Someone else’s words: කියලා closes everything said
Reported speech in Sinhala is arranged the reverse of English. English puts 'that' before the quoted words; Sinhala puts කියලා after them, at the very end: එයා කිව්වා හෙට එනවා කියලා — word for word 'he said tomorrow (I) come saying'. කියලා itself is a frozen form of කියනවා 'to say', and it needs no separate translation. For example: “ගයිඩ්වරයා කිව්වා ටිකට් එකක් ඕන කියලා” — The guide said a ticket is needed. A rule…
How it works
Reported speech in Sinhala is arranged the reverse of English. English puts 'that' before the quoted words; Sinhala puts කියලා (kiyalā) after them, at the very end: එයා කිව්වා හෙට එනවා කියලා (eyā kivvā heṭa enavā kiyalā) — word for word 'he said tomorrow (I) come saying'. කියලා itself is a frozen form of කියනවා (kiyanavā) 'to say', and it needs no separate translation.
The main rule of the report: the tense and the person inside do not shift. He said මම හෙට එනවා (mama heṭa enavā) — and in the report there stays එනවා (enavā), present, although English produces 'he said he would come'. The sequence of tenses is foreign to Sinhala, and trying to shift the tense wrecks the phrase.
A reported question keeps the question particle -ද (-da) inside: එයා ඇහුවා මම එනවද කියලා (eyā æhuvā mama enavada kiyalā) — 'he asked whether I would come'. No 'whether'-shuffling and no reordering are needed: the question stays a question, and කියලා simply closes it.
A reported request or order takes the verb in the -න්න form and the same කියලා: එයා කිව්වා ඉක්මනට එන්න කියලා (eyā kivvā ikmanaṭa enna kiyalā) — 'he said to come quicker'. The same form as in the direct request — nothing extra is needed.
The same කියලා closes a thought, a rumor and knowledge, not only speech: මම හිතුවා ඒක ලාභයි කියලා (mama hituvā ēka lābhayi kiyalā) 'I thought it was cheap', මට ආරංචියි එයා ගියා කියලා 'I heard that he left', මම දන්නවා ඒක වැරදියි කියලා (mama dannavā ēka væradiyi kiyalā) 'I know that it is wrong'. Keep this one word in mind, and half of the complex sentences build themselves.
Table
| What is reported | How it sounds | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| a statement | එයා කිව්වා එනවා කියලා | he said he would come |
| a negation | එයා කිව්වා එන්නේ නෑ කියලා | he said he would not come |
| a question | එයා ඇහුවා මම එනවද කියලා | he asked whether I would come |
| a request | එයා කිව්වා එන්න කියලා | he said to come |
| a thought | මම හිතුවා ලාභයි කියලා | I thought it was cheap |
| a rumor | මට ආරංචියි එයා ගියා කියලා | I heard that he left |
By example
- ගයිඩ්වරයා කිව්වා ටිකට් එකක් ඕන කියලාgayiḍvarayā kivvā ṭikaṭ ekak ōna kiyalāThe guide said a ticket is needed
- එයා ඇහුවා මම ඡන්දය දුන්නද කියලාeyā æhuvā mama chandaya dunnada kiyalāHe asked whether I had voted
- මට හිතෙනවා ඒක කටකතාවක් කියලාmaṭa hitenavā ēka kaṭakatāvak kiyalāIt seems to me that this is a rumor
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
Someone else’s words: how does it work in Sinhala?
Reported speech in Sinhala is arranged the reverse of English. English puts 'that' before the quoted words; Sinhala puts කියලා after them, at the very end: එයා කිව්වා හෙට එනවා කියලා — word for word 'he said tomorrow (I) come saying'. කියලා itself is a frozen form of කියනවා 'to say', and it needs no…
What does it look like in an example sentence Sinhala?
“ගයිඩ්වරයා කිව්වා ටිකට් එකක් ඕන කියලා” (gayiḍvarayā kivvā ṭikaṭ ekak ōna kiyalā) — The guide said a ticket is needed. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.