LingoflyTo go or not? in Sinhala
Two people weigh whether to travel: possibility, necessity and doubt in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «ලබන (labana) සතියේ (satiyē) යන්න (yanna) අපිට (apiṭa) හැකියාවක් (hækiyāvak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)?» — Do we have a chance to go next week?; «මට නම් (maṭa nam) අමාරුයි (amāruyi). මට (maṭa) වැඩක් (væḍak) කරන්නම වෙනවා» (venavā) — In my view it is difficult. I will have to get one job done. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two people weigh whether to travel: possibility, necessity and doubt. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- ලබන සතියේ යන්න අපිට හැකියාවක් තියෙනවද?laban satiyē yanna apiṭa hækiyāvak tiyenavada?Do we have a chance to go next week?
- මට නම් අමාරුයි. මට වැඩක් කරන්නම වෙනවාmaṭa nam amāruyi. maṭa væḍak karannama venavāIn my view it is difficult. I will have to get one job done.
- maṭa hitenavā kohoma hari gihin balamu kiyalāIt seems to me, let us in general go and see.
- hari. eka pættakin ēka hondayi, anit pætten gāṇa væḍiyiGood. On one hand it is good, on the other it is expensive.
- kohoma vuṇat anivāryayenma heṭa tīraṇaya karamuLet us still be sure to decide tomorrow.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| ලබන (labana) සතියේ (satiyē) යන්න (yanna) අපිට (apiṭa) හැකියාවක් (hækiyāvak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)? | laban satiyē yanna apiṭa hækiyāvak tiyenavada? | Do we have a chance to go next week? |
| මට නම් (maṭa nam) අමාරුයි (amāruyi). මට (maṭa) වැඩක් (væḍak) කරන්නම වෙනවා (venavā) | maṭa nam amāruyi. maṭa væḍak karannama venavā | In my view it is difficult. I will have to get one job done. |
| ඒ වුණාට (ē vuṇāṭa) ටිකට් (ṭikaṭ) ලාභයි (lābhayi). ඒක (ēka) හොඳ (honda) අවස්ථාවක් (avasthāvak) | ē vuṇāṭa ṭikaṭ lābhayi. ēka honda avasthāvak | But the tickets are cheap. It is a good case. |
| එකඟයි (ekangayi). හැබැයි (hæbæyi) වැස්ස (væssa) කාලේ (kālē) නිසා (nisā) ටිකක් (ṭikak) සැකයි | ekangayi. hæbæyi væssa kālē nisā ṭikak sækayi | Agreed. However, because of the rainy season there is doubt. |
| මට හිතෙනවා (maṭa hitenavā) කොහොම හරි (kohoma hari) ගිහින් (gihin) බලමු (balamu) කියලා (kiyalā) | maṭa hitenavā kohoma hari gihin balamu kiyalā | It seems to me, let us in general go and see. |
| එහෙනම් (ehenam) වෙන (vena) ප්ලෑන් (plǣn) එකකුත් ඕනේ (ōnē). වහින්න (vahinna) පුළුවන් (puḷuvan) | ehenam vena plǣn ekakut ōnē. vahinna puḷuvan | Then a backup plan is needed too. It may rain. |
| හරි (hari). එක පැත්තකින් ඒක හොඳයි (eka pættakin ēka hondayi), අනිත් පැත්තෙන් ගාණ වැඩියි (anit pætten gāṇa væḍiyi) | hari. eka pættakin ēka hondayi, anit pætten gāṇa væḍiyi | Good. On one hand it is good, on the other it is expensive. |
| කොහොම වුණත් (kohoma vuṇat) අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම (anivāryayenma) හෙට (heṭa) තීරණය (tīraṇaya) කරමු (karamu) | kohoma vuṇat anivāryayenma heṭa tīraṇaya karamu | Let us still be sure to decide tomorrow. |
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?
“ලබන (labana) සතියේ (satiyē) යන්න (yanna) අපිට (apiṭa) හැකියාවක් (hækiyāvak) තියෙනවද (tiyenavada)?” (laban satiyē yanna apiṭa hækiyāvak tiyenavada?) — Do we have a chance to go next week? 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.