The tail -ලා: one action after another
English chains actions with 'and' or a participle: 'went into the shop and bought', 'having taken the receipt, returned'. Sinhala manages with one tail, -ලා, on every verb but the last: කඩේට ගිහිල්ලා බඩු ගත්තා — 'went to the shop and bought things'. For example: “රිසිට් එක අරගෙන කඩේට ගියා” — He took the receipt and went to the shop. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English chains actions with 'and' or a participle: 'went into the shop and bought', 'having taken the receipt, returned'. Sinhala manages with one tail, -ලා (-lā), on every verb but the last: කඩේට ගිහිල්ලා බඩු ගත්තා (kaḍēṭa gihillā baḍu gattā) — 'went to the shop and bought things'.
The tail is made from the past: කළා (kaḷā) → කරලා (karalā), ගත්තා (gattā) → අරගෙන (aragena) or ගෙන, ගියා (giyā) → ගිහිල්ලා (gihillā), ආවා (āvā) → ඇවිල්ලා (ævillā), බැලුවා (bæluvā) → බලලා (balalā). For regular verbs it is simply -ලා instead of -ා: කපලා (kapalā), දාලා (dālā), හෝදලා (hōdalā), මාරු කරලා (māru karalā).
The main property: tense and person sit only on the last verb; all the earlier ones stay in the -ලා form regardless of who and when is meant. රිසිට් එක අරගෙන කඩේට ගියා (risiṭ eka aragena kaḍēṭa giyā) — 'he took the receipt and went to the shop'; රිසිට් එක අරගෙන කඩේට යනවා (risiṭ eka aragena kaḍēṭa yanavā) — 'he will take the receipt and go to the shop'. One word out of four changes.
The same tail makes the polite request: මාරු කරලා දෙන්න (māru karalā denna) 'exchange it for me', ගිෆ්ට් රැප් කරලා දෙන්න (gifṭ ræp karalā denna) 'wrap it as a gift'. Word for word 'having done, give', and in a shop one can hardly do without this formula.
And the third use — a state: කැඩිලා තියෙනවා (kæḍilā tiyenavā) 'is broken', නරක් වෙලා (narak velā) 'has gone off', වහලා (vahalā) 'is closed'. Here -ලා shows not the order of actions but that the action has already happened and the result is visible.
Table
| Verb | Past | The -ලා tail | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| කරනවා — to do | කළා | කරලා | මාරු කරලා දෙන්න — exchange it for me |
| යනවා — to go | ගියා | ගිහිල්ලා | කඩේට ගිහිල්ලා ගත්තා — went to the shop and bought |
| එනවා — to come | ආවා | ඇවිල්ලා | ගෙදර ඇවිල්ලා කෑවා — came home and ate |
| ගන්නවා — to take | ගත්තා | අරගෙන | රිසිට් එක අරගෙන ගියා — took the receipt and went |
| කැඩෙනවා — to get broken | කැඩුණා | කැඩිලා | ස්ක්රීන් එක කැඩිලා — the screen is broken |
| නරක් වෙනවා — to go off | නරක් වුණා | නරක් වෙලා | කිරි නරක් වෙලා — the milk has gone off |
By example
- රිසිට් එක අරගෙන කඩේට ගියාrisiṭ eka aragena kaḍēṭa giyāHe took the receipt and went to the shop
- මේක ගිෆ්ට් රැප් කරලා දෙන්නmēka gifṭ ræp karalā dennaWrap this as a gift
- බඩුව බලලා ගන්නbaḍuva balalā gannaLook at the goods and take them
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
one action after another: how does it work in Sinhala?
English chains actions with 'and' or a participle: 'went into the shop and bought', 'having taken the receipt, returned'. Sinhala manages with one tail, -ලා, on every verb but the last: කඩේට ගිහිල්ලා බඩු ගත්තා — 'went to the shop and bought things'.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“රිසිට් එක අරගෙන කඩේට ගියා” (risiṭ eka aragena kaḍēṭa giyā) — He took the receipt and went to the shop. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.