This first lesson teaches many important aspect of Sinhala like prepositions, vocabulary list about directions and finally common phrases about how to introduce yourself. I will try to give examples using both vocabulary and grammar. That way it will be easy for you to see the words when they are separate and when they are in a sentence. Going through the whole page should take about 30 min. Make sure to read the pronunciation and hear the audio as well. If you have any question about this course, please email me directly at Sinhala Classes.
Prepositions
Prepositions are used in almost every sentence. They can be a great tool to link words with each other. For example by simply knowing how to use "to", "with", "from", "after" you can expand your conversation scope. In short, a preposition describes a relationship between words in a sentence, for example: I agree with you.
Below is a list of 27 prepositions that you might come across or use very often. The table contains 3 columns (English, Sinhala, and Audio). Make sure you repeat each word after hearing it by either clicking on the audio button or by reading the pronunciation. That should help with memorization as well as improving your pronunciation.
Prepositions List in Sinhala
Prepositions
Sinhala
Audio
In front of
ඉදිරිපස idiripasa
Behind
පිටුපස piṭupasa
Before
පෙර pera
After
පසුව pasuva
Inside
ඇතුළේ ætuḷē
With
සමග samaga
Without
නැතිව nætiva
Outside
පිටත piṭata
On top of
ඉහළින්ම ihaḷinma
Under
යට yaṭa
About (in regards to)
පිළිබඳ piḷiban̆da
Against
විරුද්ධව, එදිරිව viruddhava, ediriva
And
සහ saha
As (similar to)
නිසා, පරිදි, වැනි, විට nisā, paridi, væni, viṭa
Between
මැද mæda
But
නමුත් namut
For
සඳහා san̆dahā
From
සිට, වෙතින් siṭa, vetin
In
තුළ tuḷa
Instead of
වෙනුවට venuvaṭa
Near
ළඟ ḷan̆ga
Of
ගේ gē
Or
හෝ hō
Since
සිට, හේතුවෙන් siṭa, hētuven
So
එනිසා, එවිට enisā, eviṭa
To
ටිප් එක ṭip eka
Until
එතෙක්, දක්වා, තුරු etek, dakvā, turu
Now we will try to implement some of the prepositions above into full Sinhala sentences. That way you will be able to use the word not only by itself but embedded in a structure.
මම කලාතුරකින් ප්රංශ කතා කරනවා mama kalāturakin praṁśa katā karanavā
I was born in Miami
මම උපන්නේ මියාමි වල mama upannē miyāmi vala
I'm from Japan
මම ජපානයෙන් mama japānayen
The letter is inside the book
ලියුම පොත ඇතුලේ liyuma pota ætulē
The pen is under the desk
පෑන ඩෙස් එක යට pǣna ḍes eka yaṭa
Directions
Can I help you?
ඔබට උදව් කරන්නද? obaṭa udav karannada?
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact me using the Sinhala contact form on the header above.
Vocabulary List about Directions
Below is a list of 28 words and sentences related to directions that you might need when lost or asking for help. If you can memorize them by heart, you will be able to travel from point A to point B by following directions.
Giving Directions in Sinhala
Directions
Sinhala
Audio
Can you help me?
මට උදව් කරනවද? maṭa udav karanavada?
Can you show me?
ඔබට පෙන්නන්න පුළුවන්ද? obaṭa pennanna puḷuvanda?
Come with me!
මාත් එක්ක එන්න! māt ekka enna!
Downtown (city center)
නගර මධ්යය/ ටවුම nagara madhyaya/ ṭavuma
Excuse me! (to ask someone)
සමාවෙන්න samāvenna
Go straight
කෙලින්ම යන්න kelinma yanna
How can I get to the museum?
මම කටුගෙට යන්නෙ කොහොමද? mama kaṭugeṭa yanne kohomada?
Finally, a couple sentences to help you know how to introduce yourself in Sinhala. For a complete list of commonly used sentences, please visit our Sinhala Phrases page. Enjoy!
Common Expressions in Sinhala
English
Sinhala
Audio
Do you speak English?
ඔබ ඉංග්රීසි කතා කරනවාද? oba iṁgrīsi katā karanavāda?
Language Quote: The language of a society changes slowly but steadily with the result that an educated person will not be able to read or understand words in his language written 500 years ago. Do you feel like you can't talk to your parents? Maybe it's because you belong to the Niger-Congo family. More than 1,400 languages are spoken by different members of this family from Africa..
Congratulations! You finished your 4th lesson in Sinhala about prepositions, and directions. Are you ready for the next lesson? We recommend Sinhala Lesson 5. You can also simply click on one of the links below or go back to our Learn Sinhala homepage.