The feature: bare before a noun, with -යි as a predicate
A Sinhala feature has two forms, and the choice between them is made not by meaning but by the place in the sentence. Before a noun it stands bare: ලොකු ගෙදර 'a big house', හොඳ මිනිහෙක් 'a good man', මසුරු කෙනෙක් 'a stingy man'. As a predicate it takes -යි: ගෙදර ලොකුයි 'the house is big', එයා මසුරුයි 'he is stingy'. For example: “එයා ගොඩක් ඉවසිලිවන්තයි” — He is very patient. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked…
How it works
A Sinhala feature has two forms, and the choice between them is made not by meaning but by the place in the sentence. Before a noun it stands bare: ලොකු ගෙදර (loku gedara) 'a big house', හොඳ මිනිහෙක් (honda minihek) 'a good man', මසුරු කෙනෙක් (masuru kenek) 'a stingy man'. As a predicate it takes -යි: ගෙදර ලොකුයි (gedara lokuyi) 'the house is big', එයා මසුරුයි (eyā masuruyi) 'he is stingy'.
The beginner’s mistake is one and the same: saying එයා මසුරු (eyā masuru) or මසුරුයි කෙනෙක් (masuruyi kenek). Both times the form is out of place, and both times a Sinhala speaker will ask again.
How -යි is added depends on the last sound. To a feature on a consonant or on -ු the tag sticks directly: ලොකු (loku) → ලොකුයි (lokuyi), මසුරු (masuru) → මසුරුයි (masuruyi). To a feature on -අ — with a vowel change: හොඳ (honda) → හොඳයි (hondayi), පරණ (paraṇa) → පරණයි (paraṇayi). For long literary features in -වන්ත and -මත් the simplest is to add -යි at the end: ඉවසිලිවන්තයි (ivasilivantayi), සැලකිලිමත් (sælakilimat).
The negation of a predicate is not -යි but නෑ (nǣ) following the bare form: එයා මසුරු නෑ (eyā masuru nǣ) 'he is not stingy'. That is, in the negation the feature is bare again, as before a noun. This is worth memorizing separately.
And a third form worth knowing in advance: a feature with -ම gives the superlative (හොඳම (hondama) 'the best'), while a feature with කෙනෙක් (kenek) gives the noun 'such a person': මසුරු කෙනෙක්, කපටි කෙනෙක් (kapaṭi kenek). Sinhala needs no separate word for 'a stingy one'.
Table
| Feature | Before a noun | As a predicate | Negation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ලොකු — big | ලොකු ගෙදර | ගෙදර ලොකුයි | ගෙදර ලොකු නෑ |
| හොඳ — good | හොඳ මිනිහෙක් | මිනිහා හොඳයි | මිනිහා හොඳ නෑ |
| මසුරු — stingy | මසුරු කෙනෙක් | එයා මසුරුයි | එයා මසුරු නෑ |
| උස — tall | උස මිනිහෙක් | එයා උසයි | එයා උස නෑ |
| කපටි — cunning | කපටි කෙනෙක් | එයා කපටියි | එයා කපටි නෑ |
| තට්ට — bald | තට්ට ඔලුව | එයා තට්ටයි | එයා තට්ට නෑ |
By example
- එයා ගොඩක් ඉවසිලිවන්තයිeyā goḍak ivasilivantayiHe is very patient
- මුරණ්ඩු ළමයෙක් ගෙදර ඉන්නවාmuraṇḍu ḷamayek gedara innavāThere is a stubborn child at home
- මගේ යාළුවා මසුරු නෑmagē yāḷuvā masuru nǣMy friend is not stingy
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 feature: how does it work in Sinhala?
A Sinhala feature has two forms, and the choice between them is made not by meaning but by the place in the sentence. Before a noun it stands bare: ලොකු ගෙදර 'a big house', හොඳ මිනිහෙක් 'a good man', මසුරු කෙනෙක් 'a stingy man'. As a predicate it takes -යි: ගෙදර ලොකුයි 'the house is big', එයා…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“එයා ගොඩක් ඉවසිලිවන්තයි” (eyā goḍak ivasilivantayi) — He is very patient. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.