වැඩේට බහිනවා, කල් ඇදෙනවා: phases and will
The backbone warns outright: for 'stop', 'complete', 'resume', 'set about', 'take up' and 'drag on' the mark verb describes the English side of the card, while in Sinhala these are linkers. What must be sorted out here is not the words but two mechanisms at once. For example: “මට වැඩේ හරි ගියා” — I managed this job. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The backbone warns outright: for 'stop', 'complete', 'resume', 'set about', 'take up' and 'drag on' the mark verb describes the English side of the card, while in Sinhala these are linkers. What must be sorted out here is not the words but two mechanisms at once.
First: the phase is expressed by a second verb or an adverb. Sinhala has no prefixes, and 'to start again' it builds with an adverb: ආයෙත් පටන් ගන්නවා (āyet paṭan gannavā). 'To interrupt' — with an adverb of place: මැදින් නවත්තනවා (mædin navattanavā), to stop in the middle. 'To set about' — with a whole picture: වැඩේට බහිනවා (væḍēṭa bahinavā), to descend into the work. 'To take up' — likewise: අත ගහනවා (ata gahanavā), to lay a hand. The turn must be memorized whole, because by parts it does not assemble.
Second: the pair -කරනවා (-karanavā) / -වෙනවා (-venavā). Almost every verb of this unit goes in pairs. -කරනවා means 'I do it', -වෙනවා — 'it happens by itself':
වැඩි කරනවා (to increase) — වැඩි වෙනවා (to grow); අවුල් කරනවා (to tangle) — අවුල් වෙනවා (to get tangled); කල් අදිනවා (to drag on purpose) — කල් ඇදෙනවා (to drag on by itself); නවත්තනවා (to stop) — නවතිනවා (to come to a stop).
Third, and the most unusual: the involuntary verb puts the person in the dative. The course has seen this already with පේනවා (pēnavā) and ඇහෙනවා (æhenavā). In this unit හරි යනවා (to succeed) and පුළුවන් වෙනවා (to manage) are built that way: මට හරි ගියා (maṭa hari giyā) — word for word 'it went right for me', not 'I succeeded'. Saying මම හරි ගියා (mama hari giyā) is impossible.
The choice between the active and the involuntary form is the choice of who answers. මම වැඩේ අවුල් කළා (mama væḍē avul kaḷā) admits the fault; වැඩේ අවුල් වුණා (væḍē avul vuṇā) removes it. Sinhala uses this constantly, and its politeness often rests precisely on the choice of the form.
Table
| Actively (-කරනවා) | By itself (-වෙනවා) | The sense of the pair |
|---|---|---|
| වැඩි කරනවා — to increase | වැඩි වෙනවා — to grow | someone does it / it grows by itself |
| අඩු කරනවා — to reduce | අඩු වෙනවා — to decrease | the same |
| අවුල් කරනවා — to tangle | අවුල් වෙනවා — to get tangled | there is fault / there is none |
| කල් අදිනවා — to drag out | කල් ඇදෙනවා — to drag on | on purpose / by itself |
| නවත්තනවා — to stop (something) | නවතිනවා — to come to a stop | the same |
| හෙළි කරනවා — to uncover | හෙළි වෙනවා — to come to light | someone uncovered / it came to light |
| — (no pair) | හරි යනවා — to work out | the person in the dative: මට හරි ගියා |
By example
- මට වැඩේ හරි ගියාmaṭa væḍē hari giyāI managed this job
- රැස්වීම පැය දෙකක් කල් ඇදුණාræsvīma pæya dekak kal æduṇāThe meeting dragged on for two hours
- වැස්ස නැවතුනාම වැඩ ආයෙත් පටන් ගත්තාvæssa nævatunāma væḍa āyet paṭan gattāWhen the rain stopped, the work was resumed
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
phases and will: how does it work in Sinhala?
The backbone warns outright: for 'stop', 'complete', 'resume', 'set about', 'take up' and 'drag on' the mark verb describes the English side of the card, while in Sinhala these are linkers. What must be sorted out here is not the words but two mechanisms at once.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මට වැඩේ හරි ගියා” (maṭa væḍē hari giyā) — I managed this job. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.