Essential Verbs - W

The 33 essential verbs that start with W, each with its pronunciation, Sinhala meaning, patterns and an example for every pattern.

Each verb shows its pronunciation, its Sinhala meaning, and an example for each pattern. To scan every verb in one table, open the full list.

A verb marked * is irregular: its past forms are in Irregular Verbs.

wait

/weɪt/

රැඳී සිටිනවා, නැවතී සිටිනවා, (යමක්/කෙනෙක් වෙනුවෙන්) බලාගෙන ඉන්නවා

wait (adv./prep.) (for someone/something) (to do something): I waited patiently for the bus to arrive.

wake*

/weɪk/

අවදි වෙනවා/අවදි කරනවා, ඇහැරෙනවා/ඇහැරවනවා

wake (something) (up): She woke her baby up gently.
wake from something (to something): She woke from her nap to the sound of the doorbell.
wake to do something: I woke to do my morning exercises.

walk

/wɔːk/

ඇවිදිනවා, අවිද්දනවා, පයින් ගිහින් අරලනවා

walk (adv./prep.): He walks slowly to school.
walk something: She likes to walk her dog in the park every morning.
walk someone/something (adv./prep.): He walked the dog in the park.

wander

/ˈwɒndə(r)/

පැහැදිලි අදහසක් නැතිව ඔහේ යනවා

wander (adv./prep): She wandered aimlessly in the forest.
wander something: He wanders the park every day after school.

want

/wɒnt/

අවශ්‍යයි (ඕනෙ)

want something: I want a cup of coffee.
want (someone/something) to do something: My students want me to teach them grammar rules in a fun and engaging way.
want someone/something doing something: I want my students practicing English every day.
want someone/something + adj.: I want a cool drink.

warm

/wɔːm/

උණුසම් කරනවා

warm someone/something (up): He always likes to warm up his hands by the fire on a cold winter day.

warn

/wɔːn/

අනතුරු අඟවනවා

warn someone: I warned him not to touch the hot stove.
warn (someone) about/against someone/something: I warn my students about the dangers of using their phones in class.
warn (someone) of something: I warned the students of the upcoming exam.
warn (someone) that: I warned her that there was a storm coming.

wash

/wɒʃ/

සෝදනවා

wash something: She washes her clothes every Saturday morning.
wash something (from something): She washed the stain from her shirt.

waste

/weɪst

නාස්ති කරනවා, නිකරුණේ විනාශ කරනවා

waste something: He wasted his money on an expensive car.
waste something on someone/something: He wasted his money on a useless gadget.
waste something (in) doing something: She wasted all her money in buying unnecessary clothes.
waste someone/something as something: She wasted her talent as a singer by not pursuing a career in music.

watch

/wɒtʃ/

නරඹනවා, බලනවා, ප්‍රවේසමෙන් සලකා බලනවා, සෝදිසියෙන් සිටිනවා, මුර කරනවා

watch someone/something: I watch the sunset every evening.
watch (something) (for something): She watches the clock for her favorite TV show to start.
watch wh-: I will watch whatever movie my friends choose tonight.
watch someone/something doing something: I watch my students speaking Sinhala in class.
watch someone/something do something: She watches me do my homework.
watch over someone/something: I watch over my little brother while my parents are at work.

water

/ˈwɔːtə(r)/

වතුර දානවා, වතුර ලබා දෙනවා

water something: I need to water the plants in the garden.

wave

/weɪv

අත වනනවා, (කොඩි ආදිය) ලෙළ දෙනවා, රැළි ගැහෙනවා/ගස්සනවා

wave at/to someone: I often wave at my friends when I see them in the hallway at school.
wave something at someone: The teacher waved her hand at her students to get their attention.
wave someone something: He waved me a hello as I walked by his house.
wave something (to someone): I waved my hand to my friend to say hello.
wave adv./prep.: He waved happily to his friends as they walked away.
wave someone/something + adv./prep.: He waved to his friends from across the street.

wear*

/weə(r)/

(ඇඳුම්) අඳිනවා, (ඇඳුමකින්/කොන්ඩ මෝස්තරයකින්/හිනාවකින්) සැරසෙනවා

wear something: She wears a red dress to the party.
wear something + adj.: She wears a red scarf.

weigh

/weɪ/

යම් බරක් වෙනවා, බර කිරනවා, සසඳා බලනවා

weigh (+ noun): She weighs the cat before and after feeding it to see if it's gaining weight.
weigh someone/something: The baby weighs 10 pounds.
weigh something (up): My suitcase weighs up to 20kgs when fully packed for a long trip.

welcome

/ˈwelkəm/

(කෙනෙක්/දෙයක්) (සතුටින්) පිළිගන්නවා

welcome (someone): I welcomed my friend to my home.
welcome someone (to something): I welcome you to our class in English.
welcome something: Sinhala students always welcome new vocabulary in English class.

wet*

/wet/

තෙමනවා, තෙත් කරනවා

wet something: She wet the towel and laid it out flat to dry.

whisper

/ˈwɪspə(r)/

සිහින් හඬින් (රහසින්) කියනවා, කොඳුරනවා, මුමුණනවා

whisper (something) (to someone): I whispered the answer to my partner during the test.
whisper (to someone) that: She whispered to me that she was scared of the dark.
whisper (about something): He whispered about the surprise party so that no one would overhear.
whisper (adv./prep.): She whispered softly in my ear.

