Thursday, July 20, 2017

Let's Learn Sinhalese in English 4

Now let’s learn
how to express something that is going to happen in the future (that
is, construction of the future tense sentences). There are mainly
four ways. We will consider all forms (like negative statement,
questions, etc) of the same sentence.

There is nothing to
learn anew in the first method. Actually, you can use the same
present time sentence you have been learning so far here. Usually you
use an adverb (like tomorrow) that denotes future with that too (it’s
not required though).

Stephanie heta e:ka kiyanava: . (Stephanie will tell it
tomorrow.)

Api anidhdha: yanava: . (We will go day after tomorrow.)

Egollo e:ka karanava: . (They will do it.)

The negative
statement form is just the same negative statement that you have
already learned.

There is another
popular way of expressing something in future (the second method). In
that sentence pattern, you just change the ending of “-nava:”
verb. To construct this future tense verb, you first remove the
“-nava:” part, and you append “-a:vi”.

Balanava: →
Balanava: + a:vi → Bala:vi (will look)

Karanava: →
Kararanava: + a:vi → Kara:vi (will do)

Now you can make
future tense sentences as follows.

Shane ya:vi. (Shane will go.)

Ayda bath uya:vi. (Ayda will cook rice.)

Gasa kapa:vi. (The tree will be cut.)

However, this form
of future tense is not used with a subject of I or We (first person
pronouns). If you use this form of verb with I or We, that would be a
future time sentence of course, but additionally that sentence will
mean an indefinite expression (uncertain whether or not the action
will be done). In short, such a sentence is expressed in English with
the helping verbs of “may, might”.

Man ya:vi. (I may go. / I will probably go.)

Api e:ka kara:vi. (We may do it. / We will probably do it.)

Surprisingly, if you
want to express an indefinite future tense (just as discussed in the
previous paragraph) with any subject (in addition to I and We), we
use this same sentence. So, this sentence pattern has two meanings
with any noun/subject other than I, We – one is “normal future
tense”, and the other is “indefinite future tense”.

Eya: ya:vi. (He will probably go. / He may go.)

Natalie e:vi. (Natalie may come. / Natalie will probably
come.)

Oya: e:ka kiya:vi. (You may tell it. / You will probably tell
it.)

The negative
statement of this second kind of future tense pattern is as same as
the normal negative statement you already know.

Shane yanne naehae. (Shane will not go.)

(remember this same sentence has the meaning of “Shane does not
go” and “Shane is not going”; take the correct
meaning based on the context)

Ayda bath uyanne naehae. (Ayda will not cook rice.)

(also, “Ayda does not cook rice” and “Ayda is not
cooking rice”)

To form the positive
question, you just add “-dha” at the end of the verb of
the positive statement as follows. This question form also applies to
the indefinite future tense.

Shane ya:vidha? (Will Shane go? Or May Shane go?)

Ayda bath uya:vidha? (Will Ayda cook rice? Or May Ayda cook
rice?)

There is another popular way to construct the negative
question. It is formed like this. First assume that “-nava:” verb
form is there; now remove “va:” from that "assumed" verb. After that, you
put “ekak naehae” at the end. This also applies to the
indefinite future tense. See how it is done below.

The third method is
exclusive for the subject of I or We (first person pronouns). It is
similar to English “shall” sentences. Here, the “-nava:”
ending of the verb is changed to “-nnam”.

Mama yanava: . → Mama yannam. (I shall go.)

Api e:ka kohomahari karannam. (We shall do it somehow or
other.)

The negative
statement of this type of sentence is as same as normal negative
statement.

Mama yanne naehae. (I shall not go.)

Api e:ka karanne naehae. (We shall not do it.)

This is how we
construct the positive question. You remove “m” from the verb
(let’s call this verb participle “nna verb” from this
moment on), and append “dha”. Actually, this is how we make
request in Sinhala too.

Karannam →
Karannam + dha = karannadha

Mama yannadha? (Shall I go?)

Api e:ka karannadha? (Shall we do it?)

Last let’s make
the negative question. First remove “m” from the verb like we did
earlier (that is, make the “nna verb”), and put “epa:dha”
after that.

Karannam →
Karannam epa:dha = karanna epa:dha

Mama yanna epa:dha? (Shall I not go?)

