How it is done: -ව, -ෙන්, -ට and “ඇඟට හොඳයි”
An English adverb is a ready-made word: 'by hand', 'automatically', 'harmful', 'in vain', 'with effort'. Sinhala has few ready-made words of this kind, but it has four seams with which the adverb is made on the spot from a noun or a feature. Whoever knows them need not memorize this class at all. For example: “මේක අතින් ලියන්න ඕන, ප්රින්ට් කරන්න එපා” — This must be written by hand, not printed. A rule from the…
How it works
An English adverb is a ready-made word: 'by hand', 'automatically', 'harmful', 'in vain', 'with effort'. Sinhala has few ready-made words of this kind, but it has four seams with which the adverb is made on the spot from a noun or a feature. Whoever knows them need not memorize this class at all.
Seam one: -ෙන් — 'by what, in what way'. The very tail with which the course already said 'paid by card'. අත (ata) → අතින් (by hand), අමාරු (amāru) → අමාරුවෙන් (with effort), ලේසි (lēsi) → ලේසියෙන් (easily), ඉක්මන → ඉක්මනින් (quickly), උදව් (udav) → උදව්වෙන් (thanks to help). Means and manner are the same thing in Sinhala.
Seam two: -ට (-ṭa) — 'in which direction, to what degree'. ඉක්මන → ඉක්මනට (quickly), හොඳ (honda) → හොඳට (well), වාසනාව → වාසනාවකට (fortunately). The pair ඉක්මනින් / ඉක්මනට differs in almost nothing, and that is normal: two seams often take the same word.
Seam three: -ව — literary, from written speech. ලිඛිත (likhita) → ලිඛිතව (in writing), වාචික → වාචිකව (orally), තාවකාලික → තාවකාලිකව (temporarily). This seam appears in a contract and in an announcement, while speech replaces it with a turn: not ලිඛිතව but ලියලා (liyalā).
Seam four: -ම — emphasis grown fast. ඉබේ → ඉබේම (automatically, by itself), නිකම් → නිකම්ම (just like that), වැඩිපුර (væḍipura) → වැඩිපුරම (mostly), වතාවෙන් → වතාවෙන්ම (from the very first time). The same -ම that makes the superlative here makes the adverb more definite.
And where there is no seam, Sinhala names to whom and to what. The English 'harmful' is an appraisal without an addressee; the Sinhala ඇඟට නරකයි (ængaṭa narakayi) is 'to the body it is bad'. ඇඟට හොඳයි (good for the body), සල්ලිවලට නරකයි (bad for the money, that is, costly), කියන්න අමාරුයි (hard to say), බලන්න වටිනවා (worth a look). The formula is one: to whom/what with the tail -ට plus a feature with the link -යි, and in the place of 'to whom' a whole action in the -න්න form may stand.
Separately stands නිකරුණේ ('in vain'). It comes from නි- ('without') and කරුණ ('cause'), and there are few such fused words in the language — but they need not be taken apart: they are memorized whole.
Table
| Seam | From what | What came out | In plain words |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ෙන් | අත — the hand | අතින් | by hand |
| -ෙන් | අමාරු — hard | අමාරුවෙන් | with effort |
| -ෙන් | උදව් — help | උදව්වෙන් | thanks to help |
| -ට | ඉක්මන — quickness | ඉක්මනට | quickly |
| -ට | වාසනාව — luck | වාසනාවකට | fortunately |
| -ව | ලිඛිත — written | ලිඛිතව | in writing (literary) |
| -ම | ඉබේ — by itself | ඉබේම | automatically |
| -ම | වැඩිපුර — in excess | වැඩිපුරම | mostly |
| -ට + -යි | ඇඟ — the body, නරක — bad | ඇඟට නරකයි | harmful |
| -න්න + -යි | කියනවා, අමාරු | කියන්න අමාරුයි | hard to say |
By example
- මේක අතින් ලියන්න ඕන, ප්රින්ට් කරන්න එපාmēka atin liyanna ōna, prinṭ karanna epāThis must be written by hand, not printed
- දොර ඉබේම වැහෙනවා, අමාරුවෙන් අදින්න ඕන නෑdora ibēma væhenavā, amāruven adinna ōna nǣThe door closes automatically, no need to pull it with effort
- තෙල් කෑම ඇඟට නරකයි, ඇවිදින එක ඇඟට හොඳයිtel kǣma ængaṭa narakayi, ævidina eka ængaṭa hondayiFatty food is bad for you, and walking is good for you
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
Sinhala adverbs?
An English adverb is a ready-made word: 'by hand', 'automatically', 'harmful', 'in vain', 'with effort'. Sinhala has few ready-made words of this kind, but it has four seams with which the adverb is made on the spot from a noun or a feature. Whoever knows them need not memorize this class at all.
How adverbs are formed in Sinhala?
Seam one: -ෙන් — 'by what, in what way'. The very tail with which the course already said 'paid by card'. අත → අතින් (by hand), අමාරු → අමාරුවෙන් (with effort), ලේසි → ලේසියෙන් (easily), ඉක්මන → ඉක්මනින් (quickly), උදව් → උදව්වෙන් (thanks to help). Means and manner are the same thing in Sinhala.
How to say bad for you in Sinhala?
Seam two: -ට — 'in which direction, to what degree'. ඉක්මන → ඉක්මනට (quickly), හොඳ → හොඳට (well), වාසනාව → වාසනාවකට (fortunately). The pair ඉක්මනින් / ඉක්මනට differs in almost nothing, and that is normal: two seams often take the same word.
Ikmanin vs ikmanata?
Seam three: -ව — literary, from written speech. ලිඛිත → ලිඛිතව (in writing), වාචික → වාචිකව (orally), තාවකාලික → තාවකාලිකව (temporarily). This seam appears in a contract and in an announcement, while speech replaces it with a turn: not ලිඛිතව but ලියලා.
The Sinhala ending -en: by hand or with effort?
Seam four: -ම — emphasis grown fast. ඉබේ → ඉබේම (automatically, by itself), නිකම් → නිකම්ම (just like that), වැඩිපුර → වැඩිපුරම (mostly), වතාවෙන් → වතාවෙන්ම (from the very first time). The same -ම that makes the superlative here makes the adverb more definite.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මේක අතින් ලියන්න ඕන, ප්රින්ට් කරන්න එපා” (mēka atin liyanna ōna, prinṭ karanna epā) — This must be written by hand, not printed. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.