The future: the present plus “tomorrow”
The first piece of news is pleasant: spoken Sinhala almost has no separate future tense. The form in -නවා covers both 'I do' and 'I will do', and the future is pointed to by a time word: හෙට මම කොළඹ යනවා — 'tomorrow I go to Colombo'. English does the same in 'tomorrow I am going to Colombo', and this one scheme is enough for the first half year. For example: “හෙට මම ෆ්ලයිට් එකෙන් යනවා” — Tomorrow I fly by plane. A…
How it works
The first piece of news is pleasant: spoken Sinhala almost has no separate future tense. The form in -නවා covers both 'I do' and 'I will do', and the future is pointed to by a time word: හෙට මම කොළඹ යනවා (heṭa mama koḷamba yanavā) — 'tomorrow I go to Colombo'. English does the same in 'tomorrow I am going to Colombo', and this one scheme is enough for the first half year.
A second form is needed where you promise to do something yourself. That is the ending -න්නම්, and it exists only for the first person: මම කරන්නම් ('I will do it'), මම කතා කරන්නම් ('I will call'), මම එන්නම් ('I will come'). Saying එයා එන්නම් (eyā ennam) is impossible — one cannot promise for another person with this form.
The third form is assumption, the ending -යි: වැස්ස එයි ('it will probably rain'), ට්රේන් එක පරක්කු වෙයි ('the train will apparently be late'). This is not a confident future but a forecast — exactly why it is the form heard in radio weather reports.
Literary Sinhala builds the future quite differently — කරනු ඇත — and you will see this form in a newspaper but never hear it. Trying to speak it is like saying 'it shall be done' in everyday talk.
Table
| Now | I promise (-න්නම්) | Probably (-යි) | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| යනවා | යන්නම් | යයි | go → I will go / he will go |
| එනවා | එන්නම් | එයි | come → I will come / he will come |
| කරනවා | කරන්නම් | කරයි | do → I will do / he will do |
| දෙනවා | දෙන්නම් | දෙයි | give → I will give / he will give |
| කියනවා | කියන්නම් | කියයි | say → I will say / he will say |
By example
- හෙට මම ෆ්ලයිට් එකෙන් යනවාheṭa mama flayiṭ eken yanavāTomorrow I fly by plane
- මම ඔයාට කතා කරන්නම්mama oyāṭa katā karannamI will call you
- ට්රේන් එක පරක්කු වෙයිṭrēn eka parakku veyiThe train will probably be late
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
The future: how does it work in Sinhala?
The first piece of news is pleasant: spoken Sinhala almost has no separate future tense. The form in -නවා covers both 'I do' and 'I will do', and the future is pointed to by a time word: හෙට මම කොළඹ යනවා — 'tomorrow I go to Colombo'. English does the same in 'tomorrow I am going to Colombo', and…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“හෙට මම ෆ්ලයිට් එකෙන් යනවා” (heṭa mama flayiṭ eken yanavā) — Tomorrow I fly by plane. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.