Who did it does not matter: verb pairs and the literary passive
When the doer is unknown or uninteresting, English reaches for the passive voice ('the door was opened', 'the flight was cancelled') or hides the subject in a plural 'they cancelled'. Spoken Sinhala has no passive voice at all. Instead, half of the verbs come in pairs: one verb about the one who acts, another about what happens by itself. For example: “කාලගුණේ නිසා ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා” — Because of the weather…
How it works
When the doer is unknown or uninteresting, English reaches for the passive voice ('the door was opened', 'the flight was cancelled') or hides the subject in a plural 'they cancelled'. Spoken Sinhala has no passive voice at all. Instead, half of the verbs come in pairs: one verb about the one who acts, another about what happens by itself.
The pair is built by swapping the vowel before -නවා: කඩනවා (kaḍanavā) 'to break' — කැඩෙනවා (kæḍenavā) 'to get broken', වහනවා (vahanavā) 'to close' — වැහෙනවා (væhenavā) 'to get closed', අරිනවා (arinavā) 'to open' — ඇරෙනවා (ærenavā) 'to get opened'. The second verb takes the thing as its subject, and a person may be absent altogether: දොර වැහුණා (dora væhuṇā) — 'the door closed' or 'the door was closed'; in English these are two different sentences, in Sinhala one.
With English loan verbs the same trick goes through වෙනවා (venavā): කැන්සල් කරනවා (kænsal karanavā) 'to cancel' — කැන්සල් වෙනවා (kænsal venavā) 'to get cancelled'. Hence ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා (flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇā) — that very 'the flight was cancelled', where nobody is named and nobody can be.
If the doer must be named all the same, they come not as the subject but with the postposition -ගෙන් ('from whom') or අතින් ('by whose hand'): මගෙන් වැරැද්දක් වුණා (magen væræddak vuṇā) — 'a mistake happened on my side', එයා අතින් වීදුරුව කැඩුණා (eyā atin vīduruva kæḍuṇā) — 'the glass got broken by his hand'. The shade is the same: it happened by itself, nobody is guilty. For an apology this is handier than the direct 'I broke it'.
And separately — the literary passive, never heard in speech but met at every step in a newspaper, in a law and on an official notice: කරනු ලැබේ 'is done', තහනම් කරනු ලැබේ 'is prohibited', පත් කරනු ලැබීය 'was appointed'. It must be recognized, not pronounced: saying කරනු ලැබේ aloud sounds as odd as 'the undersigned hereby decrees'.
Table
| Someone does it | It happens by itself | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| කඩනවා — to break | කැඩෙනවා | ෆෝන් එක කැඩුණා | the phone broke |
| වහනවා — to close | වැහෙනවා | කඩේ වැහුණා | the shop was closed |
| අරිනවා — to open | ඇරෙනවා | ඔෆිස් එක නවයට ඇරෙනවා | the office opens at nine |
| නැති කරනවා — to lose | නැති වෙනවා | ටිකට් එක නැති වුණා | the ticket got lost |
| කැන්සල් කරනවා — to cancel | කැන්සල් වෙනවා | ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා | the flight was cancelled |
| ඉවර කරනවා — to finish | ඉවර වෙනවා | සල්ලි ඉවර වුණා | the money ran out |
| — (on paper only) | කරනු ලැබේ | මෙහි දුම් බීම තහනම් කරනු ලැබේ | smoking is prohibited here |
By example
- කාලගුණේ නිසා ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණාkālaguṇē nisā flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇāBecause of the weather the flight was cancelled
- මගේ ටිකට් එක නැති වුණාmagē ṭikaṭ eka næti vuṇāI lost my ticket
- එයා අතින් වීදුරුව කැඩුණාeyā atin vīduruva kæḍuṇāThe glass got broken in his hands
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
Who did it does not matter: how does it work in Sinhala?
When the doer is unknown or uninteresting, English reaches for the passive voice ('the door was opened', 'the flight was cancelled') or hides the subject in a plural 'they cancelled'. Spoken Sinhala has no passive voice at all. Instead, half of the verbs come in pairs: one verb about the one who…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“කාලගුණේ නිසා ෆ්ලයිට් එක කැන්සල් වුණා” (kālaguṇē nisā flayiṭ eka kænsal vuṇā) — Because of the weather the flight was cancelled. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.