Very, a little, too much: the strength of a quality
Sinhala puts the strength of a quality in a word in front of it. From the bottom up: ටිකක් ("a little"), හරි ("very", in speech), ගොඩක් ("very, a lot"), ඉතාම ("extremely", bookish). For example: “මේ පොත හරි රසවත්” — This book is very interesting. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Sinhala puts the strength of a quality in a word in front of it. From the bottom up: ටිකක් ("a little"), හරි ("very", in speech), ගොඩක් ("very, a lot"), ඉතාම ("extremely", bookish).
ටිකක් සීතලයි (ṭikak sītalayi) is "a bit cold". හරි රසවත් (hari rasavat) is "very interesting". ගොඩක් ලස්සනයි (goḍak lassanayi) is "very beautiful". There is no separate word for "too much": ගොඩක් වැඩියි (goḍak væḍiyi) takes that work.
Certainty is shown the same way, by a word in front: අනිවාර්යයෙන් ("certainly"), වෙන්න පුළුවන් ("maybe"). අනිවාර්යයෙන් මම එන්නම් (anivāryayen mama ennam) — "I will certainly come".
The trap: හරි strengthens only when it stands before a quality. Alone it means "fine, right": හරි, කරමු (karamu) — "fine, let's do it".
Table
| Word | Strength | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ටිකක් | a little | ටිකක් සීතලයි — a bit cold |
| හරි | very (spoken) | හරි රසවත් — very interesting |
| ගොඩක් | very, a lot | ගොඩක් ලස්සනයි — very beautiful |
| ගොඩක් වැඩියි | too | ට්රැෆික් එක ගොඩක් වැඩියි — the jam is too big |
| ඉතාම | extremely (literary) | ඉතාම වැදගත් — extremely important |
| අනිවාර්යයෙන් | with certainty: certainly | අනිවාර්යයෙන් එනවා — I will certainly come |
| වෙන්න පුළුවන් | assumption: maybe | වෙන්න පුළුවන් වැස්ස එයි — it may rain |
By example
- මේ පොත හරි රසවත්mē pota hari rasavatThis book is very interesting
- අද ට්රැෆික් එක ගොඩක් වැඩියිada ṭræfik eka goḍak væḍiyiToday the traffic jam is too big
- මම අනිවාර්යයෙන් කෝල් කරන්නම්mama anivāryayen kōl karannamI will certainly call
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
Very, a little, too much: how does it work in Sinhala?
Sinhala puts the strength of a quality in a word in front of it. From the bottom up: ටිකක් ("a little"), හරි ("very", in speech), ගොඩක් ("very, a lot"), ඉතාම ("extremely", bookish).
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මේ පොත හරි රසවත්” (mē pota hari rasavat) — This book is very interesting. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.