A 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 ගෙදර ("a big house"), හොඳ මිනිහෙක් ("a good man"). At the end of a sentence -යි sticks to it: ගෙදර ලොකුයි. For example: “එයා ගොඩක් 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 ගෙදර ("a big house"), හොඳ මිනිහෙක් ("a good man"). At the end of a sentence -යි sticks to it: ගෙදර ලොකුයි (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), මසුරු (masuru) → මසුරුයි (masuruyi). Onto one ending in -අ the vowel changes: හොඳ (honda) → හොඳයි (hondayi), පරණ (paraṇa) → පරණයි (paraṇayi).
A negative brings the bare shape back, and නෑ (nǣ) follows it: එයා මසුරු නෑ (eyā masuru nǣ) — "he is not stingy".
The trap: saying එයා මසුරු (eyā masuru), or මසුරුයි කෙනෙක් (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 — big | ලොකු ගෙදර | ගෙදර ලොකුයි | ගෙදර ලොකු නෑ |
| හොඳ — good | හොඳ මිනිහෙක් | මිනිහා හොඳයි | මිනිහා හොඳ නෑ |
| මසුරු — stingy | මසුරු කෙනෙක් | එයා මසුරුයි | එයා මසුරු නෑ |
| උස — tall | උස මිනිහෙක් | එයා උසයි | එයා උස නෑ |
| කපටි — cunning | කපටි කෙනෙක් | එයා කපටියි | එයා කපටි නෑ |
| තට්ට — bald | තට්ට ඔලුව | එයා තට්ටයි | එයා තට්ට නෑ |
By example
- එයා ගොඩක් ඉවසිලිවන්තයිeyā goḍak ivasilivantayiHe is very patient
- මුරණ්ඩු ළමයෙක් ගෙදර ඉන්නවාmuraṇḍu ḷamayek gedara innavāThere is a stubborn child at home
- මගේ යාළුවා මසුරු නෑmagē yāḷuvā masuru nǣMy friend is not stingy
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 ගෙදර ("a big house"), හොඳ මිනිහෙක් ("a good man"). At the end of a sentence -යි sticks to it: ගෙදර ලොකුයි.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“එයා ගොඩක් 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.