How to Type in Tamil Without a Tamil Keyboard
Tamil has a distinctive script and a few sounds, like ழ, with no English equivalent, but you can type it without a Tamil keyboard. This guide shows how to use English letters to get the right Tamil characters, the rules that matter, and the words that the simple rules can't produce exactly.
A little about the script
Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu, and one of the official languages of Sri Lanka and Singapore. Its script has 12 vowels and 18 consonants as its core letters. One thing surprises people who know other Indian scripts: Tamil doesn't have separate letters for sounds like ka and ga, pa and ba, or ta and da. One letter covers both, and the pronunciation depends on where it falls in a word. That makes typing easier in one way: either spelling gives the same letter. In the Quikbench tool, ka and ga both give க, pa and ba both give ப, and ta and da both give த.
How phonetic typing works
Type the sound of a word in English letters and press space; it converts to Tamil. Quikbench converts each word instantly with its own rules, then asks Google's transliteration service for smarter suggestions, shown as clickable chips for ambiguous spellings.
The rules that matter
| For this | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The long ா | aa | ammaa → அம்மா |
| The long ீ | ee (not ii) | neer → நீர் |
| ண (retroflex n) | capital N | vaNakkam → வணக்கம் |
| ழ (the famous Tamil "zh") | zh | tamizh → தமிழ் |
| ட (hard t or d) | capital T or D | veeDu → வீடு |
| Doubled consonants | type them twice | puththakam → புத்தகம் |
As in Punjabi, ii does not give the long vowel. niir comes out wrong, while neer gives நீர். Use ee.
Words to try
Each of these was checked against the tool:
| Type | You get | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
vaNakkam | வணக்கம் | hello |
tamizh | தமிழ் | Tamil |
ammaa | அம்மா | mother |
appaa | அப்பா | father |
kuzhandhai | குழந்தை | child |
veeDu | வீடு | house |
neer | நீர் | water |
paal | பால் | milk |
pazham | பழம் | fruit |
uNavu | உணவு | food |
kaalai | காலை | morning |
iravu | இரவு | night |
puththakam | புத்தகம் | book |
magizhchchi | மகிழ்ச்சி | happiness |
kalvi | கல்வி | education |
ulagam | உலகம் | world |
What the simple rules can't do
Tamil has letter combinations that sound-based rules can't always get right. The commonest example is நன்றி (thank you): typing nanRi gives நந்Rஇ and nandri gives நந்த்ரி, neither of which is the word. The same goes for some words with ண்ட, like ஆண்டு (year), which comes out as ஆண்து when typed as aaNdu. For words like these, check the suggestion chips, which often offer the correct spelling, or fix the word by hand after pasting. Reading your text back before you send it is always worthwhile.
Typing names
Say the name aloud and write each sound, using aa and ee for long vowels, capital N and T/D where needed, and zh for ழ. Check the result, and use a suggestion if the first attempt isn't how you write it.
Privacy
The instant conversion happens in your browser. When you use the smart suggestions, each word you finish is also sent to Google's transliteration service, in the way search autocomplete works. The whole document is never sent.
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