verbal adjectives
A verbal adjective is a phrase that acts as an adjective by
describing a noun. A verbal adjective, in specific, describes the noun
by what the noun does. For example, take the sentence "The elephant
sleeps." We can rewrite this as the phrase, "the sleeping elephant".
Here, "standing" is a verbal adjective describing the elephant. Taking
the sentence "The lion fell", the corresponding phrase would be "the
fallen lion", where "fallen" is the verbal adjective.
- Verbal Adjective - Past/Present Tense
- A verbal adjective, followed by the noun which it
describes, can be formed by moving the subject of a sentence to the
end, and replacing the verb suffix of the verb with -அ
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- Verbal Adjective - Future Tense
- A verbal adjective, followed by the noun which it
describes, can be formed by moving the subject of a sentence ot the
end. The future tense verb is replaced by its infintive, and the
infinitive's final -அ is replaced by -உம்
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(Note: remember that replacing the final -அ of an
infinitive with -உம் gives the same word as the future
tense for அது and அவை. This may be a source
of confusion. Forgetting this fact might make correct sentences appear
incorrect and vice versa.)
Ex:
- தூங்குகிற யானை = "The sleeping elephant"
- தூங்குகிற யானை நிறைய கடலை பருப்பு சாப்பிட்டது = "The
sleeping elephant ate lots of peanuts"
- விழுந்த சிங்கம் = "The fallen lion"
- விழுந்த சிங்கம் சேற்றில் கிடக்கிறது = "The fallen lion
lies in the mud"
The translation of the verbal adjectives into English can be done in
a systematic way. That is to be expected, though, because translation
is not formulaic and English is an irregular language.
Ex:
- கோழிகள் பருப்பு சாப்பிடும் = "The chickens will eat
lentis"
- பருப்பு சாப்பிடும் கோழிகள் = "The chickens that will
eat lentis"
- பருப்பு சாப்பிடும் கோழிகள் இப்பொழுது இங்கு வருகின்றன =
"The chickens that will eat lentils come here now"
- தரையில் உருள்கிற பந்துகள் சிறியதாக இருக்கின்றன = "The
balls that roll on the ground are small"
- பேசும் பேச்சாளர்களுக்கு தண்ணீர் வையுங்கள் = "Leave water
for the orators that will speak"