From 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 ගත්තා, ඉතුරු ගාණ බඩුව ආවම” — 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 ("came from the factory"). From whom: ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් ගත්තා ("took it from the client"). With what: කාඩ් එකෙන් ගෙව්වා ("paid by card"). By what: නීතියෙන් ("by law").
The trap: this tail never answers "to whom". බොස්ට කිව්වා (bosṭa kivvā) is "told the boss", බොස්ගෙන් ඇහුවා is "asked the boss". A short tail, and the sense turns over.
Table
| The tail’s job | Example | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| whence | ෆැක්ටරියෙන් ආවා | came from the factory |
| from whom (the animate) | ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් ගත්තා | took it from the client |
| by what means | කාඩ් එකෙන් ගෙව්වා | paid by card |
| of what material | ලීයෙන් හදපු | made of wood |
| according to what | නීතියෙන් | by law |
| the plural | සල්ලිවලින් | with money, at money’s expense |
| comparison | අවම පඩියෙන් වැඩියි | more than the minimum wage |
| NOT “to whom” | බොස්ට කිව්වා | 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
- නීතියෙන් ඔයාට ඒ අයිතිය තියෙනවාnītiyen oyāṭa ē ayitiya tiyenavāBy law you have this right
- 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 an example sentence Sinhala?
“ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම ගත්තා, ඉතුරු ගාණ බඩුව ආවම” (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.