උඩින්, 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” — 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 මැද ("in the middle of the room"), මේසේ උඩ ("on the table").
-ට (-ṭa) answers "to where": උඩට ("up"), යටට ("down"), ඇතුළට ("inside"), පැත්තට ("aside"). -ෙන් answers "from where": උඩින් ("from above"), පැත්තෙන් ("from the side"), ළඟින් ("past"), ඈතින් ("far off").
The trap is the order. English puts its little word first. Sinhala puts the place word after the noun: පාර හරහට ("across the road"), ගේ ළඟින් ("past the house"). Built the English way, it will not be understood.
Table
| Stem | where (bare) | to where (-ට) | from where (-ෙන්) |
|---|---|---|---|
| උඩ — the top | උඩ — on top | උඩට — up | උඩින් — from above |
| යට — the bottom | යට — below | යටට — down | යටින් — from below |
| ඇතුළ — the inside | ඇතුළේ — inside | ඇතුළට — inward | ඇතුළෙන් — from within |
| පැත්ත — the side | පැත්තේ — at the side | පැත්තට — to the side | පැත්තෙන් — from the side |
| ළඟ — the near | ළඟ — close by | ළඟට — to | ළඟින් — past |
| ඈත — the far | ඈත — far | ඈතට — into the distance | ඈතින් — in the distance |
| පිටත — the outside | පිටත — outside | පිටතට — out | පිටතින් — from outside |
By example
- ගහක් පාර හරහට වැටිලාgahak pāra harahaṭa væṭilāA tree fell across the road
- බස් එක ගේ ළඟින් ගියාbas eka gē ḷangin giyāThe bus drove past the house
- එයා මාව හම්බවෙන්න ගේට්ටුව ළඟට ආවාeyā māva hambavenna gēṭṭuva ḷangaṭa āvāHe came up to the gate to meet me
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 an example sentence Sinhala?
“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.