My, your, mother’s: the ending -ගේ
One ending, -ගේ, makes "my", "your" and "mother's" alike. It hangs on anybody: මම → මගේ, ඔයා → ඔයාගේ, අම්මා → අම්මාගේ. Neither sex nor number changes the form. For example: “මේ මගේ අයියාගේ බයිසිකලේ” — This is my brother’s bicycle. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
One ending, -ගේ (-gē), makes "my", "your" and "mother's" alike. It hangs on anybody: මම (mama) → මගේ (magē), ඔයා (oyā) → ඔයාගේ (oyāgē), අම්මා (ammā) → අම්මාගේ (ammāgē). Neither sex nor number changes the form.
The order is rigid: the owner always comes before the thing. මගේ ෆෝන් එක (magē fōn eka), අම්මාගේ බෑග් එක (ammāgē bǣg eka). Swap them and nobody can tell whose is whose.
One correction: -ගේ belongs to living beings. A thing or a place takes -ේ instead: කාමරයේ යතුර (kāmarayē yatura) is "the key of the room". Another: ෆෝන් එකේ කැමරාව (fōn ekē kæmarāva), "the camera of the phone".
Two exceptions turn up every day: "my" is not මමගේ but මගේ, and "our" is not අපිගේ but අපේ (apē). "Whose?" is කාගේද (kāgēda): මේක කාගේද (mēka kāgēda)?
Table
| Who or what | Stem | Whose | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | මම | මගේ | මගේ ෆෝන් එක — my phone |
| you | ඔයා | ඔයාගේ | ඔයාගේ ලිපිනය — your address |
| he, she | එයා | එයාගේ | එයාගේ අක්කා — his sister |
| we | අපි | අපේ | අපේ ගෙදර — our house |
| mother (animate) | අම්මා | අම්මාගේ | අම්මාගේ බෑග් එක — mother’s bag |
| room (a thing) | කාමරය | කාමරයේ | කාමරයේ යතුර — the key of the room |
By example
- මේ මගේ අයියාගේ බයිසිකලේmē magē ayiyāgē bayisikalēThis is my brother’s bicycle
- අපේ ගෙදර වහලය පරණයිapē gedara vahalaya paraṇayiThe roof of our house is old
- මේක කාගේද?mēka kāgēda?Whose is this?
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
My, your, mother’s: how does it work in Sinhala?
One ending, -ගේ, makes "my", "your" and "mother's" alike. It hangs on anybody: මම → මගේ, ඔයා → ඔයාගේ, අම්මා → අම්මාගේ. Neither sex nor number changes the form.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මේ මගේ අයියාගේ බයිසිකලේ” (mē magē ayiyāgē bayisikalē) — This is my brother’s bicycle. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.