Lesson 3: The Art of Relationships
Case endings — how 'Who' changes based on sentence structure
The Case System at a Glance
Katada?
This is the dative case form of 'Who'. Use it when something is being given TO a person, or an action is being done FOR a person. The 'dative' case marks the recipient of an action.
📐 Grammar Note: Case system in Sinhala: 'Ka' (කා) is the root for 'Who'. Add case endings to change meaning: කාටද (Katada) = To whom | කාගේද (Kageda) = Whose | කාගෙන්ද (Kagenda) = From whom
Kātada mēka denna ōnē?
→ To whom should I give this? / Who do I give this to?
Eyā kathā karannē kātada
→ To whom is he/she speaking? / Who is he/she talking to?
In written Sinhala, literature, and formal speech, you'll encounter these more formal variants:
Spoken → Written
මොකක්ද (Mokakda)
→ කුමක්ද (Kumakda)
Spoken → Written
කවුද (Kawuda)
→ කවරෙක්ද (Kawareda)
Spoken → Written
කොහෙද (Koheda)
→ කොතැනද (Kothaenda)
Spoken → Written
ඇයි (Ayi)
→ කවර හේතුවකිනද
⚠ Important: In everyday spoken Sinhala, always use the spoken forms. The literary forms sound unnatural in casual conversation and are reserved for writing, news broadcasts, and formal speeches.