Present and Past Negation - Use of இல்லை

Present/past tense form of a verb is negated using the suffix இல்லை (sp. ille), which is added to the infinitive form of a verb, like பார்க்க, கொடுக்க, சொல்ல, வாங்க etc. The present/past tense negation is not conjugated for person, number, or gender; i.e., the same form is used for all subjects. Note that இல்லை can be used to refer to either the past or the present.

How do you make the present/past negation form of a verb?

I. Add க்க with strong verbs such as பார், கொடு etc., and add the negative word இல்லை. Before you add this இல்லை, however, you will add the glide வ் because அ and இ are vowels that require a glide.

பார் (see) + க்க -- > பார்க்க + இல்லை --> பார்க்கவில்லை > > (do/did not see)

கொடு (give) + க்க --> கொடுக்க + இல்லை --> கொடுக்கவில்லை > > (do/did not give)

படி (study) + க்க --> படிக்க + இல்லை --> படிக்கவில்லை > > (do/did not study)

II. Add அ after weak verbs such as உட்கார், செய், வாங்கு etc.

உட்கார் (sit) + அ -- > உட்கார + இல்லை --> உட்காரவில்லை > > (do/did not sit).

செய் (do/make) + அ --> செய்ய + இல்லை --> செய்யவில்லை > > (do/did not do/make).

பாடு (sing) + அ --> பாட + இல்லை --> பாடவில்லை > > (do/did not sing).

III. The exceptional verbs such as போ, கேள், வா, நில் etc. behave somewhat differently when making their negative forms

போ (sit) + க -- > போக + இல்லை --> போகவில்லை > > (do/did not go).

கேள் (sing) + க --> கேட்க + இல்லை --> கேட்கவில்லை > > (do/did not listen).

நில் (sing) + க --> நிற்க + இல்லை --> நிற்கவில்லை > > (do/did not stand).

வா (do/make) + அ --> வர + இல்லை --> வரவில்லை > > (do/did not come).

Using proverbs and idiomatic expressions

Experienced and fluent speakers of Tamil often use proverbs, sayings and other idiomatic expressions in their speech in order to emphasize or illustrate what they want to say. Literate speakers often quote poems from ancient Tamil literature; e.g., from திருக்குறள், ஆத்திச்சூடி, அகநானூறு, புறநானூறு and so on. In general, most Tamil speakers know these poems, proverbs, and idioms by heart simply through hearing them through movies, the radio, magazines and personal communications. The more aged someone is the more they know of these customary expressions. Such expressions often maintain very archaic words and phrases because they are transmitted orally and memorized from generation to generation, and thus often do not undergo any change along with the developments of the common languages.

Eloquency in Tamil is mostly gauged by how one can use such expressions very frequently and in appropriate contexts.

Proverbs

என்னதான் தாய் பிள்ளை என்றாலும் வாயும் வயிறும் வேறு வேறுதானே!
Lit. 'Despite being a Mother and child, they do have different stomachs', meaning 'At the verge of consumption of food, mothers and children do have to be different from each other.'
This proverb is used in circumstances where mothers are distanced from their children in terms of closeness.

காடு வா வா என்கிறது! வீடு போ போ என்கிறது.
'The cemetery is inviting and the home is attempting to give a farewell.'
This expression is used in the context of talking about someone's closeness to the end of life.

Sayings:

Unlike proverbs, sayings or customary expressions are often quoted from ancient literature, for example from the 'Ramayana', 'Mahabaratha' and so on. In order to understand these allusions, one would need to have a good knowledge of these literatures.

விடிய விடிய கதை கேட்டு சீதைக்கு ராமன் சித்தப்பா என்றானாம்!
'After listening to the Ramayana the whole night, someone said Rama is the paternal uncle of Sita.'
This expression is generally used in the context of someone's misunderstanding something especially after a detailed instruction. Again, in order to fully understand the significance of this saying, one would need to know the epic Ramayana where Rama is the hero and Sita is the heroine. The point is that if someone doesn't know about the primary and fundamental characters of Ramayana after having a lengthy instruction on Ramayana, he or she would be in a state of total confusion. Click here to read a brief list of proverbs and idiomatic expressions in Tamil