Sinhala Grammar #18: Explaining an Event (When Statements)

Hello Everyone! Today we will be learning how to express the cause-and-effect

relationship of an event using ‘when’ statements. Let’s look at a few examples to

understand the structure of the sentences.

When the baby cries, I wake up.

Baba andanakota, mama aeharanawaa.

බබා අන්දනකෝටා, මාමා ඇහරනවා.

The basic formula for this sentence structure is that we take the -waa form of the

verb, but remove the -awaa suffix from the verb. Then, the only thing we would

need to do is add -kota.

Now that we’ve seen this example, we can apply what we’ve learned to other situations.

When it rains, I use an umbrella.

Vahinakota, mama kuḍayak pavachi karanawaa.

වහිනකෝටා මම කුඩයක් පාවිච්චි කරනවා.

I study a lot when I have a test.

Mama vibhaagaya thiyenakota, godak padamkaranawaa.

මාමා විභාගය තියෙනකෝටා, ගොඩක් පාඩම්කරනවා.

Talking about events in the negative is a little different, 

so we will discuss it in part 2 next week.

That’s all for this lesson. Feel free to leave any comments 

and questions you may have. Make sure to check the blog next week

for a new lesson!

Thanks for reading!