Language/Sinhala/Grammar/Conditional-and-Subjunctive
Welcome to Unit 5 of the Complete 0 to A1 Sinhala Course! In this lesson, we will focus on the conditional and subjunctive verb forms to express hypothetical situations, wishes, and suggestions.
Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Pronouns & Sinhala Alphabet.
Conditional Form
The conditional form is used to talk about hypothetical situations or actions that depend on certain conditions. In Sinhala, we form this tense by using the particle "balanna" (බලන්න). The structure of the conditional form in Sinhala is as follows:
Subject + Verb stem + Balanna + Object
Let's see some examples:
| Sinhala | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| මට ගෙදර යන්න විනාශය ඉදිරිය කරන්නේ කව්ද? | Mathe gedara yanawa vinashaya idiriya karannetha kavada? | What would I do if I have to stay home? |
| ඔවුන් පැමිණියේදී යනවා බලන්නේ කව්ද? | Owun pinimide yanawa balanna kavada? | What would they say if they knew? |
| ඔබට මගේ උපමාගේ නම ඉහල තියෙනවා නැති, අපේ නම ඉහළ තියෙනවා නැති හෝ? | Obaata mage upamagay nama ihala tienava nethi, apay nama ihala tienava nethi ho? | If my uncle's name is not at the top, is our name not on the top either? |
Note that we use the conditional tense in Sinhala in the same way as in English. It is a useful tense to learn, as it helps you talk about different scenarios and outcomes that could happen in the future.
Subjunctive Form
The subjunctive form is used to express wishes, suggestions, doubts, or possibilities. In Sinhala, we can form this verb tense by dropping the final "යි" (-yi) sound of the present tense and adding the particle "ට" (-ta) at the end of the verb. The structure of the subjunctive tense in Sinhala is as follows:
Subject + Verb stem + Object + "ට"
Let's see some examples:
| Sinhala | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| මම ඔබට සිරුරේ සිතුවම් ගෙන්වා ට දෙනවා. | Mama obata sirure sithuwam genwaa ta denavaa. | I suggest that you reveal your feelings. |
| මම කරන්ට්ටය බුදුරටු කරන්න ට පැවසෙන්නේ කොහොමද? | Mama karantaya budurathu karannata pewasennaa ta kohomada? | How can I pray that I will do the right thing? |
| ඔහුට මෙම පිටුව පෙන්නේ අපිට බැලීමට අවශ්යයි. | Ohuttu mema pituwa pennnetha apitu balimata awashyayi. | It is necessary for us to show him this page. |
The subjunctive tense is a very useful tense to learn, as it helps you express your opinion, doubt or likelihood about something that might happen, or express your suggestion or wish.
Summary
In this lesson, we have introduced the conditional and subjunctive forms in Sinhala. The conditional verb form is used to talk about conditional outcomes that might happen, and the subjunctive form is used to express doubt, possibility, or suggestion. To master these two verb tenses, it is important to practice them in a variety of sentences and contexts.
We hope you have enjoyed this lesson and found it informative. Keep practicing, and we will see you in the next lesson!
Other Lessons
- How to Use Be
- Questions
- Conditional Mood
- Sinhala Slang and Colloquialisms
- Future Tense
- Plurals
- Adjectives
- Negation
- Passive Voice
- 0 to A1 Course