Like, than, just as: comparing whole phrases
You can compare not one word but a whole phrase. Three linkers do that, and all three stand after the thing you compare with. For example: “මේ ගෙදර අර ගෙදරට වඩා ලොකුයි” — This house is bigger than that one. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
You can compare not one word but a whole phrase. Three linkers do that, and all three stand after the thing you compare with.
වගේ (vagē) is "like": මේ ගෙදර හෝටලයක් වගේ — "this house is like a hotel". With the tag -ම it turns into "just the same": අලුත් කාමරේ පරණ එක වගේම ලස්සනයි (alut kāmarē paraṇa eka vagēma lassanayi).
තරම් (taram) is "as much as". Most often it is heard in a negative: මං තරම් උස නෑ (maṁ taram usa nǣ) — "not as tall as I am".
වඩා (vaḍā) is "than", and the thing compared against takes -ට (-ṭa). මේ ගෙදර අර ගෙදරට වඩා ලොකුයි (mē gedara ara gedaraṭa vaḍā lokuyi) is "this house is bigger than that one". When there is no difference, you say දෙකම එකයි (dekama ekayi).
Table
| Linker | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| … වගේ | like, similar to | මේ ගෙදර හෝටලයක් වගේ — this house is like a hotel |
| … වගේම | the same as | අලුත් එක පරණ එක වගේම — the new one is the same as the old one |
| … තරම් | as much as | මං තරම් උස නෑ — not as tall as I am |
| …ට වඩා | than | ඒකට වඩා ලාභයි — cheaper than that |
| ගොඩක් / ටිකක් + the feature | very / a little + the feature | ටිකක් අඩු කුලිය — a slightly lower rent |
| දෙකම එකයි | both are the same | ගාණ දෙකම එකයි — the price is the same for both |
By example
- මේ ගෙදර අර ගෙදරට වඩා ලොකුයිmē gedara ara gedaraṭa vaḍā lokuyiThis house is bigger than that one
- අලුත් කාමරේ පරණ එක වගේම ලස්සනයිalut kāmarē paraṇa eka vagēma lassanayiThe new room is as beautiful as the old one
- මේ කුලිය මං හිතපු තරම් වැඩි නෑmē kuliya maṁ hitapu taram væḍi nǣThis rent is not as high as I thought
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
Like, than, just as: how does it work in Sinhala?
You can compare not one word but a whole phrase. Three linkers do that, and all three stand after the thing you compare with.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මේ ගෙදර අර ගෙදරට වඩා ලොකුයි” (mē gedara ara gedaraṭa vaḍā lokuyi) — This house is bigger than that one. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.