LingoflyFour “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 (mēka matayak neveyi, karuṇak). ඒත් (ēt) මම එකඟ නෑ” (mama ekanga nǣ) — 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 (mama dannē nǣ) ("I don't know"), සල්ලි (salli) නෑ ("there is no money"). The verb in front of it takes the -ේ tail: දන්නවා (dannavā) → දන්නේ (dannē) (dannē), ආවා (āvā) → ආවේ (āvē). The beginner's slip is ආවා (āvā) නෑ (āvā nǣ) in place of එයා (eyā) ආවේ (āvē) නෑ (eyā āvē nǣ).
නෙවෙයි (neveyi) denies not an action but an equation: මේක (mēka) මතයක් (matayak) නෙවෙයි (neveyi) (mēka matayak neveyi), කරුණක් (karuṇak) — "this is not an opinion but a fact". It also sits in වගේ නෙවෙයි (vagē neveyi) ("unlike").
නැති (næti) denies inside a noun phrase: සල්ලි (salli) නැති (næti) කෙනෙක් (kenek) (salli næti kenek) — "a person with no money". And නො- goes in front of a quality: නොසතුටු (nosatuṭu) ("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 (eyā) ආවේ (āvē) නෑ | he did not come |
| නෑ | the verb takes the tail -ේ | මම දන්නේ නෑ (mama dannē nǣ) | I do not know |
| නෙවෙයි (neveyi) | an equation, a noun predicate | මතයක් (matayak) නෙවෙයි (neveyi) | not an opinion |
| නෙවෙයි (neveyi) | in ready-made turns | වගේ නෙවෙයි (vagē neveyi) | unlike |
| නැති (næti) | inside a noun phrase | සල්ලි (salli) නැති (næti) කෙනෙක් (kenek) | a person without money |
| නැති (næti) + නම් (nam) | fused | නැත්නම් (nætnam) | otherwise, if not |
| නො- | a feature, a participle | නොසතුටු (nosatuṭu) | discontented |
| නො- | a feature, a participle | නින්ද නොයාම (ninda noyāma) | sleeplessness |
| එපා (epā) | prohibition | කරන්න (karanna) එපා (epā) | no need to do |
| බෑ | impossibility | වෙන්න බෑ (venna bǣ) | it cannot be |
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
How to say no in Sinhala?
නෑ denies an action or a presence: මම දන්නේ නෑ (mama dannē nǣ) ("I don't know"), සල්ලි (salli) 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 (āvā) නෑ in place of එයා (eyā) ආවේ (āvē) නෑ.
Nae vs neweyi?
Four negatives do four different jobs, and in an argument නෑ alone will not carry you.
Why the verb takes the tail e before nae?
නෑ denies an action or a presence: මම දන්නේ නෑ (mama dannē nǣ) ("I don't know"), සල්ලි (salli) 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 (āvā) නෑ in place of එයා (eyā) ආවේ (āvē) නෑ.
Bae vs epa in Sinhala?
Four negatives do four different jobs, and in an argument නෑ alone will not carry you.
The Sinhala prefix no- and what it attaches to?
නෑ denies an action or a presence: මම දන්නේ නෑ (mama dannē nǣ) ("I don't know"), සල්ලි (salli) 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 (āvā) නෑ in place of එයා (eyā) ආවේ (āvē) නෑ.
What does it look like in a Sinhala example sentence?
“මේක මතයක් නෙවෙයි, කරුණක් (mēka matayak neveyi, karuṇak). ඒත් (ēt) මම එකඟ නෑ” (mama ekanga nǣ) (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.