It 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 වෙනවා is "went off", ඕෆ් කරනවා is "to switch off". For example: “ෆෝන් එක චාජ් වෙන්නේ නෑ” — 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 වෙනවා (ōf venavā) is "went off", ඕෆ් කරනවා (ōf karanavā) is "to switch off".
In a repair shop this matters most. ෆෝන් එක ඕෆ් වුණා (fōn eka ōf vuṇā) means the phone went off by itself. මම රවුටර් එක ඕෆ් කළා (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 — gets hot | රත් කරනවා — to heat up | රත් වෙන්නේ නෑ |
| ඕෆ් වෙනවා — switched itself off | ඕෆ් කරනවා — to switch off | ඔන් වෙන්නේ නෑ |
| චාජ් වෙනවා — is charging | චාජ් කරනවා — to charge | චාජ් වෙන්නේ නෑ |
| මාරු වෙනවා — changed by itself | මාරු කරනවා — to change | මාරු වෙන්නේ නෑ |
| කැඩෙනවා — gets broken | කඩනවා — to break | වැඩ කරන්නේ නෑ |
| නිවෙනවා — goes out | නිවනවා — to put out | දැල්වෙන්නේ නෑ |
By example
- ෆෝන් එක චාජ් වෙන්නේ නෑfōn eka cāj vennē nǣThe phone does not charge
- මම රවුටර් එක ඕෆ් කළාmama rauṭar eka ōf kaḷāI switched off the router
- ලැප්ටොප් එක ගොඩක් රත් වෙනවාlæpṭop eka goḍak rat venavāThe laptop gets very hot
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 වෙනවා is "went off", ඕෆ් කරනවා is "to switch off".
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“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.