Tamil Typing - A Comprehensive Guide PART 2: Typing Tamil Vowel-Consonant Combinations

What are Vowel-Consonant Combinations?

In Tamil, a consonant cannot exist without a vowel sound. When a consonant is paired with a vowel, it forms a compound character (Uyirmei Ezhuthu - உயிர்மெய் எழுத்து).

For example:

க (ka) + ி (i) = கி (ki)
த (ta) + ூ (uu) = தூ (thoo)
ம (ma) + ோ (oo) = மோ (moo)

How to Type These Combinations?

Each vowel has a different position on the keyboard:

Short vowels: அ, இ, உ, எ, ஒ
Long vowels: ஆ, ஈ, ஊ, ஏ, ஓ
Special vowels: ஐ, ஔ

To type these combinations, you need to:

First, type the consonant (Example: "க" by pressing ‘k’).
Then, add the vowel modifier (Example: "ா" for "kaa" by pressing ‘a’).
The final output will be "கா".

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Typing consonants without adding the vowel modifiers: This may lead to unintended characters.
Confusing short and long vowels: Example – படி (padi - step) vs பாடி (paadi - sing).
Forgetting to use Tamil keyboard layouts: Use virtual keyboards if you are unfamiliar with physical Tamil keyboards.

Practicing vowel-consonant combinations helps you gain confidence and speed in Tamil typing.