Two thoughts in one sentence: නිසා, නම්, කොට, කියලා
Until now every phrase stood alone. To tie two together, English puts the conjunction between them ('I was late because there was a jam'), while Sinhala puts the linker after the subordinate clause, and the subordinate clause itself goes first: ට්රැෆික් එක නිසා මම පරක්කු වුණා — word for word 'the traffic jam because-of I was late'. The order is the reverse of English, and relearning it matters more than learning…
How it works
Until now every phrase stood alone. To tie two together, English puts the conjunction between them ('I was late because there was a jam'), while Sinhala puts the linker after the subordinate clause, and the subordinate clause itself goes first: ට්රැෆික් එක නිසා මම පරක්කු වුණා (ṭræfik eka nisā mama parakku vuṇā) — word for word 'the traffic jam because-of I was late'. The order is the reverse of English, and relearning it matters more than learning the linkers themselves.
Reason — නිසා (nisā). It stands right after what caused it: වැස්ස නිසා (væssa nisā) 'because of the rain', ඔයා කිව්ව නිසා (oyā kivva nisā) 'since you said so'. On its own ඒක නිසා (ēka nisā) means 'therefore' and opens a new sentence.
Condition — නම් (nam). ඔයා එනවා නම් (oyā enavā nam), මට කෝල් කරන්න (maṭa kōl karanna) — 'if you come, call me'. The verb before නම් stays in its ordinary -නවා form; nothing needs changing. Negative condition: ඔයා එන්නේ නැත්නම් (oyā ennē nætnam) — 'if you do not come'.
Time — කොට (literary විට (viṭa)). මම ගෙදර ආපු කොට ළමයි නිදාගෙන (mama gedara āpu koṭa ḷamayi nidāgena) — 'when I came home, the children were asleep'. The verb before කොට takes the participle form in -පු for the past and -න for the present: එන කොට (ena koṭa) 'when he comes'.
Someone else’s words — කියලා (kiyalā). It is a frozen form of කියනවා (kiyanavā) 'to say', and it closes the report: එයා කිව්වා හෙට එනවා කියලා (eyā kivvā heṭa enavā kiyalā) — 'he said he would come tomorrow'. Note: inside the report the tense stays as the speaker said it — Sinhala, unlike English, shifts nothing. The same කියලා reports thoughts: මම හිතුවා ඒක ලාභයි කියලා (mama hituvā ēka lābhayi kiyalā) 'I thought it was cheap'.
Purpose needs no conjunction: the -න්න form is enough. ෆොටෝ ගන්න මම කැමරාව ගත්තා (foṭō ganna mama kæmarāva gattā) — 'I took the camera to take photos'. The same form as in requests — such is the economy of Sinhala syntax.
Table
| Word | Meaning | Position | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| නිසා | because, because of | after the cause | ට්රැෆික් නිසා පරක්කු වුණා — late because of the jam |
| නම් | if | after the condition | ඔයා එනවා නම් කෝල් කරන්න — if you come, call me |
| කොට | when | after the clause | මම ආපු කොට එයා නිදාගෙන — when I came, he was asleep |
| කියලා | that (someone’s words) | at the very end of the report | එයා කිව්වා එනවා කියලා — he said he would come |
| -න්න | in order to | on the purpose verb | ෆොටෝ ගන්න කැමරාව ගත්තා — took the camera to take photos |
By example
- ට්රැෆික් එක නිසා මම පරක්කු වුණාṭræfik eka nisā mama parakku vuṇāBecause of the traffic jam I was late
- ඔයා එනවා නම් මට කෝල් කරන්නoyā enavā nam maṭa kōl karannaIf you come, call me
- එයා කිව්වා හෙට එනවා කියලාeyā kivvā heṭa enavā kiyalāHe said he would come tomorrow
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
Two thoughts in one sentence: how does it work in Sinhala?
Until now every phrase stood alone. To tie two together, English puts the conjunction between them ('I was late because there was a jam'), while Sinhala puts the linker after the subordinate clause, and the subordinate clause itself goes first: ට්රැෆික් එක නිසා මම පරක්කු වුණා — word for word 'the…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“ට්රැෆික් එක නිසා මම පරක්කු වුණා” (ṭræfik eka nisā mama parakku vuṇā) — Because of the traffic jam I was late. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.