Sinhala Grammar #9: I Think, I Knew, I Said

Today we are going to learn how to express what we think, know, and say.

I Think

I think that the book is good.

Mama hithanne poth *eka hondhayi kiyala.

මම හිතන්නේ පොත එක හොඳයි.

*Meant to indicate a specific book.

I Thought

I thought that the book was good.

Mama hithuwee poth eka hondhayi kiyala

මම හිතුවේ පොත එක හොඳයි කියලා

Essentially, we construct our sentences using this pattern.

Subject hitanne “thought” kiyala.

“Kiyala” signals the end of your thought. You could say that it kind of acts like the 

“that” in the sentence. I don’t believe that “kiyala” directly translates to “that”, 

but thinking of it that way might help you to remember it.

I Don’t Think

I don’t think that the book is good.

Mama hitanne næ poth eka hondhayi kiyala.

මම හිතන්නේ නැ පොත එක  හොඳයි කියලා.

I Didn’t Think

I didn’t think that the book was good.

Mama hithuwee næ book eka hondhayi kiyala.

මම හිතුවේ නැ  පොත එක හොඳයි කියලා.

The patterns for “I knew” and “I said” sentences are only a little 

different from the “I thought” patterns.

Let’s take a look:

I Know

Subject (Knower) dhannawa “what is known”kiyala.

I know that you want to eat apples.

Mama dhannawa oyata apple kanna one kiyala.

මම දන්නවා ඔයට  ඇපල් කන්න ඕනෙ කියලා.

I Knew

I knew that you didn’t want to study.

Mama dhænagena hiṭiyaa oyata igennaganna one vune næ kiyala.

 මම දැනගෙන හිටියා  ඔයට ඉගෙන්නගන්න ඕනෙ  වුනේ නැ කියලා.

I Said

I said works pretty similarly to “I know”

Subject (Sayer) kiuwaa “said phrase” kiyala.

I said, “I don’t like milk.”

Mama kiuwaa kiri valata aasa næ kiyala.

මම කිව්වා, “මම කිරි වලට ආස නැ  කියලා.

That's all for this lesson. Thank you for reading!