Lingoflyතුනෙන් එක, දෙගුණයකින්, ගෙඩියට: how Sinhala counts
A fraction is read from the bottom up: first the lower number with the tail -ෙන්, then the upper one. තුනෙන් එක (tunen eka) is "one out of three", a third. දහයෙන් (dahayen) තුනක් (tunak) is "three tenths". For example: “පඩියෙන් තුනෙන් එකක් කුලියට යනවා” (paḍiyen tunen ekak kuliyaṭa yanavā) — A third of the salary goes to rent. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A fraction is read from the bottom up: first the lower number with the tail -ෙන්, then the upper one. තුනෙන් එක (tunen eka) is "one out of three", a third. දහයෙන් (dahayen) තුනක් (tunak) (dahayen tunak) is "three tenths".
Multiples take the tail -ගුණය: දෙගුණයක් (deguṇayak) is "twofold". For a rise or a fall -ෙන් is added: ගාණ දෙගුණයකින් වැඩි වුණා (gāṇa deguṇayakin væḍi vuṇā) — "the price doubled".
Pieces are counted with a counting word. Round things go through ගෙඩිය (geḍiya): පොල් (pol) ගෙඩි (geḍi) තුනක් (tunak) ("three coconuts"), ගෙඩියට (geḍiyaṭa) කීයද (kīyada) (geḍiyaṭa kīyada)? ("how much for one?"). People go through දෙනා: මිනිස්සු (minissu) පස් දෙනෙක් (denek).
"One and a half" is a single fused word, එකහමාර (ekahamāra), and the whole row follows that pattern: දෙකහමාර, තුනහමාර.
Table
| Device | Pattern | Analysis | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| a fraction | තුනෙන් එක (tunen eka) | out of three — one | a third |
| a fraction | දහයෙන් (dahayen) තුනක් (tunak) | out of ten — three | three tenths |
| a multiple | දෙගුණයක් (deguṇayak) | two-multiplicity | twofold |
| a multiple in growth | දෙගුණයකින් (deguṇayakin) | two-by-multiplicity | twofold over |
| piece counting | ගෙඩියට (geḍiyaṭa) | per piece | by the piece |
| a collective | දහයක් (dahayak) | ten-pieces | a ten |
| fused | එකහමාර (ekahamāra) | one-and-a-half | one and a half |
| comparison | ට වඩා පහළයි (ṭa vaḍā pahaḷayi) | by comparison — lower | lower than |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
how Sinhala counts: how does it work in Sinhala?
A fraction is read from the bottom up: first the lower number with the tail -ෙන්, then the upper one. තුනෙන් එක (tunen eka) is "one out of three", a third. දහයෙන් (dahayen) තුනක් (tunak) is "three tenths".
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“පඩියෙන් තුනෙන් එකක් කුලියට යනවා” (paḍiyen tunen ekak kuliyaṭa yanavā) — A third of the salary goes to rent. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.