This 9th lesson teaches an important aspect in Sinhala which is the interrogative form also called questions. In addition, there is a list of vocabulary terms about misunderstanding and finally some commonly used phrases. 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.
Questions
Being able to ask questions is what makes us curious beings, which in turns broadens our knowledge. It is no different when it comes to learning Sinhala. You will always be asking questions, and the following are some tools to help you in that quest.
The following are the 5 Ws + "how" commonly used adverbs to express the interrogative form. Most likely, whenever a question needs to be asked, one of them should be used. 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.
Interrogative Form in Sinhala
Questions
Sinhala
Audio
How?
කොහොමද? kohomada?
What?
මොකක්ද? mokakda?
When?
කවදා/ කොයි වෙලේද? kavadā/ koyi velēda?
Where?
කොහෙද? koheda?
Who?
කවුද? kavuda?
Why?
ඇයි? æyi?
Now we will try to implement the adverbs above into full Sinhala sentences. That way you will be able to use the word not only by itself but embedded in a structure.
Sinhala Questions in a Sentence
Can I come?
මට එන්න පුළුවන්ද? maṭa enna puḷuvanda?
Can I help you?
ඔබට උදව් කරන්නද? obaṭa udav karannada?
Can you help me?
මට උදව් කරනවද? maṭa udav karanavada?
Do you know her?
ඔයා ඇයව දන්නවද? oyā æyava dannavada?
Do you speak English?
ඔබ ඉංග්රීසි කතා කරනවාද? oba iṁgrīsi katā karanavāda?
If you have any questions, please contact me using the Sinhala contact form on the header above.
Vocabulary List about Misunderstanding
There are times when you will not understand what a person said in Sinhala, or simply that you want them to repeat a word. The following are 24 expressions used to clear misunderstandings. Very essential to any conversation!
Finally, a list of some common phrases that you might come across from time to time. For a complete list of commonly used sentences, please visit our Sinhala Phrases page. Enjoy!
Common Expressions in Sinhala
English
Sinhala
Audio
This
මේක mēka
That
අරක araka
Here
මෙහෙ mehe
There
එහෙ ehe
In The Morning
උදෑසන udǣsana
In the evening
හැන්දෑවේ hændǣvē
At Night
රාත්රියේ rātriyē
Really!
ඇත්තට! ættaṭa!
Look!
බලන්න! balanna!
Hurry up!
ඉක්මන් කරන්න! ikman karanna!
Fun Facts
Language Quote: The oldest written language was believed to be written in about 4500 BC.
Congratulations! You finished your 9th lesson in Sinhala about questions, and misunderstanding. Are you ready for the next lesson? We recommend Sinhala Lesson 10. You can also simply click on one of the links below or go back to our Learn Sinhala homepage.