LingoflyWhere and to where: a tail on the noun, a word after it
Sinhala has no prepositions. Two things do that work. One is a tail grown onto the noun. The other is a separate word that follows the noun instead of leading it. For example: “ෆාමසිය (fāmasiya) බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) ඉදිරිපිට” (idiripiṭa) — The pharmacy is opposite the bank. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Sinhala has no prepositions. Two things do that work. One is a tail grown onto the noun. The other is a separate word that follows the noun instead of leading it.
There are three tails. -ට (-ṭa) is "to": කඩේට (kaḍēṭa) ("to the shop"). -ෙන් is "from, by": පාරෙන් (pāren) ("along the road"), බස් (bas) එකෙන් (eken) ("by bus"). -ේ is "at": පාරේ (pārē) ("on the street").
The words that come after a noun: ළඟ (ḷanga) ("near"), ඉදිරිපිට (idiripiṭa) ("opposite"), පිටිපස්සේ (piṭipassē) ("behind"), උඩ (uḍa) ("above"), දිගේ (digē) ("along"). බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) ඉදිරිපිට (idiripiṭa) (bæṁkuva idiripiṭa) is "opposite the bank".
The trap is predictable: saying ඉදිරිපිට (idiripiṭa) බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) (idiripiṭa bæṁkuva) in the English order. That reads as "the bank's front building" and earns a puzzled look. Tail and word often work together: පාරෙන් එහා (pāren ehā) is "across the road".
Table
| English preposition | The Sinhala way | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| in, to (direction) | the tail -ට | කඩේට (kaḍēṭa) | to the shop |
| from, by (whence, by what) | the tail -ෙන් | පාරෙන් (pāren) | along the road |
| in (location) | the tail -ේ | පාරේ (pārē) | on the street |
| opposite | a word after the noun | බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) ඉදිරිපිට (idiripiṭa) | opposite the bank |
| behind | a word after the noun | ගොඩනැගිල්ල (goḍanægilla) පිටිපස්සේ (piṭipassē) | behind the building |
| along | a word after the noun | පාර දිගේ (pāra digē) | along the street |
| across | a tail plus a word | පාරෙන් එහා (pāren ehā) | across the road |
By example
- පාර දිගේ ගිහිල්ලා කොනෙන් හැරෙන්නpāra digē gihillā konen hærennaGo along the street and turn at the corner
- ඒක මෙතන ඉඳලා පයින් විනාඩි දහයක්ēka metana indalā payin vināḍi dahayakIt is ten minutes on foot from here
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
Where and to where: how does it work in Sinhala?
Sinhala has no prepositions. Two things do that work. One is a tail grown onto the noun. The other is a separate word that follows the noun instead of leading it.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“ෆාමසිය (fāmasiya) බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) ඉදිරිපිට” (idiripiṭa) (fāmasiya bæṁkuva idiripiṭa) — The pharmacy is opposite the bank. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.