LingoflyIf: නම් and the ending -ොත්
In Sinhala "if" does not come first. It comes at the end of the part that carries the condition. For example: “උණ (uṇa) වැඩි (væḍi) නම් (nam), දොස්තර (dostara) ළඟට (ḷangaṭa) යන්න” (yanna) — If the fever is high, go to the doctor. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In Sinhala "if" does not come first. It comes at the end of the part that carries the condition.
The main way is the word නම් (nam) after the verb. උණ (uṇa) වැඩි (væḍi) නම් (nam) (uṇa væḍi nam), දොස්තර (dostara) ළඟට (ḷangaṭa) යන්න (yanna) (dostara ḷangaṭa yanna) is "if the fever is high, see a doctor". The verb in front of නම් (nam) does not change, which makes this way foolproof.
The second way is the ending -ොත් on the verb itself: වැස්සොත් ("if it rains"), බෙහෙත් (behet) බිව්වොත් ("if you take the medicine"). It sounds livelier, but it wants the past stem, and every verb has its own.
Apart from those stands නැත්නම් (nætnam) — "or else": දැන් (dæn) යන්න (yanna) (dæn yanna), නැත්නම් (nætnam) ඩෙඩ්ලයින් එක (ḍeḍlayin eka) මිස් (mis) වෙනවා (venavā) (nætnam ḍeḍlayin eka mis venavā). It is one word, not two. And "if only" puts තිබුණා (tibuṇā) in both halves: සල්ලි (salli) තිබුණා (tibuṇā) නම් (nam) (salli tibuṇā nam), ගන්නවා (gannavā) තිබුණා (tibuṇā) (gannavā tibuṇā).
Table
| How to say “if” | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| verb + නම් (nam) | ඔයා (oyā) එනවා (enavā) නම් (nam) | if you come |
| verb + නම් (nam) (past) | ලෙඩ (leḍa) වුණා (vuṇā) නම් (nam) | if he fell ill |
| stem + ොත් | වැස්සොත් | if it rains |
| stem + ොත් | රස්සාව (rassāva) ලැබුණොත් | if they get the job |
| නැත්නම් (nætnam) | ඉක්මනට (ikmanaṭa) එන්න (enna), නැත්නම් (nætnam) පරක්කු වෙනවා (parakku venavā) | come quickly, otherwise we will be late |
| නම් (nam) … තිබුණා (tibuṇā) | සල්ලි (salli) තිබුණා (tibuṇā) නම් (nam), ගන්නවා (gannavā) තිබුණා (tibuṇā) | if there had been money, I would have bought it |
By example
- dæn yanna, nætnam ḍeḍlayin eka mis venavāGo now, otherwise we will miss the deadline
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
If: how does it work in Sinhala?
In Sinhala "if" does not come first. It comes at the end of the part that carries the condition.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“උණ (uṇa) වැඩි (væḍi) නම් (nam), දොස්තර (dostara) ළඟට (ḷangaṭa) යන්න” (yanna) (uṇa væḍi nam, dostara ḷangaṭa yanna) — If the fever is high, go to the doctor. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.