Verbs in Sinhala
20 words Sinhala words on the topic “verbs”: ඕනේ — to need, to want, යනවා — to go, to ride, කනවා — to eat, බොනවා — to drink. 20 words can be played from recordings.
20 words on the topic
- ඕනේōnēto need, to wantNot a verb in the usual sense: 'I need' is built as maṭa … ōnē — 'to me … is wanted'. Wanting happens to you, in the dative
- යනවාyanavāto go, to rideOn foot and by transport — one verb: going home and going to Colombo is the same yanavā. The request is yanna, the past is giyā — nothing like the stem
- කනවාkanavāto eatOnly about food. 'To be' in the sense of existing is quite different words: one for things, one for the living
- බොනවාbonavāto drinkThe request is bonna, the past is bivvā. The same verb 'takes' medicine: pills are 'drunk', though you swallow them
- කතා කරනවාkatā karanavāto talkLiterally 'to do talk'. Half of Sinhala verbs are built this way: a noun plus karanavā, 'to do'
- ඉන්නවාinnavāto liveAlso 'to be located' — but only about the living. Things have their own verb
- ඉගෙන ගන්නවාigena gannavāto learnLiterally 'taking, I study': Sinhala doesn't split 'to learn' and 'to study' — one verb covers both. Cramming is a separate verb, and so is teaching
- තෝරනවාtōranavāto chooseAn ordinary -navā verb: it covers 'I choose', 'you choose' and 'let's choose' alike
- රිදෙනවාridenavāto hurtThe scheme is simple: 'what hurts' stands before the verb — literally 'the leg hurts'
- අපි හම්බවෙමුapi hambavemulet's meetThe ending -mu means 'let us': the only place where the spoken verb still changes its form by person
- පාඩම් කරනවාpāḍam karanavāto studyLiterally 'to do lessons', that is, sit over the books. Mastering a language or a craft is igena gannavā
- මතක තියාගන්නවාmataka tiyāgannavāto memorizeLiterally 'to keep in memory': mataka is memory. 'I remember' is 'to me it is in memory', 'I forgot' is 'to me it is forgotten'
- දකිනවාdakinavāto seeThe deed of the one who looks. The past dækka is heard in speech more often than the present. When a thing falls into view by itself, people say 'it shows itself to me'
- ඇහෙනවාæhenavāto heare-he-na-vaa; from ahannavā, 'I ask', the word differs only by the open 'e' at the start, and in noise they get mixed up
- නිදාගන්නවාnidāgannavāto sleepThe familiar gannavā, 'to take', is not a separate word here but a tail: 'to take sleep'. The bedroom you know, nidana kāmaraya, comes from the same stem
- ගෙනියනවාgeniyanavāto carryAssembled from gena, 'having taken', and yanavā, 'to go': carry from here to there. Carrying this way is genenavā, with enavā inside. The direction is chosen at once — 'carry' without it can't be said
- තියනවාtiyanavāto set downti-ya-na-vaa, no 'e' in the middle; with it you get tiyenavā — 'there is'
- කඩනවාkaḍanavāto breakBreaking what snaps: a stick, a branch, a wall. It broke by itself is kæḍenavā, and the familiar kæḍilā tiyenavā comes from it too
- ගොඩනගනවාgoḍanaganavāto buildLiterally 'to raise a heap': goḍa is a pile, naganavā is to raise. About one's own house people in speech rather say hadanavā — the same verb that means 'to fix'
- උණු කරනවාuṇu karanavāto warm upThe familiar uṇu, 'hot', plus karanavā, 'to do': make hot. Reheating a cooked dish is rat karanavā, and 'it gets hot by itself' is rat venavā
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
ඕනේ (ōnē) — to need, to want. Not a verb in the usual sense: 'I need' is built as maṭa … ōnē — 'to me … is wanted'. Wanting happens to you, in the dative
යනවා (yanavā) — to go, to ride. On foot and by transport — one verb: going home and going to Colombo is the same yanavā. The request is yanna, the past is giyā — nothing like the stem
කනවා (kanavā) — to eat. Only about food. 'To be' in the sense of existing is quite different words: one for things, one for the living
බොනවා (bonavā) — to drink. The request is bonna, the past is bivvā. The same verb 'takes' medicine: pills are 'drunk', though you swallow them
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is ඕනේ (ōnē) — to need, to want.
- What is this word?
It is තෝරනවා (tōranavā) — to choose.
- What is this word?
It is නිදාගන්නවා (nidāgannavā) — to sleep.
- What is this word?
It is යනවා (yanavā) — to go, to ride.
- What is this word?
It is රිදෙනවා (ridenavā) — to hurt.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to need, to want” in Sinhala?
Not a verb in the usual sense: 'I need' is built as maṭa … ōnē — 'to me … is wanted'. Wanting happens to you, in the dative
- How do you say “to choose” in Sinhala?
An ordinary -navā verb: it covers 'I choose', 'you choose' and 'let's choose' alike
- How do you say “to sleep” in Sinhala?
The familiar gannavā, 'to take', is not a separate word here but a tail: 'to take sleep'. The bedroom you know, nidana kāmaraya, comes from the same stem
- How do you say “to go, to ride” in Sinhala?
On foot and by transport — one verb: going home and going to Colombo is the same yanavā. The request is yanna, the past is giyā — nothing like the stem
- How do you say “to hurt” in Sinhala?
The scheme is simple: 'what hurts' stands before the verb — literally 'the leg hurts'
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to need, to want” in Sinhala?
«ඕනේ», read “ōnē”. Not a verb in the usual sense: 'I need' is built as maṭa … ōnē — 'to me … is wanted'. Wanting happens to you, in the dative. It is one of 20 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 20 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 20 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.