A is (a) B.
This is the structure of an equational sentence.
In English we might say “this is a picture of a house”, “this is a dog” or “a cat is an animal.” We use use the verb ‘to be’ (I am, you are, he/she is, etc) to indicate that X = Y.
However, Tamil equational sentences have no verb. They take the following form:
A B —–> A is (a) B.
For example:
- இது வீடின் படம் (this is a picture of a house)
- இது நாய் (this is a dog)
- பூனை ஒரு மிருகம் (a cat is an animal)