Lingoflyගොරෝසු, බිඳෙනසුලු, බරකම: tails that describe a thing
Sinhala does not keep a hundred separate describing words. It builds them with tails out of nouns and verbs. For example: “මේ බඩු බිඳෙනසුලුයි, පරිස්සමෙන් අරන් යන්න” (mē baḍu bindenasuluyi, parissamen aran yanna) — 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 nouns and verbs.
-සුලු means "prone to what the verb does". Cut -නවා off the verb and glue the tail on: බිඳෙනවා → බිඳෙනසුලු (bindenasulu) ("fragile"), ඇලෙනවා → ඇලෙනසුලු (ælenasulu) ("sticky"). A crate of crockery says බිඳෙනසුලුයි (bindenasuluyi).
-සහිත (-sahita) means "with the thing named": දූවිලි සහිත (dūvili sahita) ("dusty"), සැක සහිත (sæka sahita) ("doubtful"). Its opposite is රහිත: ජල රහිත ("waterless"). And -කම turns a quality into a name: බර (bara) → බරකම (barakama) ("weight").
Often the verb itself stands in the -න shape in place of a describing word: දිලිසෙන (dilisena) ("shiny"), ඉඩ තියෙන (iḍa tiyena) ("roomy"). The trap: at the end of a sentence the -යි link is needed — ගොරෝසුයි (gorōsuyi). Before a noun it is not: සිනිඳු (sinindu) රෙද්දක් (sinindu reddak).
Table
| Tail | What it does | From what | What came out |
|---|---|---|---|
| -සුලු | prone to the action | බිඳෙනවා — to break | බිඳෙනසුලු (bindenasulu) — fragile |
| -සහිත | with what is named | දූවිලි (dūvili) — dust | දූවිලි සහිත (dūvili sahita) — dusty |
| -රහිත | without what is named | ජලය — water | ජල රහිත — waterless |
| -කම | the name of a property | බර (bara) — heavy | බරකම (barakama) — weight |
| -න | a participle as a feature | දිලිසෙනවා — to shine | දිලිසෙන (dilisena) — shiny |
| -ුණු / -ිය | already turned thus | රැලි (ræli) වැටෙනවා (væṭenavā) — to crumple | රැලි වැටුණු (ræli væṭuṇu) — crumpled |
| -යි | the link at the predicate | ගොරෝසු (gorōsu) — rough | ගොරෝසුයි (gorōsuyi) — it is rough |
By example
- මේ බඩු බිඳෙනසුලුයි, පරිස්සමෙන් අරන් යන්නmē baḍu bindenasuluyi, parissamen aran yannaThese things are fragile, carry them carefully
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 nouns and verbs.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“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.