ඔප්පු කිරීම, සොයාගැනීම: the name of an action
Half of the written words are verbs turned into names, and one tail does the turning. For example: “ඔප්පු කිරීමක් නැතුව කියන්න බෑ” — Without a proof it cannot be said. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Half of the written words are verbs turned into names, and one tail does the turning.
Cut -නවා off the verb and glue on -ීම: කරනවා (karanavā) → කිරීම (kirīma), වැටෙනවා (væṭenavā) → වැටීම ("a fall"). Verbs in -ගන්නවා (-gannavā) give -ගැනීම (-gænīma): සොයාගැනීම ("a discovery"), අත්කරගැනීම ("an achievement").
The name of a quality comes from -තාව: නිරවද්යතාව ("accuracy"), අක්රමිකතාව ("a glitch"). In speech the same thing is said with එක (eka): හොයාගත්ත දේ, නරක් වුණ එක (narak vuṇa eka).
The trap sits in the words that look familiar. ඔප්පුව without a tail is a title deed to land, not a proof. සාක්ෂිය (sākṣiya) is both a piece of evidence and a witness's word.
Table
| Tail | From what | What came out | The colloquial pair |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ීම | ඔප්පු කරනවා — to prove | ඔප්පු කිරීම — a proof | ඔප්පු කරන එක |
| -ීම | වැටෙනවා — to fall | පහත වැටීම — a decline | අඩු වුණ එක |
| -ැනීම | සොයාගන්නවා — to find | සොයාගැනීම — a discovery | හොයාගත්ත දේ |
| -ැනීම | අත්කරගන්නවා — to achieve | අත්කරගැනීම — an achievement | කරගත්ත දේ |
| -තාව | නිරවද්ය — exact | නිරවද්යතාව — accuracy | none |
| -තාව | අක්රමික — disorderly | අක්රමිකතාව — a glitch | නරක් වුණ එක |
| -ය | සත්ය — true | සත්යය — the truth | ඇත්ත |
By example
- ඔප්පු කිරීමක් නැතුව කියන්න බෑoppu kirīmak nætuva kiyanna bǣWithout a proof it cannot be said
- මේක වැදගත් සොයාගැනීමක්mēka vædagat soyāgænīmakThis is an important discovery
- ලියවිල්ලේ පරස්පරයක් තියෙනවාliyavillē parasparayak tiyenavāThere is a contradiction in the document
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
the name of an action: how does it work in Sinhala?
Half of the written words are verbs turned into names, and one tail does the turning.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“ඔප්පු කිරීමක් නැතුව කියන්න බෑ” (oppu kirīmak nætuva kiyanna bǣ) — Without a proof it cannot be said. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.