Lingoflyවැඩේට බහිනවා, කල් ඇදෙනවා: which phase, and whose fault
Sinhala has no prefixes, so a second verb or an adverb shows the phase — begun, broken off, taken up. ආයෙත් පටන් ගන්නවා (āyet paṭan gannavā) is "to start again", මැදින් නවත්තනවා (mædin navattanavā) is "to break off halfway". For example: “මට වැඩේ හරි ගියා” (maṭa væḍē hari giyā) — I managed this job. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Sinhala has no prefixes, so a second verb or an adverb shows the phase — begun, broken off, taken up. ආයෙත් පටන් ගන්නවා (āyet paṭan gannavā) is "to start again", මැදින් (mædin) නවත්තනවා (navattanavā) (mædin navattanavā) is "to break off halfway".
වැඩේට බහිනවා (væḍēṭa bahinavā) is "to set to work", word for word "to climb down into the job". Such turns are learned whole; they do not assemble from parts.
Beside them works the pair -කරනවා (-karanavā) and -වෙනවා (-venavā). The first is "I do it", the second "it happens by itself": වැඩි කරනවා (væḍi karanavā) against වැඩි (væḍi) වෙනවා (venavā) (væḍi venavā), කල් (kal) අදිනවා (adinavā) (kal adinavā) against කල් ඇදෙනවා (kal ædenavā).
Choosing the shape is choosing who answers for it. මම (mama) වැඩේ (væḍē) අවුල් (avul) කළා (kaḷā) (mama væḍē avul kaḷā) admits the fault, වැඩේ (væḍē) අවුල් (avul) වුණා (vuṇā) (væḍē avul vuṇā) drops it. The trap: with හරි යනවා (hari yanavā) the person takes -ට (-ṭa), මට වැඩේ හරි ගියා (maṭa væḍē hari giyā), not මම (mama).
Table
| Actively (-කරනවා) | By itself (-වෙනවා) | The sense of the pair |
|---|---|---|
| වැඩි කරනවා (væḍi karanavā) — to increase | වැඩි (væḍi) වෙනවා (venavā) — to grow | someone does it / it grows by itself |
| අඩු කරනවා (aḍu karanavā) — to reduce | අඩු (aḍu) වෙනවා (venavā) — to decrease | the same |
| අවුල් (avul) කරනවා (karanavā) — to tangle | අවුල් වෙනවා (avul venavā) — to get tangled | there is fault / there is none |
| කල් (kal) අදිනවා (adinavā) — to drag out | කල් ඇදෙනවා (kal ædenavā) — to drag on | on purpose / by itself |
| නවත්තනවා (navattanavā) — to stop (something) | නවතිනවා (navatinavā) — to come to a stop | the same |
| හෙළි (heḷi) කරනවා (karanavā) — to uncover | හෙළි වෙනවා (heḷi venavā) — to come to light | someone uncovered / it came to light |
| — (no pair) | හරි යනවා (hari yanavā) — to work out | the person takes -ට: මට (maṭa) හරි (hari) ගියා (giyā) |
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
which phase, and whose fault: how does it work in Sinhala?
Sinhala has no prefixes, so a second verb or an adverb shows the phase — begun, broken off, taken up. ආයෙත් පටන් ගන්නවා (āyet paṭan gannavā) is "to start again", මැදින් නවත්තනවා (mædin navattanavā) is "to break off halfway".
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“මට වැඩේ හරි ගියා” (maṭa væḍē hari giyā) — I managed this job. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.