widen

/ˈwaɪdn/

පුළුල් වෙනවා/කරනවා

widen (something): He widened the pathway to make it easier for the wheelchairs to pass through.
widen (into something): The road widens into a four-lane highway near the city.

wilt

/wɪlt/

(පැළයක්/මලක්/කොලයක්) මැළ වෙනවා, පරවී යනවා

wilt: The flowers will wilt without enough water.

win*

/wɪn/

දිනනවා/දිනාගන්නවා, දිනා දෙනවා

win something: She won the race.
win at something: I always try my best to win at sports competitions.
win aginst someone/something: He always wins against his opponents in chess.
win something from someone: She won a gold medal from her rival in the competition.
win someone something: He won his team the championship.

wink

/wɪŋk/

ඇහැක් ගහනවා

wink (at someone): She winked at me during the exam to let me know the answer was on the paper.

wipe

/waɪp/

පිහ දානවා, අතුගා දමනවා

wipe something (on something): I wipe the table with a cloth.
wipe something with something: The student wiped the whiteboard with a cloth.
wipe something (from/off something): She wiped the dust from the bookshelf.
wipe something away/off/up: I wiped the tears away from my eyes.

wish

/wɪʃ/

ප්‍රර්ථනා කරනවා, බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා

wish (that): I wish that the weather was better today.
wish someone/something + adj.: I wish you success in your studies.
wish someone/something + adv./prep.: I wish my students could understand English better.
wish to do something: I wish to go to the beach tomorrow.
wish someone something: I wish you a happy birthday.
wish someone/something to do something: I wish my students to understand the usage of the verb phrase 'wish'.
wish for something: I wish for a new bicycle for my birthday.

withdraw*

/wɪθˈdrɔː/

(යමකින්/යම් සිද්ධියකින්) ඉවත් වෙනවා/කරගන්නවා

withdraw (someone/something) (from something): He withdrew his hand from the fire.
withdraw something (from something): She withdrew her hand from the hot stove.

wither

/ˈwɪðə(r)/

(පැළයක්/මලක්/කොලයක්) මැළ වෙනවා, පරවී යනවා

wither (away): The flowers in the garden will quickly wither away without enough water.

witness

/ˈwɪtnəs/

යමක් සිදුවෙනු දකිනවා

witness something: I witnessed the sunrise this morning.

wonder

/ˈwʌndə(r)/

කුතුහලයට පත් වෙනවා, පුදුම වෙනවා

wonder wh-: I often wonder what the future holds for us.
wonder (about something): I often wonder about the different cultures in our country.
wonder if/whether: I wonder if she'll be able to attend the party tonight.
wonder that...: I wonder that the store is still open this late.
wonder (at something): I wonder at the beauty of the sunset.

work

/wɜːk/

වැඩ කරනවා, වැ ඩක නිරත වෙනවා, රැකියාවක් කරනවා, (යමක්) ක්‍රියා කරවනවා

work at something: I work at the library every Saturday morning.
work on something: I am working on my project.
work for someone/something: I work for a large tech company.
work in something: She works in a factory.
work with someone: I often work with my team members to come up with new ideas.
work as something: She works as a doctor.
work something: I am going to work my way through this difficult book.
work against something: The opposing team's heavy defense worked against our chances of scoring.
work (something) (adv./prep.): She works on her computer every Monday.

worry

/ˈwʌri/

කනස්සල්ලට පත්වෙනවා/පත් කරනවා

worry about someone/something: I worry about my students' progress in English.
worry over someone/something: She worries over her son's health every day.
worry that...: I worry that I won't be able to finish this essay on time.
worry someone (about someone/something): I'm sorry to worry you about my exam results.
worry someone that: It worries my parents that I might fail the exam.
worry someone with something: Don't worry your parents with every small problem.

wrap

/ræp/

ඔතනවා, දවටනවා, වෙළනවා

wrap A (up) (in B): Let's wrap the present up in some colorful wrapping paper.
wrap B around A: She wraps the present around the box.

wreck

/rek/

කඩා බිඳ දමනවා, විනාශ කරනවා

wreck something: He wrecked his car in the accident.

wrestle

/ˈresl/

පොර බදනවා

wrestle with someone/something: He wrestled with his inner demons until he found peace within himself.
wrestle someone (adv./prep.): He was able to easily wrestle his opponent to the ground with his strong arms.
wrestle to do something: The wrestler will wrestle to win the championship.

write*

/raɪt/

ලියනවා

write (something): The student writes notes in their notebook during class.
write in/on/with something: She writes in her journal every night before going to bed.
write something (on/about something): I will write an essay about my summer vacation.
write someone something: I will write you a letter tomorrow.
write to someone (that): I write to my parents every week to update them on my studies.
write doing something: I write daily in my journal to reflect on my thoughts and experiences.
write that...: Write that on the board.
write of something: He wrote of his travels in his journal.

Quick check

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Which verb means අවදි වෙනවා/අවදි කරනවා?
Which verb means සෝදනවා?
Which verb means (කෙනෙක්/දෙයක්) (සතුටින්) පිළිගන්නවා?
Which verb means පිහ දානවා?
Which verb means වැඩ කරනවා?

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Essential Verbs - W

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