Which one should you use?
The form பிடிக்கும் expresses general liking or preference. This differs from the word kaadhalikkum, which is specifically used to express romantic love.
How does it change in a sentence?
The default form பிடிக்கும் is in the future tense or habitual aspect. In Tamil, this form is used to express general likes or preferences in the present tense. A crucial grammatical difference from English is that the person who likes something is not the subject. Instead of using the nominative case (I/you), you must use the dative case, which translates to 'to me' or 'to you'. The structure follows the pattern 'to me … is liked'.
How do you pronounce it?
pidikkum
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use the nominative pronoun naan (I) to say 'I like'. Instead, you should use the dative form enakku (to me) to correctly express preference.
Did you know?
- The word பிடிக்கும் (pidikkum) shares the same root as the Tamil word for 'to catch' or 'to seize'. In a literal sense, liking something is framed as that thing 'catching' or 'grasping' the person's attention.
- The dative structure used with பிடிக்கும் is also used for basic needs, such as saying 'to me is hunger' instead of 'I am hungry'.
- Because the subject of பிடிக்கும் is the object being liked, the word can change its ending to match whether you like one thing or many things, even though the person doing the liking remains the same.
Examples in context
- உனக்கு என்ன நிறம் பிடிக்கும்?What color do you like?This sentence is useful for asking what color someone likes using பிடிக்கும்.Tatoeba #10720920 by DriedGrapes31, translation #3765018 by cromwellt
- பிடிக்கும்!Like!This sentence is useful for expressing a simple 'Like!' using பிடிக்கும்.Tatoeba #13909760 by kaalzuhair, translation #13731433 by humorous9830
- எனக்கு ஊதா பிடிக்கும்.I like purple.This sentence is useful for stating a preference for purple using பிடிக்கும்.Tatoeba #10720918 by DriedGrapes31, translation #10678547 by AutoBot
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Kavitha and Santhosh are talking about movies.
- கவிதா Kavithaஉனக்கு இந்தப் படம் பிடிக்கும்.Unakku indha padam pidikkum.You will like this movie.
- சந்தோஷ் Santhoshஆமாம், எனக்கு இது ரொம்ப பிடிக்கும்.Aamaam, enakku idhu romba pidikkum.Yes, I like this very much.
- கவிதா Kavithaஉனக்கு பழைய பாடல்கள் பிடிக்குமா?Unakku pazhaiya paadalkal pidikkuma?Do you like old songs?
- சந்தோஷ் Santhoshநிச்சயமாக எனக்கு பிடிக்கும்.Nichayamaaga enakku pidikkum.Of course I like them.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
