How to write formal Tamil

Tamil is written in a form that differs from the way it is spoken. Formal writing, such as news reports, articles, official letters and office mail, uses the written forms of words and endings, spells them to the standard, and writes the doubled consonants that speech does not show. This guide covers four things worth checking in a draft.

1. Spoken forms and written forms

Many spoken words and endings have a written form. Thiruttham has a list of 45 of them. For each, it suggests the written form and gives the reason; you accept or dismiss it. Here is a sample, then its six changes, then six more entries from the list:

The list is short and covers common forms, and it may not match every region's speech. A spoken word that is not on it is not suggested by the fixed rules. After sign-in, the AI-assisted check proposes a written form for more spoken words, only when it is confident.

2. Dialogue: when the spoken form is right

The spoken form is correct inside dialogue and quotations, because it is what the person said. The fixed list still suggests a written form for a spoken word inside quotation marks, so if you write dialogue, turn the Spoken words switch off in your preferences, or dismiss the suggestion. The AI-assisted check skips most quoted speech, but not every style of quotation mark. Outside quotations, check each spoken form and decide whether the piece is meant to read as speech.

3. Consonant doubling

In formal writing, the hard consonant that starts the next word doubles after certain words and endings (the doubling is called ottru mikum), for example after அந்த, இந்த and எந்த, after ஆக and என, and after the object ending ஐ. The doubling is easy to leave out when typing, and a reader of formal Tamil notices it. Each rule has its own page with examples, exceptions and sources:

• After the pointing words
• After ஆக and என
• The object ending ஐ
• All the spelling rules

4. Look-alike letters

Some Tamil words differ by one letter, and the wrong letter gives a different word. Which one is right depends on the meaning, so a spell list cannot decide it. The reference page for ல, ள and ழ lists each pair with its meaning and an example sentence, so you can see which word you meant.

• Tamil words that differ by one letter

A checklist for a draft

1. Read once for spoken forms. Accept the written form for each unless it is inside a quotation.
2. Check the consonant after the words on the rule pages above.
3. Look at words where a different letter would give a different word.
4. Leave names exactly as their owners write them. With an account, add them to your protected list so a check never changes them; without one, dismiss any suggestion on a name.
5. Run a check, read the reason on each suggestion, and accept or dismiss it yourself.

Check your own text

Replace the sample below with your own Tamil and press Check. The box runs the fixed rules only; agreement between subject and verb and similar-sounding letters need the AI-assisted check, which needs a sign-in.

Both the fixed rules and the AI can be wrong or miss a mistake, so a text with no suggestions can still contain mistakes. Nothing changes until you accept it.

• Tamil language grammar: the areas Thiruttham checks
• Tamil grammar checker
• Check Tamil spelling
• Checking Tamil as a journalist, sub-editor or blogger
• What it checks today
• Open the web editor