UPMSP High School Tamil cheat sheet

Theme (karuttu) answers = one sentence stating the central idea, then two or three textual incidents that prove it; plot narration alone earns nothing for theme.

A character sketch (kathāp pāttiram) needs three named incidents plus the quality each reveals - for example 'he returned the money, showing nērmai'; adjectives with no incident are not evidence.

Value (nēri) questions: name the value, cite the act, then judge it explicitly with 'therefore it is right because …'; the judgement carries the marks.

Identify the genre of the lesson first - short story, essay, biography, travelogue or play - because 'form of the lesson' answers list genre-specific features.

Direct-speech questions must quote the exact line and name the speaker; a paraphrase without the quotation mark loses the quotation mark.

Cause questions (ēṉ, etarkaḻ) take a 'because' clause lifted from the text, not a restatement of the result.

Sequence questions follow text order with discourse markers: mutalil, aṭuttu, piṟaku, iṟutiyaḻavil.

Author's purpose (nōkkam) is answered with an infinitive - to show, to warn, to praise - followed by one line of textual proof.

Uvamai aṇi exists only when a sign word (pōla, pōl, aṉṟu, otta, niṟkam) links two named objects; no sign word means it is not uvamai.

Uruvakam aṇi: the image is used directly with no comparison word - malarkkaṇ for flower-like eyes.

Cilēṭai aṇi is tested by reading the initial letters of successive words; repeated consonant or vowel sound, not meaning, is the marker.

Vetrumai aṇi places contradictory qualities on one object (sweet pain, cruel kindness) to heighten feeling.

Nava rasa list: cṛṅkāram, hāsyam, karuṇai, raudram, vīram, bhayānakam, vīpatsam, atputam, cāntam.

Rasa decision rules: karuṇai = separation or loss; vīram = courage or resolve; atputam = wonder; cāntam = calm detachment; raudram = anger.

Cīr is the metrical foot, aṭi is the line: veṇpā is two aṭi of four cīr each; āciriyappā lines also run to four cīr but carry no line-final rhyme.

Message (karuttu) answers: turn the closing lines into one plain prose sentence, then add one present-day application.

Five puṇarcci contexts (Tolkāppiyam): iyalpu, vēṟṟumai, tokainilai, viṉainilai, alvaḻi.

Final -am plus vowel-initial suffix: the m drops and the next consonant doubles - maram + il → marattil; maram + ai → marattai.

Six tokai compounds: vēṟṟumai, viṉai, paṇpu, uvamai, ummai, aṉmoḻi.

Paṇputtokai test: restore āya/āṉa - ceṅkai = civanta kai, red hand.

Uvamaittokai test: restore a comparison word - malar aṉṉa kaṇ.

Aṉmoḻittokai test: the compound names a third thing; adding the word meanings gives a wrong sense.

Eight vēṟṟumai in order with their urupu: 1 eluvai (none), 2 ai, 3 āl/oṭu/uṭaṉ, 4 ku, 5 il/iṉ, 6 atu, 7 kaṇ, 8 vili (ē, ō).

Tense markers: past -t-, -ṭ-, -ṟ-, -iṉ-; present -kiṟ-, -kiṉṟ-; future -p-, -v-, all placed before the person-number ending.

Synonym sets: aḻaku–eḻil, makiḻcci–iṉpam, kaṭal–āḻi, ñāyiṟu–katiravāṉ; antonyms: iṉpam × tuṉpam, veṟṟi × tōlvai, veḷiccam × iruḷ.

Kaṭṭurai in three blocks: munnurai (topic and stand, 2–3 sentences), karupporuḷ (one idea per paragraph), muṭivu (conclusion with one forward-looking line).

Essay type fixes the tense: narrative (katai) uses past; reflective (cintanai) uses present; descriptive (vaṇṇippu) uses present with sensory detail.

Formal letter order: sender address, date, receiver's designation and address, subject line, salutation (Ayyā / Mahōtayā), body, closing (Iṭam, name).

Personal letter drops the subject line and the designation, and closes with aṉpuṭaṉ or aṉpāṉa.

Precis length target is about one-third of the original; write the count at the end when the rubric asks for a word limit.

Precis content rules: keep the main argument and the writer's key terms; drop examples, repetition, figures of speech and dialogue.

Precis voice: third person, reported style, no personal opinion and no new examples.

Read the questions before the passage; items generally follow passage order, so the answer's location moves forward as you work.

Unknown word: look for an appositive gloss (X, that is, Y) or an example in the next clause before guessing from the root.

Pronoun resolution uses peyarccol agreement - person, number, gender - not the nearest noun.

Inference items need textual support plus a deduction; a statement true in the world but absent from the passage scores zero.

True/false: a single contradicted element (name, number, place, cause) makes the whole statement false.

Vocabulary in context: the passage sense overrides the dictionary sense; check the collocation, e.g. kaṭal used for 'a great quantity'.

Main-idea answer = topic plus the writer's point in one sentence; the opening sentence of a passage is often only a lead-in.

Copy numbers and units exactly as printed; convert units only when the question asks for conversion.

Word order: Tamil and Hindi are verb-final, English is verb-medial; move the verb when translating into English and restore it to the end for Tamil.

Tamil marks case with postpositions after the noun (marattil); English uses prepositions before it - translate the whole phrase, not the suffix.

Tamil has no articles; supply a/an/the from number and context in English, and delete them when translating into Tamil.

Idioms are translated by function, not word by word; a literal gloss of a proverb is always wrong.

yāṉaikkum aṭi cariyum = even the mighty slip (English: even Homer nods).

kaṟṟatu kaimaṇ aḷavu, kallātatu ulakaḷavu = what is learnt is a handful, what is unlearnt is the world.

muyaṟci tiruviṉaiyākkum = effort brings success; use it wherever the source text urges perseverance.

Register check: official letters and notices take formal written Tamil (taṅkaḷ, ayyā); reported conversation may be rendered in neutral spoken style.