Kitchen forms: -න්න, -මු and එපා
A recipe, a request at table and an invitation rest on three shapes, and all three are made from the familiar -නවා. For example: “වතුර නටවලා තේ දාන්න” — Boil the water and make the tea. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A recipe, a request at table and an invitation rest on three shapes, and all three are made from the familiar -නවා.
-න්න is a request or an instruction. කරනවා (karanavā) → කරන්න (karanna), දානවා (dānavā) → දාන්න (dānna), කපනවා (kapanavā) → කපන්න (kapanna). It covers both "do it" and "please do it", and a whole recipe is written in it. With -කෝ (-kō) it softens: දාන්නකෝ.
-මු is "let us". කමු ("let's eat"), යමු ("let's go"), බෙදාගමු ("let's share"). As a guest you will hear this shape more than any other.
එපා (epā) is a ban. It follows the -න්න shape: තව ලුණු දාන්න එපා (tava luṇu dānna epā) — "no more salt". The trap: English "give" stretches to මට දෙන්න (maṭa denna), and without මට (maṭa) the request lands like an order.
Table
| Verb | Request -න්න | Together -මු | Prohibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| කනවා — to eat | කන්න | කමු | කන්න එපා |
| දානවා — to put | දාන්න | දාමු | දාන්න එපා |
| කපනවා — to cut | කපන්න | කපමු | කපන්න එපා |
| උයනවා — to cook | උයන්න | උයමු | උයන්න එපා |
| යනවා — to go | යන්න | යමු | යන්න එපා |
| බෙදාගන්නවා — to share | බෙදාගන්න | බෙදාගමු | බෙදාගන්න එපා |
By example
- වතුර නටවලා තේ දාන්නvatura naṭavalā tē dānnaBoil the water and make the tea
- අපි මේක බෙදාගමුapi mēka bedāgamuLet us share this
- තව ලුණු දාන්න එපාtava luṇu dānna epāDo not salt it any more
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
How to say please do it in Sinhala?
A recipe, a request at table and an invitation rest on three shapes, and all three are made from the familiar -නවා.
The Sinhala ending -nna: request or order?
-න්න is a request or an instruction. කරනවා → කරන්න, දානවා → දාන්න, කපනවා → කපන්න. It covers both "do it" and "please do it", and a whole recipe is written in it. With -කෝ it softens: දාන්නකෝ.
How to say do not in Sinhala with epa?
-මු is "let us". කමු ("let's eat"), යමු ("let's go"), බෙදාගමු ("let's share"). As a guest you will hear this shape more than any other.
-mu vs -nna in Sinhala?
එපා is a ban. It follows the -න්න shape: තව ලුණු දාන්න එපා — "no more salt". The trap: English "give" stretches to මට දෙන්න, and without මට the request lands like an order.
How to say let us do it together in Sinhala?
එපා is a ban. It follows the -න්න shape: තව ලුණු දාන්න එපා — "no more salt". The trap: English "give" stretches to මට දෙන්න, and without මට the request lands like an order.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“වතුර නටවලා තේ දාන්න” (vatura naṭavalā tē dānna) — Boil the water and make the tea. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.