suffix -My; should be used
instead of the dative case suffix -cf;F for the subject

We can't say "was enough", "wanted", or "did not want" with types of
sentences found in this lesson yet. If we use the verb Ntz;L3 in our
standard type of sentences, then we can express "wanted". We will soon get
to Negative Verbs which will allow us to say "did not want". There is no simple
verb to say "enough", however.

Examples
mtu;fSf;F ,e;j ghlk; GupAkh? = "Do they understand this
lesson?"
mtu;fSf;F mLj;j ghlq;fs; GupAk; = "They understand the next
lessons"
vdf;F me;j jpiug;glj;ij gpbf;ftpy;iy = "I did not like that
movie"

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vdf;F gioa jpiug;glq;fis gpbf;Fk; = "I like old movies"

mtSf;F xU gupR fpilj;jJ = "She received a prize"
mtSf;F ey;y kjpg;ngz;fs; fpilj;jd = "She received good
grades"
vq;fsplk; gzk; ,y;iy = "We have no money"
ahUf;fhtJ ,J njupAkh? = "Does anyone know this?"
cq;fSf;F czT Nghjtpy;iy = "The food is not enough for you"

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