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How do you say ‘I miss you’ in Tamil?

Tamil has no single word for "miss", so people say உன்னை நினைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன் ｢uṉṉai niṉaittukkoṇṭirukkiṟēṉ｣, "I keep thinking of you". It is a warm way to tell someone far away that you miss them.

உன்னை நினைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்

uṉṉai niṉaittukkoṇṭirukkiṟēṉ

I miss you

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Word by word

In a conversation

  1. Speaker A

    உன்னை நினைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.

    uṉṉai niṉaittukkoṇṭirukkiṟēṉ.

    I miss you.

  2. Speaker B

    நானும் உன்னை நினைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன். எப்போது வருவாய்?

    nāṉum uṉṉai niṉaittukkoṇṭirukkiṟēṉ. eppōtu varuvāy?

    I miss you too. When will you come?

  3. Speaker A

    அடுத்த மாதம் வருவேன்.

    aṭutta mātam varuvēṉ.

    I will come next month.

No word for "miss"

English has one verb for this feeling. Tamil does not. Instead, you say that the person is in your thoughts. The long second word comes from நினை, "think", and its form means "I keep thinking". So the phrase tells someone that they stay on your mind.

Who to say it to

உன்னை is the familiar "you". Use it with a partner, a brother or sister, a child or a close friend. For a parent or grandparent, use the polite உங்களை instead: உங்களை நினைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.

What you also hear

Many Tamil speakers simply use the English word "miss" in the middle of a Tamil sentence, especially young people and families who live abroad. You will hear it often. The phrase on this page is the Tamil way to say the same thing.

When to say it

Say it on a phone call or in a message to someone who lives far away, or to a relative you have not seen for a long time. It fits well at the end of a call, before you say goodbye.

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