LingoflyCause, condition and time: නිසා, නම්, කොට
Cause, condition and time — in all three the linking word comes AFTER the thought, not before it like English "because" or "if". ට්රැෆික් එක (ṭræfik eka) නිසා (nisā) මම (mama) පරක්කු (parakku) වුණා (vuṇā) is "traffic jam because-of I was late". For example: “ට්රැෆික් එක (ṭræfik eka) නිසා (nisā) මම (mama) පරක්කු (parakku) වුණා” (vuṇā) — Because of the traffic jam I was late. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Cause, condition and time — in all three the linking word comes AFTER the thought, not before it like English "because" or "if". ට්රැෆික් එක (ṭræfik eka) නිසා (nisā) මම (mama) පරක්කු (parakku) වුණා (vuṇā) (ṭræfik eka nisā mama parakku vuṇā) is "traffic jam because-of I was late".
To name a cause, put නිසා (nisā) after it: වැස්ස (væssa) නිසා (nisā) ("because of the rain"), ඒක නිසා (ēka nisā) ("that is why").
To give a condition, put නම් (nam) after it: ඔයා (oyā) එනවා (enavā) නම් (nam) මට (maṭa) කෝල් (kōl) කරන්න (karanna) (oyā enavā nam maṭa kōl karanna) — "if you come, call me". The verb before it does not change.
To name a time, put කොට (koṭa) after it: එන (ena) කොට (koṭa) (ena koṭa) — "when he comes".
Table
| Word | Meaning | Position | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| නිසා (nisā) | because, because of | after the cause | ට්රැෆික් (ṭræfik) නිසා (nisā) පරක්කු (parakku) වුණා (vuṇā) — late because of the jam |
| නම් (nam) | if | after the condition | ඔයා (oyā) එනවා (enavā) නම් (nam) කෝල් (kōl) කරන්න (karanna) — if you come, call me |
| කොට (koṭa) | when | after the clause | මම (mama) ආපු (āpu) කොට (koṭa) එයා (eyā) නිදාගෙන (nidāgena) හිටියා (hiṭiyā) — when I came, he was asleep |
By example
- ṭræfik eka nisā mama parakku vuṇāBecause of the traffic jam I was late
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
Cause, condition and time: how does it work in Sinhala?
Cause, condition and time — in all three the linking word comes AFTER the thought, not before it like English "because" or "if". ට්රැෆික් එක (ṭræfik eka) නිසා (nisā) මම (mama) පරක්කු (parakku) වුණා (vuṇā) is "traffic jam because-of I was late".
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“ට්රැෆික් එක (ṭræfik eka) නිසා (nisā) මම (mama) පරක්කු (parakku) වුණා” (vuṇā) (ṭræfik eka nisā mama parakku vuṇā) — Because of the traffic jam I was late. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.