Lingoflyඋඩින්, උඩට, උඩ: three tails of place
Sinhala has no prepositions. The word of place comes after the noun and changes its own tail, and the tails are three. For example: “ගහක් පාර හරහට වැටිලා” (gahak pāra harahaṭa væṭilā) — A tree fell across the road. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Sinhala has no prepositions. The word of place comes after the noun and changes its own tail, and the tails are three.
The bare word answers "where": කාමරේ (kāmarē) මැද (mæda) ("in the middle of the room"), මේසේ (mēsē) උඩ (uḍa) ("on the table").
-ට (-ṭa) answers "to where": උඩට (uḍaṭa) ("up"), යටට (yaṭaṭa) ("down"), ඇතුළට (ætuḷaṭa) ("inside"), පැත්තට (pættaṭa) ("aside"). -ෙන් answers "from where": උඩින් (uḍin) ("from above"), පැත්තෙන් (pætten) ("from the side"), ළඟින් (ḷangin) ("past"), ඈතින් (ǣtin) ("far off").
The trap is the order. English puts its little word first. Sinhala puts the place word after the noun: පාර (pāra) හරහට (harahaṭa) ("across the road"), ගේ ළඟින් (ḷangin) ("past the house"). Built the English way, it will not be understood.
Table
| Stem | where (bare) | to where (-ට) | from where (-ෙන්) |
|---|---|---|---|
| උඩ (uḍa) — the top | උඩ (uḍa) — on top | උඩට (uḍaṭa) — up | උඩින් (uḍin) — from above |
| යට (yaṭa) — the bottom | යට (yaṭa) — below | යටට (yaṭaṭa) — down | යටින් (yaṭin) — from below |
| ඇතුළ (ætuḷa) — the inside | ඇතුළේ (ætuḷē) — inside | ඇතුළට (ætuḷaṭa) — inward | ඇතුළෙන් (ætuḷen) — from within |
| පැත්ත (pætta) — the side | පැත්තේ (pættē) — at the side | පැත්තට (pættaṭa) — to the side | පැත්තෙන් (pætten) — from the side |
| ළඟ (ḷanga) — the near | ළඟ (ḷanga) — close by | ළඟට (ḷangaṭa) — to | ළඟින් (ḷangin) — past |
| ඈත (ǣta) — the far | ඈත (ǣta) — far | ඈතට — into the distance | ඈතින් (ǣtin) — in the distance |
| පිටත (piṭata) — the outside | පිටත (piṭata) — outside | පිටතට (piṭataṭa) — out | පිටතින් (piṭatin) — from outside |
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
three tails of place: how does it work in Sinhala?
Sinhala has no prepositions. The word of place comes after the noun and changes its own tail, and the tails are three.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“ගහක් පාර හරහට වැටිලා” (gahak pāra harahaṭa væṭilā) — A tree fell across the road. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.