No relative clause: a participle instead
The English 'the man who works at the bank' is two sentences stitched by the word 'who'. Sinhala has no such word at all, and no subordinate clause either. Instead — a participle before the noun: බැංකුවේ වැඩ කරන මිනිහා, word for word 'at-the-bank working man'. The whole modifier, however long, stands in front of what it modifies. For example: “බැංකුවේ වැඩ කරන මිනිහා මගේ අයියා” — The man who works at the bank is my…
How it works
The English 'the man who works at the bank' is two sentences stitched by the word 'who'. Sinhala has no such word at all, and no subordinate clause either. Instead — a participle before the noun: බැංකුවේ වැඩ කරන මිනිහා (bæṁkuvē væḍa karana minihā), word for word 'at-the-bank working man'. The whole modifier, however long, stands in front of what it modifies.
The participle is made from the verb by swapping the ending. Present: කරනවා (karanavā) → කරන (karana), යනවා (yanavā) → යන (yana), ලියනවා (liyanavā) → ලියන. Past: කරනවා → කරපු (karapu), ගන්නවා (gannavā) → ගත්ත (gatta), එනවා (enavā) → ආපු (āpu). No agreement: one form for any number and any gender.
From here come everything for which English needs 'which': මම ගත්ත පොත (mama gatta pota) 'the book I bought', ඊයේ ආපු ලියුම (īyē āpu liyuma) 'the letter that came yesterday', කුලියට දෙන ගෙදර (kuliyaṭa dena gedara) 'the house that is let'. Note: the participle’s subject (මම (mama)) stands inside the phrase, not outside it.
Negation is hung on the participle itself through නැති (næti): වැඩ නොකරන මිනිහා or, more colloquially, වැඩ කරන්නේ නැති මිනිහා (væḍa karannē næti minihā) — 'the man who does not work'.
And one warning about order. English builds the chain left to right, Sinhala right to left: මම ඊයේ බැංකුවෙන් ගත්ත ලෝන් එක (mama īyē bæṁkuven gatta lōn eka) is read from the end — 'the loan', 'that (I) took', 'from the bank', 'yesterday', 'I'. Take a long modifier apart exactly that way, from the last word to the first.
Table
| Verb | Present participle | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| කරනවා — to do | කරන | කරපු | වැඩ කරන කෙනා — the one who works |
| යනවා — to go | යන | ගිය | ගිය අවුරුද්දේ — in the year gone by |
| එනවා — to come | එන | ආපු | ඊයේ ආපු ලියුම — the letter that came yesterday |
| ගන්නවා — to take | ගන්න | ගත්ත | මම ගත්ත පොත — the book I bought |
| කියනවා — to say | කියන | කියපු | දොස්තර කියපු බෙහෙත — the medicine the doctor named |
| දෙනවා — to give | දෙන | දුන්න | ගුරුවරයා දුන්න වැඩේ — the task the teacher gave |
By example
- බැංකුවේ වැඩ කරන මිනිහා මගේ අයියාbæṁkuvē væḍa karana minihā magē ayiyāThe man who works at the bank is my brother
- මම ඊයේ ගත්ත පෙළ පොත මෙන්නmama īyē gatta peḷa pota mennaHere is the textbook I bought yesterday
- කුලියට දෙන ගෙදර ලොකුයිkuliyaṭa dena gedara lokuyiThe house that is let is big
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
No relative clause: how does it work in Sinhala?
The English 'the man who works at the bank' is two sentences stitched by the word 'who'. Sinhala has no such word at all, and no subordinate clause either. Instead — a participle before the noun: බැංකුවේ වැඩ කරන මිනිහා, word for word 'at-the-bank working man'. The whole modifier, however long…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“බැංකුවේ වැඩ කරන මිනිහා මගේ අයියා” (bæṁkuvē væḍa karana minihā magē ayiyā) — The man who works at the bank is my brother. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.