ගොරෝසු, බිඳෙනසුලු, බරකම: tails that describe a thing
Sinhala does not keep a hundred separate describing words. It builds them with tails out of words you already have. For example: “මේ බඩු බිඳෙනසුලුයි, පරිස්සමෙන් අරන් යන්න” — These things are fragile, carry them carefully. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Sinhala does not keep a hundred separate describing words. It builds them with tails out of words you already have.
-සුලු means "prone to what the verb does". Cut -නවා off the verb and glue the tail on: බිඳෙනවා → බිඳෙනසුලු ("fragile"), ඇලෙනවා → ඇලෙනසුලු ("sticky"). A crate of crockery says බිඳෙනසුලුයි (bindenasuluyi).
-සහිත (-sahita) means "with the thing named": දූවිලි සහිත ("dusty"), සැක සහිත ("doubtful"). Its opposite is රහිත: ජල රහිත ("waterless"). And -කම turns a quality into a name: බර (bara) → බරකම ("weight").
Often the verb itself stands in the -න shape in place of a describing word: දිලිසෙන ("shiny"), ඉඩ තියෙන ("roomy"). The trap: at the end of a sentence the -යි link is needed — ගොරෝසුයි (gorōsuyi). Before a noun it is not: සිනිඳු රෙද්දක් (sinindu reddak).
Table
| Tail | What it does | From what | What came out |
|---|---|---|---|
| -සුලු | prone to the action | බිඳෙනවා — to break | බිඳෙනසුලු — fragile |
| -සහිත | with what is named | දූවිලි — dust | දූවිලි සහිත — dusty |
| -රහිත | without what is named | ජලය — water | ජල රහිත — waterless |
| -කම | the name of a property | බර — heavy | බරකම — weight |
| -න | a participle as a feature | දිලිසෙනවා — to shine | දිලිසෙන — shiny |
| -ුණු / -ිය | already turned thus | රැලි වැටෙනවා — to crumple | රැලි වැටුණු — crumpled |
| -යි | the link at the predicate | ගොරෝසු — rough | ගොරෝසුයි — it is rough |
By example
- මේ බඩු බිඳෙනසුලුයි, පරිස්සමෙන් අරන් යන්නmē baḍu bindenasuluyi, parissamen aran yannaThese things are fragile, carry them carefully
- රාක්කය දූවිලි සහිතයිrākkaya dūvili sahitayiThe shelf is dusty
- මේ පෙට්ටියේ බරකම දැනෙනවාmē peṭṭiyē barakama dænenavāThe weight of this box is felt
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
tails that describe a thing: how does it work in Sinhala?
Sinhala does not keep a hundred separate describing words. It builds them with tails out of words you already have.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මේ බඩු බිඳෙනසුලුයි, පරිස්සමෙන් අරන් යන්න” (mē baḍu bindenasuluyi, parissamen aran yanna) — These things are fragile, carry them carefully. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.