ඕනේ
“ඕනේ” (ōnē) — to need, to want in Sinhala. Verb, level A0, topic — verbs. 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. In a live sentence: “මට තේ ඕනේ” — I need tea. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ඕ, න, ේ. One of 20 words in the set “verbs” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | ඕනේ |
| Read in Latin letters | ōnē |
| Translation | to need, to want |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A0 |
- ඕනේōnēto need, to want
Why it looks that way
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
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.
- මට තේ ඕනේmaṭa tē ōnēI need tea
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
- 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
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, 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 drink” in Sinhala?
The request is bonna, the past is bivvā. The same verb 'takes' medicine: pills are 'drunk', though you swallow them
- How do you say “to study” in Sinhala?
Literally 'to do lessons', that is, sit over the books. Mastering a language or a craft is igena gannavā
- How do you say “to learn” in Sinhala?
Literally '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
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 “to need, to want” in Sinhala?
«ඕනේ», read “ōnē”. In a live sentence: “මට තේ ඕනේ” — I need tea. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A0, from the set “verbs”; written with the characters ඕ, න, ේ.
How is “ඕනේ” written in Latin letters?
ōnē. 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?
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. 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.