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Tamil Typing Tool
This free Tamil typing tool converts Tamil written in English letters into Tamil script — en peyar ravi becomes என் பெயர் ரவி. A full on-screen Tamil keyboard is included, with the pulli and the special letter ழ, for exact typing anywhere.
Words convert as you press Space. Remember: e and o are short; capital E and O are long.
How to use this Tamil typing tool
- Type your Tamil words in English letters in the yellow box, the way they sound: en peyar.
- Press Space after a word and it converts into Tamil script. The Convert button converts everything at once.
- Watch the vowels: e and o are short, capitals E and O are long.
- Type zh for the special Tamil letter ழ, and a capital N for the curled ண.
- Use the keyboard tab for exact letters, then copy your text or download it as a .txt file.
How it works — the typing scheme
Honesty first: Tamil has a smaller consonant set than the other scripts on this site. Traditional Tamil has 18 consonants, and one letter often does the work of two sounds — க is both "ka" and "ga", த is both "tha" and "dha". The scheme below follows that honestly: k and g both give க, t, th and d all give த. Modern Tamil also uses a few borrowed letters for outside sounds — ஜ (ja), ஷ (sha), ஸ (sa) and ஹ (ha) — and those are on the keyboard and in the scheme too.
Instead of a separate vowel-killer stroke, Tamil puts a dot, the pulli (்), over a consonant to silence its vowel. This tool adds the pulli automatically wherever the scheme needs it — most visibly at the end of words, so peyar ends as யர். Short and long vowels are kept apart: e = எ (short), E = ஏ (long), o = ஒ, O = ஓ. Two everyday words, en (என், my) and naan (நான், I), are matched whole, because their "n" sounds use letters the plain scheme would not choose.
| You type | At the start of a word | After a consonant (sign) |
|---|---|---|
| a | அ | — (no sign) |
| aa | ஆ | ா |
| i | இ | ி |
| ee | ஈ | ீ |
| u | உ | ு |
| oo | ஊ | ூ |
| e | எ | ெ |
| E | ஏ | ே |
| ai | ஐ | ை |
| o | ஒ | ொ |
| O | ஓ | ோ |
| au | ஔ | ௌ |
| You type | Letter | You type | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| ka | க | ma | ம |
| nga | ங | ya | ய |
| cha | ச | ra | ர |
| nya | ஞ | la | ல |
| Ta | ட | va | வ |
| Na | ண | zha | ழ |
| ta | த | La | ள |
| na | ந | Ra | ற |
| pa | ப | ksha | க்ஷ |
| Special rule | You get | Note |
|---|---|---|
| zh | ழ | The special Tamil letter zha — tamizh = தமிழ் |
| N (capital N) | ண | The tongue-curled na — vaNakkam = வணக்கம் |
| ' (apostrophe) | ் | Pulli — cuts the vowel: k'ta = க்த |
The letter ழ (zha) is Tamil's pride — a sound almost no other language has — and the language's own name shows it: tamizh converts to தமிழ். Type an apostrophe to force a pulli between letters. Numbers you type stay as 0–9; the keyboard tab also has the Tamil digits ௦–௯. Both tabs write into the same text box.
Worked example
Type this in the yellow box: en peyar ravi.
Step 1: en is an everyday word, matched whole — என், "my". Its final letter carries the pulli dot.
Step 2: peyar converts letter by letter: p + e gives பெ, y with its in-built vowel gives ய, and the final r takes the pulli — பெயர், "name".
Step 3: ravi: r + a = ர, v + i gives the sign ி — ரவி.
The result reads என் பெயர் ரவி — "my name is Ravi". Watch the pulli dots in steps 1 and 2: they are what stop those final consonants from sounding their vowels. The "Type a sample" button produces the same sentence for you.
About the Tamil script
Tamil is one of the oldest living languages in the world, with a literature more than two thousand years old, and it holds classical-language status in India. It is the official language of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and one of the official languages of Singapore and Sri Lanka. Its script is compact and logical: 12 vowels, called uyir (life), and 18 consonants, called mei (body), which combine into 216 compound letters, the uyirmei.
Unlike Devanagari, Tamil letters do not join into stacked clusters and there is no headline stroke — letters stand side by side, and the pulli dot does the work that the halant does in northern scripts. The script also keeps the letter ழ, a deep curled-tongue sound that Tamil speakers are rightly proud of, since very few languages in the world have it.
FAQ
How does Tamil typing work on this page?
Type Tamil words in English letters in the yellow box, as they sound, and press Space after each word to convert them into Tamil script. Consonants match the scheme on this page, vowels become signs after consonants, and the pulli dot is added automatically where a vowel must be silenced, including at the ends of words. The keyboard tab lets you tap exact Tamil letters, and both tabs share one text box.
Why does Tamil have fewer consonant letters?
Traditional Tamil has only 18 consonants, and it does not separate soft and hard versions of the same sound the way Hindi or Telugu does. The letter க stands for both ka and ga, and த covers tha and dha; the exact sound is understood from the word. This tool follows the real Tamil system instead of inventing letters: k and g both give க. For sounds from other languages, Tamil uses the borrowed letters ஜ, ஷ, ஸ and ஹ, which are included here.
What is the dot over some letters (pulli)?
The pulli (்) is Tamil's vowel-silencer. A Tamil consonant on its own sounds its in-built "a" — ர is "ra" — and putting the pulli over it gives the bare consonant, ர், just "r". Words often end with a pulli letter, like பெயர் (name). This tool adds the pulli automatically at word ends and between consonants that must join; on the keyboard tab the pulli has its own key in the signs row.
How do I type the special letter ழ?
Type zh: the word tamizh itself converts to தமிழ், ending in ழ். The letter, called zha, is a deep curled-tongue sound found in very few languages, and Tamil speakers consider it a signature of their language. On the keyboard tab, ழ has its own key in the consonant rows. Do not confuse it with ள (typed La) or ல (typed la) — Tamil has all three l-sounds.
Why did "en" and "naan" come out with different n letters?
Tamil has three n-sounds: ந (na), ன (the n in என், my) and ண (the curled ṇa, typed with capital N). The plain letter scheme uses ந, which would spell these two everyday words wrongly, so en (என்) and naan (நான், I) are kept on a small common-words list and matched whole. For other words, type n for ந and capital N for ண, as in vaNakkam = வணக்கம்.
Can I save or share my Tamil text?
Yes. Copy puts the text on your clipboard for WhatsApp, documents and social media, and Download .txt saves it as a UTF-8 file so the Tamil letters open correctly on any device. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you type is uploaded, stored or tracked — and the tool is free with no sign-up.