උඩින්, උඩට, උඩ: three tails of place and why there are no prepositions
The backbone tags 'across', 'amid', 'past' and 'through' with the mark prep, and the mark describes the English side of the card. In Sinhala there are no prepositions at all: the word of place stands after the noun and itself declines. Unit fifty-one rests on three tails, and once they are taken apart, half the lesson need not be memorized. For example: “ගහක් පාර හරහට වැටිලා” — A tree fell across the road. A rule…
How it works
The backbone tags 'across', 'amid', 'past' and 'through' with the mark prep, and the mark describes the English side of the card. In Sinhala there are no prepositions at all: the word of place stands after the noun and itself declines. Unit fifty-one rests on three tails, and once they are taken apart, half the lesson need not be memorized.
The bare noun — 'where'. උඩ (the top), යට (the bottom), මැද (the middle), පිටත (the outer side), ඇතුළ (the inside). On its own it answers 'where': කාමරේ මැද (kāmarē mæda) — in the middle of the room, මේසේ උඩ (mēsē uḍa) — on the table.
-ට (-ṭa) — 'to where'. The direction tail familiar from the whole course: උඩට (up), යටට (down), ඇතුළට (inward), පැත්තට (to the side), ආපස්සට (back). The same -ට gives 'close up' ගාවටම (gāvaṭama) — with the emphatic -ම at the end.
-ෙන් — 'from where' and 'from which side'. උඩින් (from above), යටින් (from below), පැත්තෙන් (from the side), පිටතින් (from outside), ඈතින් (from afar), ළඟින් (past). Note: the English 'past' and the English 'afar' are different parts of speech, while Sinhala makes both with the same tail from ළඟ (ḷanga) and ඈත (ǣta).
The order is the reverse of English. English puts the preposition before the noun, Sinhala — the word of place after: පාර හරහට (across the road), ගේ ළඟින් (past the house), තිර රෙද්ද හරහා (through the curtain). Phrase it the English way, and you will not be understood.
And 'toward' is not a place at all. Sinhala says not 'toward me' but 'so as to meet me': මාව හම්බවෙන්න (māva hambavenna) — an infinitive of purpose. The card හම්බවෙන්න (hambavenna) teaches a turn, not a preposition, and that is more honest than inventing a word that does not exist.
Table
| Stem | where (bare) | to where (-ට) | from where (-ෙන්) |
|---|---|---|---|
| උඩ — the top | උඩ — on top | උඩට — up | උඩින් — from above |
| යට — the bottom | යට — below | යටට — down | යටින් — from below |
| ඇතුළ — the inside | ඇතුළේ — inside | ඇතුළට — inward | ඇතුළෙන් — from within |
| පැත්ත — the side | පැත්තේ — at the side | පැත්තට — to the side | පැත්තෙන් — from the side |
| ළඟ — the near | ළඟ — close by | ළඟට — to | ළඟින් — past |
| ඈත — the far | ඈත — far | ඈතට — into the distance | ඈතින් — in the distance |
| පිටත — the outside | පිටත — outside | පිටතට — out | පිටතින් — from outside |
By example
- ගහක් පාර හරහට වැටිලාgahak pāra harahaṭa væṭilāA tree fell across the road
- බස් එක ගේ ළඟින් ගියාbas eka gē ḷangin giyāThe bus drove past the house
- එයා මාව හම්බවෙන්න ගේට්ටුව ළඟට ආවාeyā māva hambavenna gēṭṭuva ḷangaṭa āvāHe came up to the gate to meet me
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
three tails of place and why there are no prepositions: how does it work in Sinhala?
The backbone tags 'across', 'amid', 'past' and 'through' with the mark prep, and the mark describes the English side of the card. In Sinhala there are no prepositions at all: the word of place stands after the noun and itself declines. Unit fifty-one rests on three tails, and once they are taken…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“ගහක් පාර හරහට වැටිලා” (gahak pāra harahaṭa væṭilā) — A tree fell across the road. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.