Probably, hardly, certainly: how sure you are
About 'need' and 'can' you already know: ඕන, පුළුවන්, බෑ. But modality has a second half — not permission but certainty: probably, hardly, must be, certainly. And all of it in Sinhala lives at the very end of the sentence, after the predicate. For example: “එයා දැන් ගෙදර වෙන්න ඇති” — He is probably at home already. A rule from the Sinhala course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
About 'need' and 'can' you already know: ඕන (ōna), පුළුවන් (puḷuvan), බෑ (bǣ). But modality has a second half — not permission but certainty: probably, hardly, must be, certainly. And all of it in Sinhala lives at the very end of the sentence, after the predicate.
ඇති (æti) — 'probably'. It stands last and softens everything: එයා ගෙදර ඇති (eyā gedara æti) 'he is probably at home', වැඩ ඉවර ඇති (væḍa ivara æti) 'the work is probably finished'. With a verb it takes the form වෙන්න ඇති (venna æti): එයා ගිහින් වෙන්න ඇති (eyā gihin venna æti) 'he must have left'. Do not confuse it with ඇති meaning 'enough' — that is another word, and only the place in the phrase tells them apart.
වෙන්න පුළුවන් (venna puḷuvan) — 'possibly'. Also at the end: හෙට වහින්න වෙන්න පුළුවන් (heṭa vahinna venna puḷuvan). The difference from ඇති is in strength: ඇති — 'most likely yes', වෙන්න පුළුවන් — 'maybe yes, maybe no'.
එකක් නෑ (ekak nǣ) — 'hardly'. The verb before it stands in the -න form: එයා අද එන එකක් නෑ (eyā ada ena ekak nǣ) 'he is hardly coming today'. This is not a negation of fact but an estimate of likelihood, and in English it maps best as 'hardly', not as 'he is not coming'.
Full certainty is expressed in two ways. Impersonally — මට විශ්වාසයි (maṭa viśvāsayi) 'I am sure', with the person in the -ට (-ṭa) form. Or by an adverb before the verb — අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම එනවා (anivāryayenma enavā) 'I will certainly come'. The word හරියටම (hariyaṭama) does not belong in this row: it is about the exactness of a measure (හරියටම දහයට (hariyaṭama dahayaṭa) 'at exactly ten'), not about the speaker’s confidence.
And the general rule: the less sure you are, the further to the end the word travels. English puts 'probably' early; Sinhala sends it to the tail, and the relearned order matters here more than the words themselves.
Table
| How sure | How to say it | Position | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| sure | මට විශ්වාසයි | at the start, with -ට | මට විශ්වාසයි එයා එනවා කියලා |
| certainly | අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම | before the verb | මම අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම එනවා |
| probably | ඇති / වෙන්න ඇති | at the very end | එයා ගෙදර වෙන්න ඇති |
| possibly | වෙන්න පුළුවන් | at the very end | හෙට වහින්න වෙන්න පුළුවන් |
| hardly | එකක් නෑ | at the end, the verb in -න | එයා එන එකක් නෑ |
| not sure | හරියට විශ්වාස නෑ | at the end, with -ට | මට හරියට විශ්වාස නෑ |
By example
- එයා දැන් ගෙදර වෙන්න ඇතිeyā dæn gedara venna ætiHe is probably at home already
- අද වීසා එක එන එකක් නෑada vīsā eka ena ekak nǣThe visa is hardly coming today
- මට විශ්වාසයි ඒක හරි කියලාmaṭa viśvāsayi ēka hari kiyalāI am sure that this is right
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
Probably, hardly, certainly: how does it work in Sinhala?
About 'need' and 'can' you already know: ඕන, පුළුවන්, බෑ. But modality has a second half — not permission but certainty: probably, hardly, must be, certainly. And all of it in Sinhala lives at the very end of the sentence, after the predicate.
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“එයා දැන් ගෙදර වෙන්න ඇති” (eyā dæn gedara venna æti) — He is probably at home already. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.