Sinhala Grammar #13: Is/Are There

Today, we are going to learn how to express that something or someone 

is there.

Today’s lesson is pretty simple in that you only need to remember 

two words:

Inawaa (ඉන්නවා) and Thiyenawaa (තියෙනවා)

We use ‘inawaa’ for things that are alive and we use ‘thiyenawaa’ 

for things that are not alive. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Our mom is at home.

Ape amma gedhara innawaa.

අපේ අම්මා ගෙදර ඉන්නවා

The keys are at home.

Yathura gedhara thiyenawaa.

යතුර ගෙදර තියෙනවා

You might have noticed that the inanimate form of is, ‘thiyenawaa’ 

is the same as the verb ‘to have’. It might help you to think of the 

object being held by the place it is in. So, in the case of the last 

example, the house has the keys.

That’s all for this week!

Please feel free to comment any questions or suggestions you may have.

Thank you for reading!

Sinhala Grammar #12: Going to a Location

Today is all about location, location, location!

කොහෙද යන්නේ?: Where are you going?

To indicate direction, we must add one sound to the location we go to.

Take for example: I’m going to my house.

In Sinhala, the word for house is ‘gedhara/ගෙදර’. All we need to add
to this word is a ta/ට sound, and we’re all good to go!

Mama mage gedharata yanawaa.

මම මගේ ගෙදරට යනවා

Let’s try one more sentence: I’m coming to the temple.

Mama pansalaṭa enavā.

මම පන්සලට එනවා.

One way you could think about this ‘ta’ sound is that it is kind of similar to
‘Oyaata-To you’

There will be more parts to this lesson coming up. Stay tuned!