Action with Verbs in the Present Tense: Sinhala from Zero (Chapter 3)

It is finally time to add some action to our sentences! Let’s look at verbs in this lesson, which are words that show action:

Let’s learn how to talk about actions happening right now in the present tense. Most verbs in Sinhala in the present tense end with -නවා/-nawaa.

Here are some common verbs you will see in daily life:     

Common Verbs               

Eating

Kanawaa

කනවා

Drinking 

Bonawaa

බොනවා

Going

Yanawaa

යනවා

Coming 

Enawaa

එනවා

Doing  

Karanawaa

කරනවා 

Let’s look at some example sentences:

I drink water.

Mama watura bonawaa.

මම වතුර බොනවා.

I eat apples.

Mama apple kanawaa.

මම ඇපල් කනවා.

He goes.

Eyaa yanawaa.

එයා යනවා.

They come.

Egollō enawaa.

එගොල්ලෝ එනවා.

You are playing. (You are doing play.)

Oyaa sellam karanawaa.

ඔයා සෙල්ලම් කරනවා.

That’s all for this lesson! Thank you for reading!

Possessive Nouns and Pronouns: Sinhala from Zero (Chapter 2)

Possessive Pronouns

Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	Mine = Mage (මගේ)	Ours = Ape (අපේ)
2nd Person	Yours = Oyāge (ඔයාගේ)	Yours (plural) = Ogollange (ඔගොල්ලන්ගේ)
3rd Person (living)	His/Hers = Eyāge (ඒයාගේ)	Theirs = Egollange (එගොල්ලන්ගේ)
3rd Person (non-living)	Its = Eke (එකේ)	Theirs (non-living) = Ewage (එවගේ)

Note: Most of these pronouns end in –ge (ගේ), indicating possession.
However, Ape (අපේ) and Eke (එකේ) are exceptions.

Examples

1.

My name is Nalani.

Mage nama Nalani. 

මගේ නම නලනි.

2.

Your daughter is Maria.

Oyage duwa Maria. 

ඔයාගේ දුව මරියා.

3. 

Her books.

Eyage poth. 

ඒයාගේ පොත්.

4.

Our love.

Ape adareyi. 

අපේ ආදරෙයි.

5.

Your (plural) house is beautiful.

Ogollange gedara lasanayi. 

ඔගොල්ලන්ගේ ගෙදර ලස්සනයි.

6.

That house is theirs.

E gedara egollange. 

ඒ ගෙදර එගොල්ලන්ගේ.

7.

Its color.

Ewāge pāṭayi. 

එවගේ පාටයි.

Forming Possessives from Nouns

You can make possessive forms of other nouns by adding –ge (ගේ) just like pronouns:

Maria’s daughter.

Maria ge duwa.

මරියාගේ දුව.

Irregular Possessives for Inanimate Objects

Be careful: when showing possession for inanimate objects, the form changes slightly.

The color of the book.

Pothe pata. 

පොතේ පාට.

The color of the books.

Pothvala pata. 

පොත්වල පාට.

-ē (ේ) and -vala (වල) endings show possession for objects or plural items, instead of –ge (ගේ) which is used for people.

Exercises

Translate the following phrases into Sinhala:

1. Your name is Rani.
   
   

2. My name is ________.
   
   

3. Our child.
   
   

4. The dog’s toy. (Hint: Dog = Bala / බලා, Toy = Sellang badu / සෙල්ලං බඩු)
   
   

5. Your (plural) apples.
   
   

6. Their house.
   
   

7. The toy’s color.
   
   

8. The toy is hers.
   
   

Answer Key

Oyage nama Rani.  

ඔයාගේ නම රනි.

Mage nama ______.  

මගේ නම ______.

Ape lamaya. 

අපේ ළමයා.

Balage sellang badu.  

බලාගේ සෙල්ලං බඩු.

Ogollange appel. 

ඔගොල්ලන්ගේ ඇපල්.

Egollange gedara.  

එගොල්ලන්ගේ ගෙදර.

Sellang baduwe pāṭa. 

සෙල්ලං බඩුවේ පාට.

Sellang baduwa eyāge. 

සෙල්ලං බඩුව ඒයාගේ.

 

Subject Pronouns (Me and You): Sinhala from Zero (Chapter 1)

Ayubowan! Hello everyone!

Let’s get started on our very grammar lesson of Sinhala: Pronouns!

Pronouns are words that replace nouns (a person/place/ or thing) in a sentence. In Sinhala, there are multiple types of pronouns. Let’s first learn about subject pronouns. These are pronouns that replace the subject of a sentence. 

For example, if you said, “Mary walks her dog,” you can also say, “She walks her dog.” They mean the same thing!

Take a look at this table here for the subject pronouns in Sinhala:

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	I = Mama /මම	We = Api /අපි
2nd Person	You = Oyaa /ඔයා	You = Ogollo /ඔගොල්ලො
3rd Person  (Living)	He/She = Eya /එයා	They = Egollo /එගොල්ලො
3rd Person  (Non-living)	It = Ēka/ඒක	They (non-living) = Ēvā/ඒවා

Knowing this, we can start to form our first sentence:

I am Dilshan. 

Mama Dilshan. 

මම ඩිල්ෂාන්. 

It is a flower.  

Ēka malak.

ඒක මලක්.

You can use this structure when you want to say: Noun is/are Noun. 

Exercises: 

It’s your turn to practice! The answer key is at the end of the lesson!

1. Let’s say you are meeting someone for the first time. How do you tell them your name?

2. Translate the following phrases: 

*Hint

- An apple = æpal geḍiyak/ඇපල් ගෙඩියක්

- Apples =  æpal/ඇපල්

- A child = lamaya/ළමයා

- Children = lamayi/ළමයි

2.1 It is an apple.

2.2 They are apples. 

2.3 She is a child.

2.4 They are children.

Answer Key:
1.
Mama _____.
මම _____.

2.1
Ēka æpal geḍiyak.
ඒක ඇපල් ගෙඩියක්.

2.2
Ēvā æpal
ඒවා ඇපල්.

2.3
Eya lamaya.
එයා ළමයා.

2.4
Egollo lamayi.
එගොල්ලො ළමයි.

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