From where, from whom and with what: the tail -ෙන් and -ගෙන්
The course knows two case tails: -ට ('to whom, to where') and -ේ ('where, whose'). Unit forty-one demands a third — -ෙන්. Without it one can neither take an advance from a client, nor pay by card, nor invoke the law. For example: “ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම ගත්තා, ඉතුරු ගාණ බඩුව ආවම” — They took an advance from the client, the rest — when the goods arrive. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not…
How it works
The course knows two case tails: -ට ('to whom, to where') and -ේ ('where, whose'). Unit forty-one demands a third — -ෙන්. Without it one can neither take an advance from a client, nor pay by card, nor invoke the law.
How it is attached. To a thing — -ෙන්: ෆැක්ටරිය → ෆැක්ටරියෙන්, ගබඩාව (gabaḍāva) → ගබඩාවෙන් (gabaḍāven), නීතිය (nītiya) → නීතියෙන් (nītiyen). To the plural — -වලින් (-valin): සල්ලි (salli) → සල්ලිවලින් (sallivalin). And to the animate — -ගෙන්: බොස් (bos) → බොස්ගෙන්, ක්ලයන්ට් (klayanṭ) → ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් (klayanṭgen), මම (mama) → මගෙන් (magen), ඔයා (oyā) → ඔයාගෙන්, එයා (eyā) → එයාගෙන් (eyāgen). The animate/inanimate split the course has already covered with 'there is' and with the plural; here it works exactly the same.
First: from where. ෆැක්ටරියෙන් ආවා — he came from the factory, ගබඩාවෙන් ගෙනාවා (gabaḍāven genāvā) — they brought it from the warehouse, කොළඹින් — from Colombo. English reaches for three prepositions — from, out of, off — while Sinhala manages with one tail.
Second: from whom it was taken. ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම ගත්තා (klayanṭgen attikārama gattā) — they took an advance from the client, සප්ලයර්ගෙන් ගත්තා — they bought it from the supplier, බොස්ගෙන් ඇහුවා — he asked the boss. This is the spot where the foreigner slips by himself: the hand reaches for ළඟ ('at, near'), while -ගෙන් is needed.
Third: with what and through what. කාඩ් එකෙන් ගෙව්වා (kāḍ eken gevvā) — paid by card, ලීයෙන් හදපු — made of wood, ඔන්ලයින් කඩෙන් ගත්තා (onlayin kaḍen gattā) — bought in an online shop. The instrument, the material and the route are one and the same tail.
Fourth: according to what and by how much. නීතියෙන් — by law, සියයට දහයෙන් (siyayaṭa dahayen) — by ten percent, මාරුවෙන් මාරුවට (māruven māruvaṭa) — in turns, තමන්ගේ සල්ලිවලින් (tamangē sallivalin) — at one’s own expense. Comparison belongs here too: the familiar වඩා (vaḍā) demands exactly this tail on the thing compared with — අවම පඩියෙන් වැඩියි ('more than the minimum wage').
What this tail does not do. It does not answer 'to whom'. The pair -ට / -ගෙන් works like the English pair 'to' / 'from', and confusing them is costly: බොස්ට කිව්වා (bosṭa kivvā) — told it to the boss, බොස්ගෙන් ඇහුවා — asked the boss. One letter, and the meaning is the opposite.
Table
| The tail’s job | Example | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| whence | ෆැක්ටරියෙන් ආවා | came from the factory |
| from whom (the animate) | ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් ගත්තා | took it from the client |
| by what means | කාඩ් එකෙන් ගෙව්වා | paid by card |
| of what material | ලීයෙන් හදපු | made of wood |
| according to what | නීතියෙන් | by law |
| the plural | සල්ලිවලින් | with money, at money’s expense |
| comparison | අවම පඩියෙන් වැඩියි | more than the minimum wage |
| NOT “to whom” | බොස්ට කිව්වා | told the boss — that is -ට |
By example
- ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම ගත්තා, ඉතුරු ගාණ බඩුව ආවමklayanṭgen attikārama gattā, ituru gāṇa baḍuva āvamaThey took an advance from the client, the rest — when the goods arrive
- නීතියෙන් ඔයාට ඒ අයිතිය තියෙනවාnītiyen oyāṭa ē ayitiya tiyenavāBy law you have this right
- මම කාඩ් එකෙන් ගෙව්වා, එයා තමන්ගේ සල්ලිවලින්mama kāḍ eken gevvā, eyā tamangē sallivalinI paid by card, and he — at his own expense
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
From where, from whom and with what: how does it work in Sinhala?
The course knows two case tails: -ට ('to whom, to where') and -ේ ('where, whose'). Unit forty-one demands a third — -ෙන්. Without it one can neither take an advance from a client, nor pay by card, nor invoke the law.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“ක්ලයන්ට්ගෙන් අත්තිකාරම ගත්තා, ඉතුරු ගාණ බඩුව ආවම” (klayanṭgen attikārama gattā, ituru gāṇa baḍuva āvama) — They took an advance from the client, the rest — when the goods arrive. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.