LingoflyWho did it does not matter: verbs in pairs
English has "they closed the shop" and "the shop closed". Sinhala manages with one thing: half the verbs come in pairs — one about the doer, one about what happens by itself. For example: “කාලගුණේ නිසා ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා” (kālaguṇē nisā flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇā) — Because of the weather the flight was cancelled. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English has "they closed the shop" and "the shop closed". Sinhala manages with one thing: half the verbs come in pairs — one about the doer, one about what happens by itself.
The pair comes from a vowel change before -නවා: කඩනවා (kaḍanavā) ("to break") against කැඩෙනවා (kæḍenavā) ("to get broken"), වහනවා (vahanavā) ("to close") against වැහෙනවා (væhenavā). The second puts the thing itself in front, and no person need appear: කඩේ (kaḍē) වැහුණා (væhuṇā) (kaḍē væhuṇā).
With borrowed verbs වෙනවා (venavā) does the same work: කැන්සල් (kænsal) කරනවා (karanavā) (kænsal karanavā) turns into කැන්සල් (kænsal) වෙනවා (venavā) (kænsal venavā). Hence ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා (flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇā) — "the flight was cancelled", with nobody named.
You may name the guilty party after all, with the tail -ගෙන් or the word අතින් (atin). එයා (eyā) අතින් (atin) වීදුරුව (vīduruva) කැඩුණා (kæḍuṇā) (eyā atin vīduruva kæḍuṇā) is "the glass broke in his hands". For an apology that is softer than "I broke it".
Table
| Someone does it | It happens by itself | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| කඩනවා (kaḍanavā) — to break | කැඩෙනවා (kæḍenavā) | ෆෝන් එක (fōn eka) කැඩුණා (kæḍuṇā) | the phone broke |
| වහනවා (vahanavā) — to close | වැහෙනවා (væhenavā) | කඩේ (kaḍē) වැහුණා (væhuṇā) | the shop was closed |
| අරිනවා (arinavā) — to open | ඇරෙනවා (ærenavā) | ඔෆිස් එක (ofis eka) නවයට (navayaṭa) ඇරෙනවා (ærenavā) | the office opens at nine |
| නැති (næti) කරනවා (karanavā) — to lose | නැති (næti) වෙනවා (venavā) | ටිකට් එක (ṭikaṭ eka) නැති (næti) වුණා (vuṇā) | the ticket got lost |
| කැන්සල් (kænsal) කරනවා (karanavā) — to cancel | කැන්සල් (kænsal) වෙනවා (venavā) | ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා (flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇā) | the flight was cancelled |
| ඉවර කරනවා (ivara karanavā) — to finish | ඉවර (ivara) වෙනවා (venavā) | සල්ලි (salli) ඉවර (ivara) වුණා (vuṇā) | the money ran out |
| — (on paper only) | කරනු ලැබේ | මෙහි දුම් (dum) බීම (bīma) තහනම් (tahanam) කරනු ලැබේ | smoking is prohibited here |
By example
- කාලගුණේ නිසා ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණාkālaguṇē nisā flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇāBecause of the weather the flight was cancelled
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
Who did it does not matter: how does it work in Sinhala?
English has "they closed the shop" and "the shop closed". Sinhala manages with one thing: half the verbs come in pairs — one about the doer, one about what happens by itself.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“කාලගුණේ නිසා ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා” (kālaguṇē nisā flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇā) — Because of the weather the flight was cancelled. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.