Samāvenna and karuṇākara: an apology and a request are different words
Samāvenna literally means "forgive me": in shape it is an imperative, but it lives as a ready-made exclamation. This is the apology for something done — you got in the way, you are late, you stepped on a foot. For example: “සමාවෙන්න” — Sorry (asking forgiveness). A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Samāvenna literally means "forgive me": in shape it is an imperative, but it lives as a ready-made exclamation. This is the apology for something done — you got in the way, you are late, you stepped on a foot.
Karuṇākara opens a request and means "please" in exactly that one sense. It is not said in reply to stūtiyi, thank you: for that there is kamak nǣ — "no big deal". And inside the request itself it is often redundant, because the ending -nna already carries the politeness: nævata kiyanna, "please repeat", is perfectly polite without it.
The main trap is hailing a stranger. Samāvenna is possible but sounds formal; in life people call each other by role: ayyā to a young man, akkā to a young woman, mahattayā to an elder, mudalāli to a shopkeeper. Addressing people by role is politer here than any pronoun.
Table
| The word | Reading | What it does | What it does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| සමාවෙන්න | samāvenna | an apology for something done | possible as a hail, but formal |
| කරුණාකර | karuṇākara | "please" at the start of a request; in speech often karuṇākaralā | never answers "thank you" — that is kamak nǣ |
| -න්න | -nna | a polite request in itself | neither an order nor rudeness |
| අයියා / අක්කා / මුදලාලි | ayyā / akkā / mudalāli | a hail by role — that is how people call each other | not an apology |
By example
- සමාවෙන්නsamāvennaSorry (asking forgiveness)
- කරුණාකර නැවත කියන්නkaruṇākara nævata kiyannaPlease repeat
- මුදලාලි, මේක කීයද?mudalāli, mēka kīyada?Shopkeeper, how much is this? (call a stranger by role, not "excuse me")
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
Samawenna vs karunakara?
Samāvenna literally means "forgive me": in shape it is an imperative, but it lives as a ready-made exclamation. This is the apology for something done — you got in the way, you are late, you stepped on a foot.
How to say sorry in Sinhala?
Karuṇākara opens a request and means "please" in exactly that one sense. It is not said in reply to stūtiyi, thank you: for that there is kamak nǣ — "no big deal". And inside the request itself it is often redundant, because the ending -nna already carries the politeness: nævata kiyanna, "please…
How to say please in Sinhala?
The main trap is hailing a stranger. Samāvenna is possible but sounds formal; in life people call each other by role: ayyā to a young man, akkā to a young woman, mahattayā to an elder, mudalāli to a shopkeeper. Addressing people by role is politer here than any pronoun.
How to call a stranger in Sri Lanka?
The main trap is hailing a stranger. Samāvenna is possible but sounds formal; in life people call each other by role: ayyā to a young man, akkā to a young woman, mahattayā to an elder, mudalāli to a shopkeeper. Addressing people by role is politer here than any pronoun.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“සමාවෙන්න” (samāvenna) — Sorry (asking forgiveness). A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.