Interrogative

One last types of words that you should know before you can start writing sentences are interrogatives. Those are the words that introduce questions that you can't answer with a yes or no. In school, you might have also learned them as "Question Words" as they are usually used to form questions.

The following words are the most common ones:

  1. Who - யார்「yār」
  2. When - எப்போது「eppōtu」 or எப்ப「eppa」
  3. Where - எங்கே「eṅkē」
  4. How - எப்படி「eppaṭi」
  5. Why - ஏன்「ēṉ」
  6. What - எது「etu」

Note

If you add the -உம்「-um」 suffix to any of these interrogatives (except for "Why"), you can create the equalizing answer to that question:

யார்「yār」 (who) + உம்「um」 = யாரும்「yārum」 (anyone)
எப்ப「eppa」 (when) + உம்「um」 = எப்பவும்「eppavum」 (anytime)
எது「etu」 (what) + உம்「um」 = எதுவும்「etuvum」 (anything)