LingoflyHere's what happened in Sinhala
Two friends: one tells what happened on the road, the other asks back in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «ඊයේ (īyē) වුණු දේ මෙහෙමයි: අපි උදේ පිටත් වුණා (vuṇu dē mehemayi: api udē piṭat vuṇā).» — Yesterday it was like this: we set out in the morning; «ඊට පස්සෙන්ම (īṭa passenma) මොකද (mokada) වුණේ (vuṇē)?» — What happened in the wake of this? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two friends: one tells what happened on the road, the other asks back. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- īyē vuṇu dē mehemayi: api udē piṭat vuṇā.Yesterday it was like this: we set out in the morning.
- හරි මැද්දේ වාහනේ නැවතුණා. හදිසියේම.hari mæddē vāhanē nævatuṇā. hadisiyēma.In the very middle of the journey the car stopped. All of a sudden.
- ættada? mama nam viśvāsa karannē nǣ ehema vuṇā kiyalā.Really? I would not have believed it turned out so.
- මමත් බලාපොරොත්තු වුණේ නෑ. පොඩ්ඩෙන් වැස්සත් ආවා.mamat balāporottu vuṇē nǣ. poḍḍen væssat āvā.I did not expect it either. It all but rained.
- ehema vuṇā tamayi. āyet ehema vennē nǣ kiyalā hitamu.So it went. We will assume that more of this will not repeat.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ඊයේ (īyē) වුණු දේ මෙහෙමයි: අපි උදේ පිටත් වුණා (vuṇu dē mehemayi: api udē piṭat vuṇā). | īyē vuṇu dē mehemayi: api udē piṭat vuṇā. | Yesterday it was like this: we set out in the morning. |
| ඊට පස්සෙන්ම (īṭa passenma) මොකද (mokada) වුණේ (vuṇē)? | īṭa passenma mokada vuṇē? | What happened in the wake of this? |
| හරි මැද්දේ (hari mæddē) වාහනේ (vāhanē) නැවතුණා. හදිසියේම (hadisiyēma). | hari mæddē vāhanē nævatuṇā. hadisiyēma. | In the very middle of the journey the car stopped. All of a sudden. |
| ඇත්තද? (ættada) මම නම් විශ්වාස කරන්නේ නෑ (mama nam viśvāsa karannē nǣ) එහෙම (ehema) වුණා (vuṇā) කියලා (kiyalā). | ættada? mama nam viśvāsa karannē nǣ ehema vuṇā kiyalā. | Really? I would not have believed it turned out so. |
| මමත් (mamat) බලාපොරොත්තු (balāporottu) වුණේ (vuṇē) නෑ. පොඩ්ඩෙන් (poḍḍen) වැස්සත් (væssat) ආවා (āvā). | mamat balāporottu vuṇē nǣ. poḍḍen væssat āvā. | I did not expect it either. It all but rained. |
| අන්තිමට වුණේ මොකද්ද කියලා කියන්න (antimaṭa vuṇē mokadda kiyalā kiyanna). | antimaṭa vuṇē mokadda kiyalā kiyanna. | Tell me how it all ended. |
| අන්තිම ගාණේ අපි ගෙදර ගියේ පයින් (antima gāṇē api gedara giyē payin). ඒ මොහොත මට තාම මතකයි (ē mohota maṭa tāma matakayi). | antima gāṇē api gedara giyē payin. ē mohota maṭa tāma matakayi. | In the end we walked home. I remember that moment to this day. |
| එහෙම වුණා තමයි (ehema vuṇā tamayi). ආයෙත් එහෙම වෙන්නේ නෑ (āyet ehema vennē nǣ) කියලා (kiyalā) හිතමු. | ehema vuṇā tamayi. āyet ehema vennē nǣ kiyalā hitamu. | So it went. We will assume that more of this will not repeat. |
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?
“ඊයේ (īyē) වුණු දේ මෙහෙමයි: අපි උදේ පිටත් වුණා (vuṇu dē mehemayi: api udē piṭat vuṇā).” (īyē vuṇu dē mehemayi: api udē piṭat vuṇā.) — Yesterday it was like this: we set out in the morning. 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.