To me, me, my: one stem and three endings
Sinhala has no separate words for "to me", "me" and "my" — three endings on one stem cover all of it. Learn them once and every pronoun is ready. For example: “මට ඒක දෙන්න” — Give me this. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Sinhala has no separate words for "to me", "me" and "my" — three endings on one stem cover all of it. Learn them once and every pronoun is ready.
The ending -ට (-ṭa) gives "to me, to you, to him": මට (maṭa), ඔයාට (oyāṭa), එයාට (eyāṭa). Half of everyday speech begins there: මට ඕන ("I need"), මට තේරෙන්නේ නෑ ("I don't understand"). English says "I" here, Sinhala says "to me".
The ending -ව marks the one the action lands on, and only with the animate: මාව (māva), ඔයාව (oyāva), එයාව (eyāva). එයා මාව දැක්කා (eyā māva dækkā) is "he saw me". Things add nothing. The trap: not මමව but මාව.
The ending -ගේ (-gē) gives "my, your, his": මගේ (magē), ඔයාගේ (oyāgē), එයාගේ (eyāgē). The owner always stands before the thing: මේක එයාගේ ලගේජ් එක (mēka eyāgē lagēj eka). One exception — "our" is අපේ (apē).
Table
| Role | I | you | he / she | we |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject | මම | ඔයා | එයා | අපි |
| to me (-ට) | මට | ඔයාට | එයාට | අපිට |
| me (-ව) | මාව | ඔයාව | එයාව | අපිව |
| my (-ගේ) | මගේ | ඔයාගේ | එයාගේ | අපේ |
By example
- මට ඒක දෙන්නmaṭa ēka dennaGive me this
- එයා මාව දැක්කාeyā māva dækkāHe saw me
- මේක එයාගේ ලගේජ් එකmēka eyāgē lagēj ekaThis is his luggage
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
To me, me, my: how does it work in Sinhala?
Sinhala has no separate words for "to me", "me" and "my" — three endings on one stem cover all of it. Learn them once and every pronoun is ready.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මට ඒක දෙන්න” (maṭa ēka denna) — Give me this. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.