LingoflyThe name of an action: -ීම, “...න එක” and the written -නය
Sinhala turns a verb into a name in three ways, and they do not stand in for one another. For example: “කසළ (kasaḷa) රීසයිකල් කරන එක (rīsayikal karana eka) අපේ (apē) ගමේ (gamē) පටන් (paṭan) ගත්තා” (gattā) — Recycling garbage was started in our village. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Sinhala turns a verb into a name in three ways, and they do not stand in for one another.
In speech you take the -න shape and add එක (eka): රීසයිකල් කරන එක (rīsayikal karana eka) ("recycling"), බොන (bona) එක (eka) ("drinking"). Word for word, that is "the very thing that gets done".
An application or a public notice uses -ීම: ගෙවීම (gevīma) ("a payment"), බැඳීම (bændīma) ("an obligation"). The root vowel often repaints itself on the way. Verbs with කරනවා (karanavā) give කිරීම (kirīma): පරිත්‍යාග (parityāga) කිරීම (kirīma) (parityāga kirīma) is "a donation".
A newspaper and a signboard carry ready-made written names: නිෂ්පාදනය (niṣpādanaya) ("production"), දූෂණය (dūṣaṇaya) ("pollution"). There is no need to take those apart. The three ways differ not in sense but in who is speaking.
Table
| Way | Where it sounds | From the verb | The name |
|---|---|---|---|
| ...න එක (eka) | speech | රීසයිකල් (rīsayikal) කරනවා (karanavā) | රීසයිකල් කරන එක (rīsayikal karana eka) — recycling |
| ...න එක (eka) | speech | බොනවා (bonavā) | බොන (bona) එක (eka) — drinking |
| -ීම | an application, an announcement | ගෙවනවා (gevanavā) | ගෙවීම (gevīma) — a payment |
| -ීම | an application, an announcement | බඳිනවා | බැඳීම (bændīma) — an obligation |
| -ීම | an application, an announcement | අදිනවා (adinavā) | ඇදීම — a strain |
| කිරීම (kirīma) | any verb with කරනවා (karanavā) | පරිත්‍යාග කරනවා (parityāga karanavā) | පරිත්‍යාග (parityāga) කිරීම (kirīma) — a donation |
| -නය, -ණය | a newspaper, a notice | a ready literary name | නිෂ්පාදනය (niṣpādanaya) — production |
| -නය, -ණය | a newspaper, a notice | a ready literary name | දූෂණය (dūṣaṇaya) — pollution |
By example
- කසළ රීසයිකල් කරන එක අපේ ගමේ පටන් ගත්තාkasaḷa rīsayikal karana eka apē gamē paṭan gattāRecycling garbage was started in our village
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
The name of an action: how does it work in Sinhala?
Sinhala turns a verb into a name in three ways, and they do not stand in for one another.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“කසළ (kasaḷa) රීසයිකල් කරන එක (rīsayikal karana eka) අපේ (apē) ගමේ (gamē) පටන් (paṭan) ගත්තා” (gattā) (kasaḷa rīsayikal karana eka apē gamē paṭan gattā) — Recycling garbage was started in our village. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.