ලීටර් දෙකක්: the measure first, the number after it
Unit forty-five introduces the meter, the liter and the gram, and on the very first phrase the foreigner slips twice: once in the word order, once in the tail. Both spots are fixed by one rule. For example: “මට තේ ග්රෑම් සීයක් සහ සීනි කිලෝ එකක් දෙන්න” — Give me a hundred grams of tea and a kilo of sugar. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Unit forty-five introduces the meter, the liter and the gram, and on the very first phrase the foreigner slips twice: once in the word order, once in the tail. Both spots are fixed by one rule.
The measure goes before the number, not after. English says 'two liters'; Sinhala says ලීටර් දෙකක් (līṭar dekak). Likewise මීටර් තුනක් (three meters), කිලෝ පහක් (five kilos), ග්රෑම් සීයක් (a hundred grams), රුපියල් දාහක් (a thousand rupees). The order is the same for everything measured and counted in pieces: first — of what, then — how much.
The tail -ක් on the number means 'so many, without counting them out'. ලීටර් දෙකක් — two liters in general; ලීටර් දෙක (līṭar deka) without the tail — those very two liters already talked about. The difference is exactly the one the course covered under definiteness, and it holds here too.
The unit itself loses its tail next to a number. The dictionary forms are මීටරය (mīṭaraya), ලීටරය (līṭaraya), සෙන්ටිමීටරය (senṭimīṭaraya), කිලෝමීටරය (kilōmīṭaraya); next to a number only the bare stem remains: මීටර් (mīṭar), ලීටර් (līṭar), සෙන්ටිමීටර් (senṭimīṭar). The full form is needed when the unit as such is talked about: මීටරය කියන්නේ මොකද්ද (mīṭaraya kiyannē mokadda)?
The size of a thing is expressed as possession. The English 'the length of the table' and the Sinhala මේසෙ දිග (mēse diga) are built alike: first the thing with the tail -ේ, then the measure. තාප්පේ උස (the height of the fence), දොරේ පළල (the width of the door), තටාකයේ ගැඹුර (the depth of the pool), බෑග් එකේ බර (the weight of the bag). And note: දිග (diga), උස (usa), පළල (paḷala) are at once 'long, tall, wide'. Before a noun the word reads as a feature — දිග පාරක් (a long road); after a noun with -ේ — as a measure.
Fractions are counted from the familiar බාගය (bāgaya). Half — බාගයක් (bāgayak), a quarter — හතරෙන් එකක් ('one out of four'), one and a half kilos — කිලෝ එකහමාරක් (kilō ekahamārak). In a shop the quarter is said shorter — කාලක්.
Exact and approximate stand on different sides of the number. විතර ('about') and පාහේ ('almost') go AFTER: රුපියල් දාහක් විතර (rupiyal dāhak vitara), ඔක්කොම පාහේ (okkoma pāhē). And හරියටම ('exactly') goes BEFORE: හරියටම කිලෝ දෙකයි (hariyaṭama kilō dekayi). English puts both 'about' and 'exactly' before the number, and the first of the two is the typical slip.
Table
| What to say | In Sinhala | What to remember |
|---|---|---|
| two liters | ලීටර් දෙකක් | the measure first, the number after it |
| three meters | මීටර් තුනක් | මීටරය loses the tail -ය |
| a hundred grams | ග්රෑම් සීයක් | the tail -ක් on the number |
| those very two liters | ලීටර් දෙක | without -ක් — the ones already named |
| the length of the table | මේසෙ දිග | the thing with -ේ, the measure after |
| a long road | දිග පාරක් | the same word before a noun — a feature |
| a quarter | හතරෙන් එකක් | the fraction is counted from බාගය |
| about a thousand | රුපියල් දාහක් විතර | විතර AFTER the number |
| exactly two kilos | හරියටම කිලෝ දෙකයි | හරියටම BEFORE the number |
By example
- මට තේ ග්රෑම් සීයක් සහ සීනි කිලෝ එකක් දෙන්නmaṭa tē grǣm sīyak saha sīni kilō ekak dennaGive me a hundred grams of tea and a kilo of sugar
- මේසෙ දිග මීටර් දෙකයි, පළල මීටරයයිmēse diga mīṭar dekayi, paḷala mīṭarayayiThe table is two meters long and a meter wide
- තරාදියේ හරියටම කිලෝ දෙකයි, වතුර ලීටර් තුනක් විතරtarādiyē hariyaṭama kilō dekayi, vatura līṭar tunak vitaraOn the scales exactly two kilos, about three liters of water
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 measure first, the number after it: how does it work in Sinhala?
Unit forty-five introduces the meter, the liter and the gram, and on the very first phrase the foreigner slips twice: once in the word order, once in the tail. Both spots are fixed by one rule.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මට තේ ග්රෑම් සීයක් සහ සීනි කිලෝ එකක් දෙන්න” (maṭa tē grǣm sīyak saha sīni kilō ekak denna) — Give me a hundred grams of tea and a kilo of sugar. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.