TNPSC Group 4 Part A Tamil: the 7 units, the 60-mark threshold and how to study them

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Checked on: 26.10.2026

In Group 4, Part A Tamil is the first gate. This guide covers its seven units, the 60-mark rule and how to study each unit. Exam facts come from Notification 11/2026 and the Group 4 syllabus (code 496); the study method is our own, labelled as such.

Why does Part A matter most?

Part A is the Tamil Eligibility-cum-Scoring Test (தமிழ் தகுதி மற்றும் மதிப்பீட்டுத் தேர்வு): 100 questions for 150 marks, half of the exam's 300 (Notification 11/2026, page 20, para 6).

It does two jobs.

• Eligibility: you need at least 40%, that is 60 marks, in Part A. Only then are Parts B and C of your answer sheet evaluated (para 6.1, page 20).
• Scoring: once you clear 60, the total of Parts A, B and C is used for ranking (para 6.1, page 20). So every Tamil mark also counts in your total.

Part A is set in Tamil only; Parts B and C in Tamil and English (para 6.1, page 20). For a worked example of the 60 rule and the 90-of-300 minimum, read the exam pattern and the 60/150 rule.

What are the seven units?

The names below are exactly as they appear in the TNPSC Tamil syllabus.

Note 1: the question count the syllabus prints for each unit is only indicative; the Commission may marginally raise or lower it (Notification 11/2026, para 6.3, page 21). Check the counts in the official syllabus PDF. (Page numbers count the PDF's pages; Tamil pages 6 and 7 carry the printed footers "Page 2 of 4" and "Page 3 of 4".)

Note 2: the syllabus PDF calls the Tamil part "Part C" ("பகுதி இ" on its Tamil pages). The notification (page 20) calls it Part A, and we follow the notification.

All three parts in brief: the Group 4 syllabus.

How do I study each unit?

For each unit: the question types the syllabus lists, where to read, and one daily drill. The drills are our suggestion.

Grammar

Two sections, letters and words (page 6). Letters: splitting and joining words (பிரித்து எழுதுதல், சேர்த்து எழுதுதல்), sandhi errors (சந்திப்பிழை), short and long vowels, and telling ல, ள, ழ apart. Words: root words, finite verbs (வினைமுற்று), participles, spelling errors and ஒற்றுப்பிழை.

• Where to read: the Standard 6 Tamil book, Term I (Samacheer). Its "கற்கண்டு" sections in chapters 1-3 explain the letters.
• Daily drill: split 10 textbook words into their parts, then join them back.

Vocabulary

Antonyms (எதிர்ச்சொல்), one-letter words, several words with one meaning, the odd word out, Tamil alphabetical order, spoken and written forms, and short forms of place names (page 6).

• Where to read: the Standard 6 and 7 Tamil books, Term I: the "சொல்லும் பொருளும்" lists under each poem.
• Daily drill: 5 words from one list, each with its meaning and one antonym.

Writing skills

You write no essay; the whole exam is objective (Notification 11/2026, page 20). The unit covers ordering jumbled words into a sentence, sentence types, active and passive voice, causative verbs, singular-plural errors, traditional usage (மரபுத் தமிழ்) and punctuation marks (page 7).

• Where to read: the grammar sections of the Samacheer Tamil textbooks.
• Daily drill: jumble three sentences, then put them back in order the next day.

Technical terms

The exact Tamil word for terms from science, education, medicine, law, IT and other fields (page 7). The syllabus gives its own examples: search engine is தேடு பொறி, Allergy is ஒவ்வாமை.

• Where to read: the Glossary of Administrative Terms (ஆட்சிச் சொல்லகராதி, revised edition, 2022) of the Government of Tamil Nadu, for office words.
• Daily drill: find the Tamil word for 5 English terms you hear every day.

Reading comprehension

Read a passage, such as a news item, an editorial or government news, and choose the right answer. The meaning of similes (உவமைத் தொடர்), idioms (மரபுத் தொடர்) and proverbs (பழமொழி) is tested too (page 7).

• Where to read: a Tamil newspaper daily, especially the editorial page.
• Daily drill: read one editorial, write three questions on it, then answer them.

