LingoflyFrom where, from whom, with what: the tail -ෙන් and -ගෙන්
To say "took it from the client", "paid by card" and "by law", you need the tail -ෙන්. For example: “ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම (attikārama) ගත්තා (gattā), ඉතුරු (ituru) ගාණ (gāṇa) බඩුව (baḍuva) ආවම” (āvama) — They took an advance from the client, the rest — when the goods arrive. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
To say "took it from the client", "paid by card" and "by law", you need the tail -ෙන්.
On a thing it goes straight on: ෆැක්ටරියෙන්, නීතියෙන් (nītiyen). On a plural it becomes -වලින් (-valin): සල්ලිවලින් (sallivalin). On a living being it becomes -ගෙන්: බොස්ගෙන්, ඔයාගෙන්.
It has four jobs. Where from: ෆැක්ටරියෙන් ආවා (āvā) ("came from the factory"). From whom: ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් ගත්තා (gattā) ("took it from the client"). With what: කාඩ් (kāḍ) එකෙන් (eken) ගෙව්වා (gevvā) ("paid by card"). By what: නීතියෙන් (nītiyen) ("by law").
The trap: this tail never answers "to whom". බොස්ට (bosṭa) කිව්වා (kivvā) (bosṭa kivvā) is "told the boss", බොස්ගෙන් ඇහුවා (æhuvā) is "asked the boss". A short tail, and the sense turns over.
Table
| The tail’s job | Example | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| whence | ෆැක්ටරියෙන් ආවා (āvā) | came from the factory |
| from whom (the animate) | ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් ගත්තා (gattā) | took it from the client |
| by what means | කාඩ් (kāḍ) එකෙන් (eken) ගෙව්වා (gevvā) | paid by card |
| of what material | ලීයෙන් හදපු (hadapu) | made of wood |
| according to what | නීතියෙන් (nītiyen) | by law |
| the plural | සල්ලිවලින් (sallivalin) | with money, at money’s expense |
| comparison | අවම (avama) පඩියෙන් (paḍiyen) වැඩියි (væḍiyi) | more than the minimum wage |
| NOT “to whom” | බොස්ට (bosṭa) කිව්වා (kivvā) | told the boss — that is -ට |
By example
- ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම ගත්තා, ඉතුරු ගාණ බඩුව ආවමklayanṭgen attikārama gattā, ituru gāṇa baḍuva āvamaThey took an advance from the client, the rest — when the goods arrive
- මම කාඩ් එකෙන් ගෙව්වා, එයා තමන්ගේ සල්ලිවලින්mama kāḍ eken gevvā, eyā tamangē sallivalinI paid by card, and he — at his own expense
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
From where, from whom, with what: how does it work in Sinhala?
To say "took it from the client", "paid by card" and "by law", you need the tail -ෙන්.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම (attikārama) ගත්තා (gattā), ඉතුරු (ituru) ගාණ (gāṇa) බඩුව (baḍuva) ආවම” (āvama) (klayanṭgen attikārama gattā, ituru gāṇa baḍuva āvama) — They took an advance from the client, the rest — when the goods arrive. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.