LingoflyA loan at the bank in Sinhala
At a bank branch, a person asks about a loan and interest in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මට (maṭa) ලෝන් (lōn) එකක් (ekak) ගැන (gæna) අහන්න (ahanna) ඕනේ» (ōnē) — Hello, I'd like to ask about a loan; «හොඳයි (hondayi). ඔයාට (oyāṭa) මෙතන (metana) ගිණුමක් (giṇumak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)?» — Good. Do you have an account here? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: at a bank branch, a person asks about a loan and interest. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- rupiyal visipandāhak vitara. gevanna ōna davasa hæma māsema dahayavenidāAbout twenty-five thousand rupees. The due date is the tenth of each month.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මට (maṭa) ලෝන් (lōn) එකක් (ekak) ගැන (gæna) අහන්න (ahanna) ඕනේ (ōnē) | āyubōvan, maṭa lōn ekak gæna ahanna ōnē | Hello, I'd like to ask about a loan. |
| හොඳයි (hondayi). ඔයාට (oyāṭa) මෙතන (metana) ගිණුමක් (giṇumak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? | hondayi. oyāṭa metana giṇumak tiyenavada? | Good. Do you have an account here? |
| ඔව් (ov), පඩිය (paḍiya) මේ ගිණුමට (giṇumaṭa) එනවා (enavā) | ov, paḍiya mē giṇumaṭa enavā | Yes, my salary comes into this account. |
| එහෙනම් (ehenam) හොඳයි (hondayi). පොලිය (poliya) සියයට (siyayaṭa) දාහතරයි (dāhatarayi) | ehenam hondayi. poliya siyayaṭa dāhatarayi | Then that is good. The interest rate is fourteen. |
| මාසිකව ගෙවන්න (gevanna) ඕන (ōna) කීයද? (kīyada) | māsikava gevanna ōna kīyada? | How much do I have to pay per month? |
| රුපියල් (rupiyal) විසිපන්දාහක් විතර (vitara). ගෙවන්න ඕන දවස (gevanna ōna davasa) හැම (hæma) මාසෙම (māsema) දහයවෙනිදා | rupiyal visipandāhak vitara. gevanna ōna davasa hæma māsema dahayavenidā | About twenty-five thousand rupees. The due date is the tenth of each month. |
| ගෙවීම (gevīma) පරක්කු (parakku) වුණොත් (vuṇot) මොකද (mokada) වෙන්නේ (vennē)? | gevīma parakku vuṇot mokada vennē? | And what happens if a payment is late? |
| දඩයක් (daḍayak) එනවා (enavā). ඒක නිසා (ēka nisā) ඔන්ලයින් (onlayin) ගෙවන එක (eka) හොඳම (hondama) | daḍayak enavā. ēka nisā onlayin gevana eka hondama | A penalty is charged. So it is best to pay online. |
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?
“ආයුබෝවන් (āyubōvan), මට (maṭa) ලෝන් (lōn) එකක් (ekak) ගැන (gæna) අහන්න (ahanna) ඕනේ” (ōnē) (āyubōvan, maṭa lōn ekak gæna ahanna ōnē) — Hello, I'd like to ask about a loan. 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.