Translation

Tamil equivalents of English and other foreign words; the syllabus gives pendrive, printer, computer and keyboard as examples. It also covers translated titles of documents, files, letters and petitions (page 7).

• Where to read: the Tamil and English PDFs of a TNPSC notification (same text).
• Daily drill: compare one paragraph in both and write down 5 word pairs.

Literature, Tamil scholars and service to Tamil

Only the 20 Thirukkural chapters the syllabus names, books of moral teaching such as Naladiyar, the antiquity of Tamil, and the work of scholars such as U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer. The full list is on page 7.

• Where to read: the syllabus says this unit is based on school textbooks up to SSLC standard (page 7), so the Samacheer Tamil textbooks come first.
• Daily drill: read 2 kurals from the listed chapters and write their meaning in your own words.

How do I make grammar easier?

"Sandhi errors, ல ள ழ, splitting words: these feel hard. How do I make them easy?" Aspirants often ask this online. What follows is our advice, not a TNPSC rule.

One rule a day. Do not mix rules. If today is ல, ள and ழ, that alone is enough.

Five examples of your own. Write five examples without the book, then check them against it.

Revise on day 3 and day 7 (மீள்பார்வை). Spend 5 minutes on the rule again on those days.

A mistake notebook (தவறுக் குறிப்பேடு). Note every question you get wrong: your answer, the right answer and the reason. Read only that notebook once a week.

Start from the letters: vowels, consonants, vowel-consonants (உயிர்மெய்), and the hard, soft and medial consonants (வல்லினம், மெல்லினம், இடையினம்). Sandhi errors need the hard consonants first.

If you did not study in Tamil medium

First, a fact: Part A is set in Tamil only (para 6.1, page 20). General English instead of Part A is open only to differently abled candidates who studied only English as a subject at board or university level. They too need at least 60 in it and must upload the disability certificate with the application (para 6.2, pages 20-21). Everyone else writes Part A Tamil.

Grammar terms such as வினைமுற்று may be new to English-medium students. Our suggestions:

• Start with the letters in the Standard 6 Tamil textbook.
• Keep a list of grammar terms, with one example each.
• Read a Tamil newspaper aloud for 10 minutes a day.
• For the first few weeks, focus on right answers, not speed.

Practise with past papers

TNPSC publishes Group 4 papers and answer keys free on its answer keys page. On 20.10.2026 it had the final keys for the 2022, 2024 and 2025 exams under the current scheme. Each year's link is in official question papers, year by year.

Page 1 of the 2024 question booklet says questions 101 to 200 are Part B (instruction 12). That is the booklet's own lettering: in Notification 11/2026 the 100 non-Tamil questions form two parts, Part B (75) and Part C (25) (page 20). In the 2024 booklet, questions 1 to 100 are Part A Tamil, so they are easy to practise on their own.

Our advice:

• Time it separately: answer the 100 Part A questions against the clock and note the minutes.
• Score it separately: 300 ÷ 200 = 1.5 is our own arithmetic, as the notification prints no marks per question. On it, 60 of 150 means 40 correct answers out of 100.
• Leave nothing blank: if you do not know an answer, shade option (E). A question left blank costs 0.5 mark from your total (Notification, Annexure IV, pages 68 and 72).
• Part A first: in the exam, aim to finish Part A first. It is the gate.
• Final key: before marking, check whether the key is provisional or final.

Practical steps

1. Read pages 20-21 (paras 6 to 6.3) of the notification in English; in the Tamil PDF they are on page 23.
2. Read the Tamil part of the syllabus PDF (pages 6-7) and tick off each unit as you finish it.
3. Start with grammar and give one unit 20 minutes a day, as in Table 2.
4. Once a week, do Part A of an official past paper against the clock and check whether you crossed 60.
5. Before the exam, check the TNPSC website for any change to the notification.

Read next

• Exam pattern and the 60/150 rule
• The syllabus, unit by unit
• Official question papers and answer keys, year by year

You do not need our app to use this guide. If you would like a daily lesson to follow, read about our 30-day programme; its Day 1 lesson is grammar. The TNPSC Guide app has a free 3-day period in which the plan's Day 1–3 lessons, the full question bank and one sectional test are open. After that, the free parts stay open.