Api e:ka karanna epa:dha? (Shall we not do it?)

The fourth method of
making a future tense is similar to “be going to” sentence
pattern in English. Here, we use the “nna verb” and after that we
put “yanne” or “yanava:”.

Mama potha kiyavanna yanne/yanava: .

(I am going to read the book.)

Eya: nidiyanna yanava:/yanne.

(She/He is going to sleep.)

If you substitute
“inne” or “innava:” for “yanne” or
“yanava:” in the above sentence pattern, then you change the
meaning from “be going to” to “be planning to” or “be
about to”. It also gives kind of future meaning.

Mama potha kiyavanna inne/innava: .

(I am planning to read the book. / I am about to read the book.)

Eya: nidyanna inne/innava: .

(He/She is planning to sleep.)

Let’s make
commands in Sinhala now. It’s very easy. Always the command is
directed to the person in your presence (that is, “you”).
It’s the same as in English. Follow the normal Sinhala sentence
order. Here, the doer is “oya:” (singular) or
“o:gollo/o:gollan, oya:la:” (plural) subject. You can omit
it if you like (as in English). There is a small change in the verb
ending; you just put the “nna verb” instead of the normal “-nava:
verb” form.

Oya: yanna.

(You go.)

Yanna.

(Go.)

Oya: bath ho’mdin kanna.

(You eat rice well.)

Bath kanna.

(Eat rice.)

Ogollo loku potha kiyavanna.

(You (plural) read the big book.)

Potha kiyavanna.

(Read the book.)

To give a command
not to do something, you just put “epa:” after verb, or
before the subject (if existing), or after the subject (whether or
not it exists).

Oya: yanna epa: .

Epa: oya: yanna.

Oya: epa: yanna.

(You don’t go.)

Yanna epa: .

Epa: yanna.

(Don’t go.)

Oya: bath kanna epa: .

Epa: oya: bath kanna.

Oya epa: bath kanna.

(You don’t eat rice.)

Bath kanna epa: .

Epa: bath kanna.

(Don’t eat rice.)

Ogollan potha kiyavanna epa: .

Epa: ogollan potha kiyavanna.

Ogollan epa: potha kiyavanna.

(You don’t read the book.)

Potha kiyavanna epa: .

Epa: potha kiyavanna.

(Don’t read the book.)

If you want to make
the command more polite, you can put “karuna:karala”
(please) at the beginning or the end of the command.

Karuna:karala oya: yanna.

Oya: yanna karuna:karala.

(You go please.)

Karuna:karala yanna

Yanna karuna:karala.

(Go please.)

Karuna:karala oya: yanna epa: . / Oya: yanna epa: karuna:karala.

Karuna:karala epa: oya: yanna. / Epa: oya: yanna karuna:karala.

Karuna:karala oya: epa: yanna. / Oya: epa: yanna karuna:karala.

(You don’t go please.)

Karuna:karala yanna epa: . / Yanna epa: karuna:karala.

Karuna:karala epa: yanna. / Epa: yanna karuna:karala.

(Don’t go please.)

If you like, you can
substitute “please” for “karuna:karala” too. For
example,

Please oya: yanna. / Oya: yanna please.

(Please go.)

Please yanna epa: . / Yanna epa: please.

(Please don’t go.)

You can make the
command milder. And it probably can be considered as a plead now
(instead of a command). For that, you append “-ko” to the
“nna verb”. You may include “please” or “karuna:karala”
to make it “much milder”. There is no negative form of this.

Oya: yannako.

Yannako oya:

Yannako.

(Go. Will you?)

You can also make
the command stronger/stringent. You specially use this form of
command when you are mad at somebody (or scolding somebody or in a
quarrel, etc). You never use this form of command at your parents,
older relatives, teachers, honorable people, etc. It’s harsh. To
make this harsh command, you put a verb made as follows (you remove
the “nava:” from the “nava: verb” form, and append “pan”
to it). No negative form of this exists.

Karanava: →
Karanava: + pan = Karapan

Potha liyapan.

(Read the book.)

Surprisingly, this
same command form is used among friends too. Then it has no
harsh meaning, but instead it gets a friendly meaning. Only in this "friendly"
situation, you may add “please” or “karuna:karala” to this "-pan" type
command.