Tamil Eligibility-cum-Scoring Test: Grammar, Vocabulary and Comprehension
Tamil Eligibility-cum-Scoring Test checks standard written Tamil through grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and usage. It is not a literature paper: the marks come from recognising correct forms and applying rules quickly.
Core rules and concepts
- Alphabet: 12 vowels (உயிர்), 18 consonants (மெய்), 216 vowel-consonants (உயிர்மெய்), and 1 āytam (ஆய்தம்), totalling 247.
- Grammar divisions: எழுத்து, சொல், பொருள், யாப்பு, அணி. Expect case markers (வேற்றுமை உருபுகள்), compounds (தொகைநிலை), and verb forms.
- Sandhi (புணர்ச்சி): joining words may change consonants, e.g. கல் + தூண் = கற்றூண்.
- Vocabulary: synonyms, antonyms, idioms (மரபுத்தொடர்), and error correction.
- Comprehension: answer only from the passage; do not import outside facts.
Worked example
Choose the correct combined form of கல் + தூண். The final ல் of கல் assimilates to the following த, giving கற்றூண் (ல் + த → ற்ற), not கல்தூண். Reasoning: Tamil avoids an awkward consonant cluster at the junction and applies the appropriate புணர்ச்சி rule.
Traps
Writing spoken Tamil in a formal grammar item; applying English sandhi logic; confusing ல/ள/ழ and ன/ண/ந; misspelling Sanskrit loanwords; and choosing a synonym that fits the passage but not the exact sentence. In comprehension, extreme options are usually wrong unless the passage states them.