LingoflyWho is telling the truth? in Sinhala
Two colleagues examine a rumor that has spread through the office and check what it rests on in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «ඔෆිස් (ofis) එකේ (ekē) කතා පැතිරුණා (katā pætiruṇā), සමාගම (samāgama) වහනවා (vahanavā) කියලා (kiyalā).» — Talk has gone around the office that the firm is being closed; «ඒකට (ēkaṭa) පදනමක් (padanamak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? මම ඒ ගැන දන්නේ අහලා විතරක් (mama ē gæna dannē ahalā vitarak).» — Is there a basis for it? I know of it only by hearsay.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two colleagues examine a rumor that has spread through the office and check what it rests on. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- ofis ekē katā pætiruṇā, samāgama vahanavā kiyalā.Talk has gone around the office that the firm is being closed.
- ēkaṭa padanamak tiyenavada? mama ē gæna dannē ahalā vitarak.Is there a basis for it? I know of it only by hearsay.
- විශ්වාසනීය තැනකින් අහපු එකක් නෙවෙයි. සැක සහිතයි.viśvāsanīya tænakin ahapu ekak neveyi. sæka sahitayi.It was not heard from a reliable place. Doubtful.
- honda adahasak. pæhædilivama ēka vyāja katāvak nam ivara veyi.A good thought. Evidently, if it is a false rumor, it will end.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ඔෆිස් (ofis) එකේ (ekē) කතා පැතිරුණා (katā pætiruṇā), සමාගම (samāgama) වහනවා (vahanavā) කියලා (kiyalā). | ofis ekē katā pætiruṇā, samāgama vahanavā kiyalā. | Talk has gone around the office that the firm is being closed. |
| ඒකට (ēkaṭa) පදනමක් (padanamak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? මම ඒ ගැන දන්නේ අහලා විතරක් (mama ē gæna dannē ahalā vitarak). | ēkaṭa padanamak tiyenavada? mama ē gæna dannē ahalā vitarak. | Is there a basis for it? I know of it only by hearsay. |
| විශ්වාසනීය (viśvāsanīya) තැනකින් අහපු එකක් (ekak) නෙවෙයි (neveyi). සැක (sæka) සහිතයි (sahitayi). | viśvāsanīya tænakin ahapu ekak neveyi. sæka sahitayi. | It was not heard from a reliable place. Doubtful. |
| එහෙනම් (ehenam) ආයෙත් (āyet) බලමු (balamu). ඔප්පු කිරීමක් නැතුව කියන්න බෑ (oppu kirīmak nætuva kiyanna bǣ). | ehenam āyet balamu. oppu kirīmak nætuva kiyanna bǣ. | Then let us double-check. Without proof one must not talk. |
| ලියවිල්ලේ පරස්පරයක් තියෙනවා (liyavillē parasparayak tiyenavā). එකක ගාණ (gāṇa) වෙනස් (venas). | liyavillē parasparayak tiyenavā. ekaka gāṇa venas. | There is a contradiction in the document. In one place the sum is different. |
| ඒක (ēka) සාක්ෂියක් (sākṣiyak) වගේ (vagē). ඒත් (ēt) ඉක්මන් විනිශ්චයක් දෙන්න එපා (ikman viniścayak denna epā). | ēka sākṣiyak vagē. ēt ikman viniścayak denna epā. | This looks like evidence. But do not pass a hasty judgment. |
| හරි (hari). හේතු (hētu) දක්වලා ලියුමක් (liyumak) යවමු, එතකොට (etakoṭa) හෙළි (heḷi) වේවි. | hari. hētu dakvalā liyumak yavamu, etakoṭa heḷi vēvi. | Good. We will send a letter with the justification, then everything will become clear. |
| හොඳ (honda) අදහසක් (adahasak). පැහැදිලිවම (pæhædilivama) ඒක (ēka) ව්‍යාජ (vyāja) කතාවක් (katāvak) නම් (nam) ඉවර (ivara) වෙයි (veyi). | honda adahasak. pæhædilivama ēka vyāja katāvak nam ivara veyi. | A good thought. Evidently, if it is a false rumor, it will end. |
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?
“ඔෆිස් (ofis) එකේ (ekē) කතා පැතිරුණා (katā pætiruṇā), සමාගම (samāgama) වහනවා (vahanavā) කියලා (kiyalā).” (ofis ekē katā pætiruṇā, samāgama vahanavā kiyalā.) — Talk has gone around the office that the firm is being closed. 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.