LingoflyThe future: the present plus “tomorrow”
To say "tomorrow I go to Colombo", the present tense and the word for "tomorrow" are enough: හෙට (heṭa) මම (mama) කොළඹ (koḷamba) යනවා (yanavā). Spoken Sinhala has almost no future of its own. For example: “හෙට (heṭa) මම (mama) ෆ්ලයිට් (flayiṭ) එකෙන් (eken) යනවා” (yanavā) — Tomorrow I fly by plane. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
To say "tomorrow I go to Colombo", the present tense and the word for "tomorrow" are enough: හෙට (heṭa) මම (mama) කොළඹ (koḷamba) යනවා (yanavā) (heṭa mama koḷamba yanavā). Spoken Sinhala has almost no future of its own.
A promise you make yourself takes the ending -න්නම්: මම (mama) කරන්නම් (karannam) ("I will do it"), මම (mama) කතා (katā) කරන්නම් (karannam) ("I will call"). This one serves "I" only; එයා (eyā) එන්නම් (ennam) (eyā ennam) cannot be said.
A guess takes the ending -යි: වැස්ස (væssa) එයි (eyi) ("it will probably rain"), ට්රේන් (ṭrēn) එක (eka) පරක්කු (parakku) වෙයි (veyi) (ṭrēn eka parakku veyi). That is the voice of a forecast, not a firm promise.
The trap is the written form කරනු ඇත. It stands in the newspaper and is never heard aloud — like saying "it shall be effected" over tea.
Table
| Now | I promise (-න්නම්) | Probably (-යි) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| යනවා (yanavā) | යන්නම් (yannama) | යයි (yayi) | go → I will go / he will go |
| එනවා (enavā) | එන්නම් (ennam) | එයි (eyi) | come → I will come / he will come |
| කරනවා (karanavā) | කරන්නම් (karannam) | කරයි (karayi) | do → I will do / he will do |
| දෙනවා (denavā) | දෙන්නම් (dennam) | දෙයි | give → I will give / he will give |
| කියනවා (kiyanavā) | කියන්නම් (kiyannam) | කියයි | say → I will say / he will say |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
The future: how does it work in Sinhala?
To say "tomorrow I go to Colombo", the present tense and the word for "tomorrow" are enough: හෙට (heṭa) මම (mama) කොළඹ (koḷamba) යනවා (yanavā). Spoken Sinhala has almost no future of its own.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“හෙට (heṭa) මම (mama) ෆ්ලයිට් (flayiṭ) එකෙන් (eken) යනවා” (yanavā) (heṭa mama flayiṭ eken yanavā) — Tomorrow I fly by plane. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.