LingoflyVerbs in Sinhala
20 words in Sinhala on the topic “verbs”: ඕනේ (ōnē) — to need, to want, යනවා (yanavā) — to go, to ride, කනවා (kanavā) — to eat, බොනවා (bonavā) — 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 'to whom' form
- 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. Drinks and even pills take a different verb, bonavā
- 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 spoken verb normally shows no person; with -mu the 'we' is built into the meaning itself
- 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 sleepGannavā, 'to take', is not a separate word here but a tail: 'to take sleep'. The bedroom, 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 kæḍilā tiyenavā, 'it's broken', 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 upUṇu, 'hot', plus karanavā, 'to do': make hot. Reheating a cooked dish is rat karanavā, and 'it gets hot by itself' is rat venavā
Download the word set (CSV) · Open the printable sheet
The CSV contains spelling, reading guides, translations and links to word pages. Use the browser menu to save the printable sheet as a PDF.
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 'to whom' form.
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. Drinks and even pills take a different verb, bonavā.
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 'to whom' form
- 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?
Gannavā, 'to take', is not a separate word here but a tail: 'to take sleep'. The bedroom, 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. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of 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.
- Study spread over days wins 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» (ōnē), 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 'to whom' form. 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?
The whole set on this page is 20 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
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.