LingoflyProbably, hardly, certainly: where the doubt stands
How sure you are lives at the very end of a Sinhala sentence, behind the verb. English puts "probably" in front; Sinhala puts it in the tail. For example: “එයා දැන් ගෙදර වෙන්න ඇති” (eyā dæn gedara venna æti) — He is probably at home already. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
How sure you are lives at the very end of a Sinhala sentence, behind the verb. English puts "probably" in front; Sinhala puts it in the tail.
ඇති (æti) is "probably": එයා දැන් ගෙදර වෙන්න ඇති (eyā dæn gedara venna æti) — "he is probably home by now". වෙන්න පුළුවන් (venna puḷuvan) is weaker, "maybe yes, maybe no": හෙට වහින්න වෙන්න පුළුවන් (heṭa vahinna venna puḷuvan).
"Hardly" is එකක් (ekak) නෑ (ekak nǣ), and the verb in front of it takes the -න shape: අද (ada) වීසා එක (vīsā eka) එන (ena) එකක් (ekak) නෑ (ada vīsā eka ena ekak nǣ). This denies no fact; it weighs a chance.
Full certainty is මට (maṭa) විශ්වාසයි (viśvāsayi) ("I am sure") or අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම (anivāryayenma) before the verb. The trap: ඇති (æti) also means "enough", and only its place in the sentence tells the two apart.
Table
| How sure | How to say it | Position | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| sure | මට (maṭa) විශ්වාසයි (viśvāsayi) | at the start, with -ට | මට විශ්වාසයි එයා එනවා කියලා (maṭa viśvāsayi eyā enavā kiyalā) |
| certainly | අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම (anivāryayenma) | before the verb | මම අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම එනවා (mama anivāryayenma enavā) |
| probably | ඇති (æti) / වෙන්න ඇති (venna æti) | at the very end | එයා (eyā) ගෙදර (gedara) වෙන්න ඇති (venna æti) |
| possibly | වෙන්න පුළුවන් (venna puḷuvan) | at the very end | හෙට වහින්න වෙන්න පුළුවන් (heṭa vahinna venna puḷuvan) |
| hardly | එකක් (ekak) නෑ | at the end, the verb in -න | එයා (eyā) එන (ena) එකක් (ekak) නෑ |
| not sure | හරියට (hariyaṭa) විශ්වාස (viśvāsa) නෑ | at the end, with -ට | මට හරියට විශ්වාස නෑ (maṭa hariyaṭa viśvāsa nǣ) |
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
Probably, hardly, certainly: how does it work in Sinhala?
How sure you are lives at the very end of a Sinhala sentence, behind the verb. English puts "probably" in front; Sinhala puts it in the tail.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“එයා දැන් ගෙදර වෙන්න ඇති” (eyā dæn gedara venna æti) — He is probably at home already. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.