LingoflyIn a dead end in Sinhala
A driver has got lost in an unfamiliar block and asks a passerby the way in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), මම අතරමං වුණා (mama ataramaṁ vuṇā). මේ පාර (mē pāra) අන්ධ (andha) මාවතක්ද?» — Sorry, I have got lost. Is this street a dead end?; «ඔව් (ov). ආපස්සට (āpassaṭa) ගිහින් (gihin) දෙවෙනි හන්දියෙන් වමට හැරෙන්න (deveni handiyen vamaṭa hærenna).» — Yes. Drive back and at the second intersection turn left. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a driver has got lost in an unfamiliar block and asks a passerby the way. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- samāvenna, mama ataramaṁ vuṇā. mē pāra andha māvatakda?Sorry, I have got lost. Is this street a dead end?
- හඳුනාගන්න ලකුණක් තියෙනවද? මට මේ අවට පළාත හුරු නෑ.handunāganna lakuṇak tiyenavada? maṭa mē avaṭa paḷāta huru nǣ.Is there any landmark? These surroundings are unfamiliar to me.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), මම අතරමං වුණා (mama ataramaṁ vuṇā). මේ පාර (mē pāra) අන්ධ (andha) මාවතක්ද? | samāvenna, mama ataramaṁ vuṇā. mē pāra andha māvatakda? | Sorry, I have got lost. Is this street a dead end? |
| ඔව් (ov). ආපස්සට (āpassaṭa) ගිහින් (gihin) දෙවෙනි හන්දියෙන් වමට හැරෙන්න (deveni handiyen vamaṭa hærenna). | ov. āpassaṭa gihin deveni handiyen vamaṭa hærenna. | Yes. Drive back and at the second intersection turn left. |
| හඳුනාගන්න (handunāganna) ලකුණක් තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? මට (maṭa) මේ අවට පළාත (avaṭa paḷāta) හුරු (huru) නෑ. | handunāganna lakuṇak tiyenavada? maṭa mē avaṭa paḷāta huru nǣ. | Is there any landmark? These surroundings are unfamiliar to me. |
| ලොකු (loku) බෝ ගහක් (gahak) තියෙනවා (tiyenavā). ඒකේ (ēkē) ළඟින් (ḷangin) ගිහින් (gihin) කෙළින්ම (keḷinma) යන්න (yanna). | loku bō gahak tiyenavā. ēkē ḷangin gihin keḷinma yanna. | There is a big bo tree there. Drive past it and onward straight. |
| පාර (pāra) පටුද? මගේ (magē) වාහනේ (vāhanē) ලොකුයි (lokuyi), ඉඩ මදි (iḍa madi) නම් (nam) අමාරුයි (amāruyi). | pāra paṭuda? magē vāhanē lokuyi, iḍa madi nam amāruyi. | Is the road narrow? My car is big, if it is tight it will be hard. |
| නෑ, ඒක (ēka) ඉඩ තියෙන (iḍa tiyena) පාරක් (pārak). ඒත් (ēt) අයිනේ (ayinē) වළවල් (vaḷaval) තියෙනවා (tiyenavā). | nǣ, ēka iḍa tiyena pārak. ēt ayinē vaḷaval tiyenavā. | No, it is a spacious road. But there are potholes at the edges. |
| ස්තූතියි (stūtiyi). ඈතින් කන්දක් පේනවා (ǣtin kandak pēnavā), ඒක (ēka) ඒ පැත්තෙන්ද? | stūtiyi. ǣtin kandak pēnavā, ēka ē pættenda? | Thank you. A mountain is visible in the distance, is it on that side? |
| ඔව් (ov), ඒක (ēka) ඉස්සරහින් (issarahin). පාර (pāra) හරහට (harahaṭa) ගහක් (gahak) වැටිලා (væṭilā) නම් (nam) වටේට (vaṭēṭa) යන්න (yanna). | ov, ēka issarahin. pāra harahaṭa gahak væṭilā nam vaṭēṭa yanna. | Yes, it is ahead. If a tree has fallen across the road, drive around. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Sinhala in this situation?
“සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), මම අතරමං වුණා (mama ataramaṁ vuṇā). මේ පාර (mē pāra) අන්ධ (andha) මාවතක්ද?” (samāvenna, mama ataramaṁ vuṇā. mē pāra andha māvatakda?) — Sorry, I have got lost. Is this street a dead end? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.