Four “no”s: නෑ, නෙවෙයි, නැති and නො-
Four negatives do four different jobs, and in an argument නෑ alone will not carry you. For example: “මේක මතයක් නෙවෙයි, කරුණක්. ඒත් මම එකඟ නෑ” — This is not an opinion but a fact. But I do not agree. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Four negatives do four different jobs, and in an argument නෑ (nǣ) alone will not carry you.
නෑ denies an action or a presence: මම දන්නේ නෑ ("I don't know"), සල්ලි නෑ ("there is no money"). The verb in front of it takes the -ේ tail: දන්නවා (dannavā) → දන්නේ (dannē), ආවා (āvā) → ආවේ (āvē). The beginner's slip is ආවා නෑ (āvā nǣ) in place of එයා ආවේ නෑ (eyā āvē nǣ).
නෙවෙයි (neveyi) denies not an action but an equation: මේක මතයක් නෙවෙයි (mēka matayak neveyi), කරුණක් (karuṇak) — "this is not an opinion but a fact". It also sits in වගේ නෙවෙයි ("unlike").
නැති (næti) denies inside a noun phrase: සල්ලි නැති කෙනෙක් (salli næti kenek) — "a person with no money". And නො- goes in front of a quality: නොසතුටු ("displeased"). Onto a verb with a person on it, it never goes.
Table
| Word | What it negates | Example | In plain words |
|---|---|---|---|
| නෑ | an action, existence | එයා ආවේ නෑ | he did not come |
| නෑ | the verb takes the tail -ේ | මම දන්නේ නෑ | I do not know |
| නෙවෙයි | an equation, a noun predicate | මතයක් නෙවෙයි | not an opinion |
| නෙවෙයි | in ready-made turns | වගේ නෙවෙයි | unlike |
| නැති | inside a noun phrase | සල්ලි නැති කෙනෙක් | a person without money |
| නැති + නම් | fused | නැත්නම් | otherwise, if not |
| නො- | a feature, a participle | නොසතුටු | discontented |
| නො- | a feature, a participle | නින්ද නොයාම | sleeplessness |
| එපා | prohibition | කරන්න එපා | no need to do |
| බෑ | impossibility | වෙන්න බෑ | it cannot be |
By example
- මේක මතයක් නෙවෙයි, කරුණක්. ඒත් මම එකඟ නෑmēka matayak neveyi, karuṇak. ēt mama ekanga nǣThis is not an opinion but a fact. But I do not agree
- ගනුදෙනුකරු නොසතුටුයි, ඒත් පැමිණිලි කරන්නේ නෑganudenukaru nosatuṭuyi, ēt pæmiṇili karannē nǣThe client is displeased, but he does not complain
- එහෙම වෙන්න බෑ, සද්දේ වැඩි කරන්නත් එපාehema venna bǣ, saddē væḍi karannat epāThat cannot be, and there is no need to raise one’s voice
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 no in Sinhala?
Four negatives do four different jobs, and in an argument නෑ alone will not carry you.
Nae vs neweyi?
නෑ denies an action or a presence: මම දන්නේ නෑ ("I don't know"), සල්ලි නෑ ("there is no money"). The verb in front of it takes the -ේ tail: දන්නවා → දන්නේ, ආවා → ආවේ. The beginner's slip is ආවා නෑ in place of එයා ආවේ නෑ.
Why the verb takes the tail e before nae?
නෙවෙයි denies not an action but an equation: මේක මතයක් නෙවෙයි, කරුණක් — "this is not an opinion but a fact". It also sits in වගේ නෙවෙයි ("unlike").
Bae vs epa in Sinhala?
නැති denies inside a noun phrase: සල්ලි නැති කෙනෙක් — "a person with no money". And නො- goes in front of a quality: නොසතුටු ("displeased"). Onto a verb with a person on it, it never goes.
The Sinhala prefix no- and what it attaches to?
නැති denies inside a noun phrase: සල්ලි නැති කෙනෙක් — "a person with no money". And නො- goes in front of a quality: නොසතුටු ("displeased"). Onto a verb with a person on it, it never goes.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“මේක මතයක් නෙවෙයි, කරුණක්. ඒත් මම එකඟ නෑ” (mēka matayak neveyi, karuṇak. ēt mama ekanga nǣ) — This is not an opinion but a fact. But I do not agree. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.