First Language – Sinhala or Tamil
What the paper tests
The First Language paper is taken in the candidate's mother tongue (Sinhala or Tamil). It checks four things: comprehension of unseen passages, grammar accuracy, vocabulary range, and short functional writing such as a letter or notice.
Core rules and concepts
- Comprehension: answers come from the passage, but the option that repeats the passage word for word is usually the distractor - the correct option rephrases it. Follow sequence words (පළමුව / முதலில் = first, then, finally) for ordering questions.
- Sinhala verbs: the verb agrees with the subject in person and number - මම ගියෙමි (I went), අපි ගියෙමු (we went). Honorific subjects such as ඔබ or ගුරුතුමා take the plural verb form, never the first-person -මි ending.
- Sinhala case endings: -ට dative, -ෙන් instrumental/ablative, -ේ locative, -ගේ genitive.
- Tamil verbs: the verb marks person, number and gender - நான் சென்றேன், அவன் சென்றான், அவள் சென்றாள், அவர்கள் சென்றார்கள். The respect form நீங்கள் takes a plural verb.
- Tamil case markers: -கு dative, -ஆல் instrumental, -இல் locative, -இன் genitive.
- Vocabulary: learn idioms as whole units, not word by word, and match opposites within the same part of speech.
Worked example
Sentence: අම්මා පිඟාන ___ බත් බෙදුවා. Options: අතට / අතින් / අතේ.
Reasoning: the missing word answers "with what?" - the instrument used to serve. That is the instrumental case, so අතින්. අතට (to the hand) suits a verb of giving; අතේ (in/on the hand) suits location. The Tamil equivalent is கையால்.
Traps that cost marks
- Answering a negative question (කුමක් නොවේද? / எது இல்லை?) as if it were positive.
- Confusing look-alike letters (Sinhala ඝ/ඣ, ණ/න; Tamil ஷ/ஸ, ண/ன) in spelling items.
- Writing a letter without the sender's address and date at the top.
- Copying a whole sentence when a short phrase is asked for.