The plural: shorter for things, longer for the animate
The rule unit six introduced is taken to its end here, because from A2 on the plural is needed every day. The main point: it is not one plural but two — one for things, another for the animate, and mixing them up is heard at once. For example: “මට බෝතල් දෙකක් දෙන්න” — Give me two bottles. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The rule unit six introduced is taken to its end here, because from A2 on the plural is needed every day. The main point: it is not one plural but two — one for things, another for the animate, and mixing them up is heard at once.
For the inanimate the plural is usually shorter than the singular: the word loses its tail -ය or -ව. කාමරය (kāmaraya) → කාමර (kāmara), බෝතලය (bōtalaya) → බෝතල් (bōtal), පිඟාන (pingāna) → පිඟන් (pingan), සපත්තුව → සපත්තු (sapattu). Borrowings lose එක (eka): ට්රොලි එක (ṭroli eka) → ට්රොලි (ṭroli), ෆ්ලයිට් එක (flayiṭ eka) → ෆ්ලයිට් (flayiṭ). A separate group of words has no plural at all, being collective already: වතුර (vatura), බත් (bat), සල්ලි (salli), වැලි (væli), බඩු (baḍu).
For the animate the plural is longer: බල්ලා (ballā) → බල්ලෝ, කුරුල්ලා (kurullā) → කුරුල්ලෝ (kurullō), වඳුරා (vandurā) → වඳුරෝ (vandurō), ළමයා (ḷamayā) → ළමයි (ḷamayi). For people by role and profession the suffix -ලා (-lā) works: වේටර්ලා ('waiters'), අම්මලා ('mothers'), සර්ලා ('teachers'). It also politely turns one person into a plural — the way a formal 'you' addresses one person in English.
Counting goes like this: first the noun, then the number, and the number with the ending -ක්. කාමර තුනක් (kāmara tunak) — 'three rooms', ටිකට් දෙකක් (ṭikaṭ dekak) — 'two tickets'. The animate have a counter of their own: දෙන්නෙක් ('two people'), තුන්දෙනෙක් ('three people') — hence දෙන්නෙකුට මේසයක් (dennekuṭa mēsayak), 'a table for two'.
Table
| One | Many | Type of word |
|---|---|---|
| කාමරය | කාමර | a thing: the tail drops |
| බෝතලය | බෝතල් | a thing: the tail drops |
| ට්රොලි එක | ට්රොලි | a borrowing: එක drops |
| බල්ලා | බල්ලෝ | animate: -ා → -ෝ |
| ළමයා | ළමයි | animate: its own form |
| වේටර් | වේටර්ලා | a person by role: -ලා |
By example
- මට බෝතල් දෙකක් දෙන්නmaṭa bōtal dekak dennaGive me two bottles
- මෙතන වඳුරෝ ඉන්නවාmetana vandurō innavāThere are monkeys here
- අපිට කාමර තුනක් ඕනapiṭa kāmara tunak ōnaWe need three rooms
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 plural: how does it work in Sinhala?
The rule unit six introduced is taken to its end here, because from A2 on the plural is needed every day. The main point: it is not one plural but two — one for things, another for the animate, and mixing them up is heard at once.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මට බෝතල් දෙකක් දෙන්න” (maṭa bōtal dekak denna) — Give me two bottles. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.