This, that and that over there: මේ, ඒ, අර
English manages with 'this' and 'that' — two. Sinhala has three, and the third is not decoration: මේ is what is in my hands, ඒ is what is near you or what we have just been talking about, අර is what both of us can see but is far from both. Pointing at a distant house with ඒ is possible, but it sounds as odd as 'that one' about a thing lying right under your nose. For example: “මේ ෆෝන් එක මගේ” — This phone is mine. A…
How it works
English manages with 'this' and 'that' — two. Sinhala has three, and the third is not decoration: මේ (mē) is what is in my hands, ඒ (ē) is what is near you or what we have just been talking about, අර (ara) is what both of us can see but is far from both. Pointing at a distant house with ඒ is possible, but it sounds as odd as 'that one' about a thing lying right under your nose.
What must be told apart is two forms, not two words. මේ, ඒ, අර stand only before a noun: මේ ෆෝන් එක (mē fōn eka) 'this phone', අර පාර්ක් එක (ara pārk eka) 'that park over there'. On their own they do not live — in place of the noun go මේක (mēka), ඒක (ēka), අරක: ඒක කීයද (ēka kīyada)? 'how much is that?', මේක මගේ (mēka magē) 'this is mine'. Saying 'මේ කීයද (mē kīyada)?' is impossible: the modifier would dangle without a noun.
About people the same three steps give මෙයා, එයා (eyā), අරයා. The familiar එයා 'he, she' is exactly the middle demonstrative: Sinhala does not tell man from woman, but it does register how far the person is. Introductions are made with the near one: මෙයා මගේ අයියා — 'this is my brother'.
You already know half of the place row: මෙතන (metana) 'here' and අතන (atana) 'over there' turned up in unit one, and between them stands එතන (etana) 'there, by you'. The fourth column is the question: මොන (mona), මොකක්ද (mokakda), කවුද (kavuda), කොහෙද (koheda). The table row is read left to right as 'this — that — that over there — which?', and it is worth memorizing whole, not word by word.
Separately about ඒ: it also points back to what was said. ඒ ගැන පස්සේ කතා කරමු (ē gæna passē katā karamu) — 'we will talk about that later', ඒක තමයි (ēka tamayi) — 'that is exactly it'. Neither මේ nor අර works like that.
Table
| Near (me-) | Middle (e-) | Far (ara-) | Question | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| මේ | ඒ | අර | මොන | before a noun: this / that / that over there / which |
| මේක | ඒක | අරක | මොකක්ද | in place of a noun: this one / that one / that one over there / what |
| මෙයා | එයා | අරයා | කවුද | about a person: this one / he, she / that one over there / who |
| මෙතන | එතන | අතන | කොහෙද | here / there / over there / where |
| මෙහෙම | එහෙම | — | කොහොමද | this way / that way / how |
By example
- මේ ෆෝන් එක මගේmē fōn eka magēThis phone is mine
- ඒක කීයද?ēka kīyada?How much is that?
- අර පාර්ක් එක ගෙදර ළඟයිara pārk eka gedara ḷangayiThat park over there is near the house
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
This, that and that over there: how does it work in Sinhala?
English manages with 'this' and 'that' — two. Sinhala has three, and the third is not decoration: මේ is what is in my hands, ඒ is what is near you or what we have just been talking about, අර is what both of us can see but is far from both. Pointing at a distant house with ඒ is possible, but it…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මේ ෆෝන් එක මගේ” (mē fōn eka magē) — This phone is mine. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.