LingoflyIt broke by itself or someone broke it: -වෙනවා and -කරනවා
Talk about breakages rests on one pair. -වෙනවා says it happened by itself, -කරනවා says somebody did it: ඕෆ් (ōf) වෙනවා (venavā) is "went off", ඕෆ් කරනවා (ōf karanavā) is "to switch off". For example: “ෆෝන් එක චාජ් වෙන්නේ නෑ” (fōn eka cāj vennē nǣ) — The phone does not charge. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Talk about breakages rests on one pair. -වෙනවා (-venavā) says it happened by itself, -කරනවා (-karanavā) says somebody did it: ඕෆ් (ōf) වෙනවා (venavā) (ōf venavā) is "went off", ඕෆ් කරනවා (ōf karanavā) is "to switch off".
In a repair shop this matters most. ෆෝන් එක (fōn eka) ඕෆ් (ōf) වුණා (vuṇā) (fōn eka ōf vuṇā) means the phone went off by itself. මම (mama) රවුටර් එක (rauṭar eka) ඕෆ් (ōf) කළා (kaḷā) (mama rauṭar eka ōf kaḷā) means I switched the router off.
With native verbs the pair looks different: කැඩෙනවා (kæḍenavā) against කඩනවා (kaḍanavā), නිවෙනවා against නිවනවා (nivanavā), වැහෙනවා (væhenavā) against වහනවා (vahanavā). One vowel apart, and worth hearing.
The third member of the family is -න්නේ නෑ, "does not work": ෆෝන් එක චාජ් වෙන්නේ නෑ (fōn eka cāj vennē nǣ). Take -න්නේ from the -නවා shape and add නෑ (nǣ). With borrowed words it goes by itself.
Table
| By itself (-වෙනවා) | Someone did it (-කරනවා) | Not working |
|---|---|---|
| රත් වෙනවා (rat venavā) — gets hot | රත් කරනවා (rat karanavā) — to heat up | රත් (rat) වෙන්නේ (vennē) නෑ |
| ඕෆ් (ōf) වෙනවා (venavā) — switched itself off | ඕෆ් කරනවා (ōf karanavā) — to switch off | ඔන් වෙන්නේ නෑ (on vennē nǣ) |
| චාජ් (cāj) වෙනවා (venavā) — is charging | චාජ් (cāj) කරනවා (karanavā) — to charge | චාජ් වෙන්නේ නෑ (cāj vennē nǣ) |
| මාරු (māru) වෙනවා (venavā) — changed by itself | මාරු කරනවා (māru karanavā) — to change | මාරු (māru) වෙන්නේ (vennē) නෑ |
| කැඩෙනවා (kæḍenavā) — gets broken | කඩනවා (kaḍanavā) — to break | වැඩ කරන්නේ නෑ (væḍa karannē nǣ) |
| නිවෙනවා — goes out | නිවනවා — to put out | දැල්වෙන්නේ (dælvennē) 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
It broke by itself or someone broke it: how does it work in Sinhala?
Talk about breakages rests on one pair. -වෙනවා says it happened by itself, -කරනවා says somebody did it: ඕෆ් (ōf) වෙනවා (venavā) is "went off", ඕෆ් කරනවා (ōf karanavā) is "to switch off".
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“ෆෝන් එක චාජ් වෙන්නේ නෑ” (fōn eka cāj vennē nǣ) — The phone does not charge. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.