ඕනෑම
“ඕනෑම” (ōnǣma) — any in Sinhala. Pronoun, level A1, topic — pronouns. From the same ōnē, 'need, want', pressed with -ma: literally 'whichever you like'. Ōnǣma bas ekak — any bus will do. In a live sentence: “ඕනෑම බස් එකක් නගරයට යනවා” — Any bus goes to the city. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ඕ, න, ෑ, ම. One of 26 words in the set “pronouns” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | ඕනෑම |
| Read in Latin letters | ōnǣma |
| Translation | any |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A1 |
- ඕනෑමōnǣmaany
Why it looks that way
From the same ōnē, 'need, want', pressed with -ma: literally 'whichever you like'. Ōnǣma bas ekak — any bus will do
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ඕනෑම බස් එකක් නගරයට යනවාōnǣma bas ekak nagarayaṭa yanavāAny bus goes to the city
Nearby words: pronouns
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
- මමmamaIThe very first word you can read in the script with no vowel signs at all: ma + ma. Two identical letters
- ඔයාoyāyouThe neutral 'you' between equals. Elders are addressed by kinship words or by title, never by this pronoun
- ඔහුohuheThe bookish 'he'. In conversation you'll hear eyā far more often — one word for both 'he' and 'she', with no gender at all
- ඇයæyasheThe bookish 'she'; speech calls men and women alike eyā. Æya survives in newspapers, songs and film credits. The letter æ is a 'wide a', closer to the vowel of 'cat'
- අපිapiweOne form for everything: 'we with you' and 'we without you' are not distinguished. The same person gives the let's-form: yamu, 'let's go'
- මගේmagēmyFrom mama, 'I', with the possessive tail -gē. Every possessive in the course is built with it
- ඔයාගේoyāgēyourThe 'your' for an equal. For an elder it's obāgē, and in speech people generally dodge second-person pronouns altogether
- අපේapēourFrom api, 'we'. Shorter than you'd expect: the vowels melt together
- ඔබලාගේobalāgēyour (plural)The plural -lā plus the possessive -gē. The tails stack one onto another
- එයාගේeyāgēhis, herSpoken Sinhala has no gender: eyāgē works for a man and for a woman alike. For 'their' the plural tail comes along: eyālāgē
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “pronouns”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “any” in Sinhala?
From the same ōnē, 'need, want', pressed with -ma: literally 'whichever you like'. Ōnǣma bas ekak — any bus will do
- How do you say “your” in Sinhala?
The 'your' for an equal. For an elder it's obāgē, and in speech people generally dodge second-person pronouns altogether
- How do you say “he” in Sinhala?
The bookish 'he'. In conversation you'll hear eyā far more often — one word for both 'he' and 'she', with no gender at all
- How do you say “his, her” in Sinhala?
Spoken Sinhala has no gender: eyāgē works for a man and for a woman alike. For 'their' the plural tail comes along: eyālāgē
- How do you say “my” in Sinhala?
From mama, 'I', with the possessive tail -gē. Every possessive in the course is built with it
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “any” in Sinhala?
«ඕනෑම», read “ōnǣma”. In a live sentence: “ඕනෑම බස් එකක් නගරයට යනවා” — Any bus goes to the city. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Pronoun, level A1, from the set “pronouns”; written with the characters ඕ, න, ෑ, ම.
How is “ඕනෑම” written in Latin letters?
ōnǣma. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
From the same ōnē, 'need, want', pressed with -ma: literally 'whichever you like'. Ōnǣma bas ekak — any bus will do. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.