LingoflyA quality: bare before a noun, with -යි at the end
A quality has two shapes, and the choice comes from its place in the sentence, not from its sense. Before a noun it is bare: ලොකු (loku) ගෙදර (gedara) ("a big house"), හොඳ (honda) මිනිහෙක් (minihek) ("a good man"). At the end of a sentence -යි sticks to it: ගෙදර (gedara) ලොකුයි (lokuyi). For example: “එයා (eyā) ගොඩක් (goḍak) ඉවසිලිවන්තයි” — He is very patient. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A quality has two shapes, and the choice comes from its place in the sentence, not from its sense. Before a noun it is bare: ලොකු (loku) ගෙදර (gedara) ("a big house"), හොඳ (honda) මිනිහෙක් (minihek) ("a good man"). At the end of a sentence -යි sticks to it: ගෙදර (gedara) ලොකුයි (lokuyi) (gedara lokuyi).
How it sticks depends on the last sound. Onto a quality ending in a consonant or in -ු it goes straight: ලොකු (loku) → ලොකුයි (lokuyi) (lokuyi), මසුරු (masuru) → මසුරුයි (masuruyi) (masuruyi). Onto one ending in -අ the vowel changes: හොඳ (honda) → හොඳයි (hondayi) (hondayi), පරණ (paraṇa) → පරණයි (paraṇayi).
A negative brings the bare shape back, and නෑ (nǣ) follows it: එයා (eyā) මසුරු (masuru) නෑ (eyā masuru nǣ) — "he is not stingy".
The trap: saying එයා (eyā) මසුරු (masuru) (eyā masuru), or මසුරුයි (masuruyi) කෙනෙක් (kenek) (masuruyi kenek). Both times the shape stands in the wrong place, and both times you will be asked again.
Table
| Feature | Before a noun | As a predicate | Negation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ලොකු (loku) — big | ලොකු (loku) ගෙදර (gedara) | ගෙදර (gedara) ලොකුයි (lokuyi) | ගෙදර (gedara) ලොකු (loku) නෑ |
| හොඳ (honda) — good | හොඳ (honda) මිනිහෙක් (minihek) | මිනිහා (minihā) හොඳයි (hondayi) | මිනිහා (minihā) හොඳ (honda) නෑ |
| මසුරු (masuru) — stingy | මසුරු (masuru) කෙනෙක් (kenek) | එයා (eyā) මසුරුයි (masuruyi) | එයා (eyā) මසුරු (masuru) නෑ |
| උස (usa) — tall | උස (usa) මිනිහෙක් (minihek) | එයා (eyā) උසයි (usayi) | එයා (eyā) උස (usa) නෑ |
| කපටි (kapaṭi) — cunning | කපටි (kapaṭi) කෙනෙක් (kenek) | එයා (eyā) කපටියි | එයා (eyā) කපටි (kapaṭi) නෑ |
| තට්ට (taṭṭa) — bald | තට්ට (taṭṭa) ඔලුව (oluva) | එයා (eyā) තට්ටයි (taṭṭayi) | එයා (eyā) තට්ට (taṭṭa) නෑ |
By example
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
A quality: how does it work in Sinhala?
A quality has two shapes, and the choice comes from its place in the sentence, not from its sense. Before a noun it is bare: ලොකු (loku) ගෙදර (gedara) ("a big house"), හොඳ (honda) මිනිහෙක් (minihek) ("a good man"). At the end of a sentence -යි sticks to it: ගෙදර (gedara) ලොකුයි (lokuyi).
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“එයා (eyā) ගොඩක් (goḍak) ඉවසිලිවන්තයි” (eyā goḍak ivasilivantayi) — He is very patient. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.