Connecting Ideas (conjunctions, etc.): Sinhala Grammar Review

 

Concept	Sinhala	Conceptual translation
Because  (Lesson #14)	Mama bath kaeva hinda, mage bada ridunaa. මම බත් කෑව හින්ද, මගේ බද රිදුනා.	Because I ate rice, I got a stomach ache.
That is the reason (Lesson #42)	Mama bath kaeva. Eka hinda mage bada ridunaa. මම බත් කෑව. එක හින්ද මගේ බද රිදුනා	I ate rice. That’s why my stomach hurts.
And then (result of an action) (Lesson #36)	Mama bath kǣva, ethakota mage bada ridunaa. මම බත් කෑව එතකොට මගේ බද රිදුනා.	I ate rice and then my stomach hurt.
If not~  (Lesson #48)	Oyaa bath kanna pulwan, nætham roti thiyenawa. ඔයා බත් කන්න පුළුවන් නැතම් රොටි තියෙනවා	You can eat rice. If not (rice), there is roti.
Until~ (Lesson #44)	Mama bath kannakal, mata sellang karanna bae.	Until I eat my rice, I can’t play.
Even though (Lesson #24)	Mama bath kǣvath, eith badagini. මම බත් කැවත් එඉත් මට ධං බඩගිනි	I ate rice, but I’m still hungry. (I’m hungry now).

Verb Tenses: Grammar Review

This is a table of all the verb tenses that have been covered on the blog (with a few exceptions which I will post about later.) This list will be edited as I learn more ways to express ideas using verbs. Dashes indicate ideas that have not been covered yet or ideas that do not exist in Sinhala.

Next week, July 19th, I will be adding a table for the other verb modifications that did not really fit in with these tenses. Hope this is helpful and please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

I apologize for the fact that this table is too large for the blog. It seems that if I try to make the table smaller on my original document, the table becomes larger and takes up the entire space of the blog 😅

I'll definitely be working on getting that fixed!

	Positive	Negative
Simple Present Lesson #3	I eat rice. Mama bath kanawaa. මම බත් කනවා.	I do not eat rice. Mama bath kanne nae. මම බත් කන්නේ නැ.
Simple Past Lesson #3	I ate rice. Mama bath kaeva. මම බත් කෑවා.	I did not eat rice. Mama bath kaeve nae. මම බත් කෑවේ නැ.
Present Continuous	I am eating rice (at the moment). Mama bath kanna. මම බත් කන්න.	-
Past Continuous	-	-
Future: With Certainty (Things you will do/ Things other people said they would do.) Lesson #52	I will eat rice. Mama bath kannam. මම බත් කන්නම්.	-
Future: Without Certainty  “Might” (Things other people will do/ Things other people or yourself might do. Lesson #53	He will eat rice Literally: He might eat rice. Eyaa bath kayi. එයා බත් කයි.	-
When + Action in the present Lesson #18 Lesson #19	When I do eat rice. Mama bath kanakota. මම බත් කනකොට.	When I don’t eat rice. Mama bath kanne nathikota. මම බත් කන්නේ නැතිකොට.
When + Action in the past Lesson #19	When I ate rice. Mama bath kaevahama. මම බත් කෑවහැම.	-
Imperative Lesson #10	Eat rice! Bath kanda. බත් කන්ඩ.	Don’t eat rice! Bath kanda epaa. බත් කන්ඩ එපා.
Invitational Dialogue #1: Grammar Points	Let’s eat rice! Bath kamu. බත් කමු.	-
Conditional Lesson #27	If I eat rice~ Bath kævoth~ බත් කෑවොත්~	If I don’t eat rice~ Bath kanne nætham බත් කන්නේ නැත්නම්
While~ Lesson #22	While I eat rice~ Bath kana gaman. බත් කන ගමන්.	-

Verb Modifications

I can/ cannot eat Lesson #6	Mata kanna bæ මට කන්න බැ  *-ta form of subject pronoun must be used
I want to eat Lesson #7	Mata kanna one *-ta form of subject pronoun must be used
I like eating Lesson #8	Mama kanna aasayi මම කන්න ආසයි
To start eating	Kanna patan ganawaa කන්න පටන් ගන්නවා
To finish eating	Kanna ivaraa කන්න ඉවරා
The rice that I ate Qualifying Nouns with Verbs: Lesson #31	Mama kapu bath. මම කපු බත්
I am planning to eat	Mama kanna hadanne. මම කන්න හදන්නේ

Basic Grammar Review #1

 Hello everyone! 

Rather than introducing a new topic this week, I thought it might be 

helpful to go back and review some of the basic structures most commonly 

used in Sinhala. WIth university, I definitely haven’t gotten the chance to study 

Sinhala, so for me, this is much needed. All of these sentences relate to reading 

and books, but I would recommend plugging in your own worlds into these 

sentences to practice.

I like to read.                                              

Mama kiyavanna asayi/kæmathiyi.

මම කියවන්න  ආසයි/කැමතියි.

I want to read.

Mata kiyanvanna one.

මට කියවන්න ඕනෙ.

I can read.

Mata kiyavanna puluwan.

මට කියවන්න පුළුවන්

I cannot read. 

Mata kiyavanna bæ.

මට කියවන්න බැ.

I read that book.

Mama ē potha kiyevvaa.

මම ඒ පොත කියෙව්වා.

I did not read that book.

Mama ē potha kiyevvē næ.

මම ඒ පොත කියෙව්වේ නැ.

Read that book.

ē potha kiyavanda.

ඒ පොත කියවඩ.

This is my book.

Me mage potha (thamayi- For emphasis).

මේ මගේ පොත.

This is not my book.

Me mage potha nemeyi.

මෙ මගේ පොත නෙමෙයි.

When will you read the book?

Oyaa potha kiyavanne kavadaada?

ඔයා පොත කියවන්නේ කවදාද?

A: Where is the book?

     Potha koheda?

     පොත කොහෙද? 

B: The book is here?

      Potha me thiyenne.

     පොත මෙ තියෙන්නේ    

A: Where are you?

     Oyaa koheda (inne)?

     ඔයා කොහෙද (ඉන්නේ)?

B:  I am here.

     Mama me inne.

      මම මෙ ඉන්නේ.

That’s all for this entry! If you have any questions or comments, please

feel free to leave a comment down below. 

Stay tuned for a lesson on November 16th at 12AM PST!

Thank you for reading!