LingoflyDid I get that right? in Sinhala
At an office: the visitor misheard the clerk and keeps asking until sure of understanding in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), සද්දේ නිසා මට ඇහුණේ නෑ (saddē nisā maṭa æhuṇē nǣ). මොකක්ද කිව්වේ?» (mokakda kivvē) — Sorry, because of the noise I did not catch it. What did you say?; «ලියුම (liyuma) හෙට (heṭa) උදේ (udē) ගේන්න (gēnna) කිව්වා» (kivvā) — I said, bring the letter tomorrow morning. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: at an office: the visitor misheard the clerk and keeps asking until sure of understanding. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- samāvenna, saddē nisā maṭa æhuṇē nǣ. mokakda kivvē?Sorry, because of the noise I did not catch it. What did you say?
- oyā kiyannē heṭa udē enna kiyalada?Do you mean that I must come tomorrow morning?
- මට තේරෙන්නේ නෑ. විස්තරාත්මකව කියන්න පුළුවන්ද?maṭa tērennē nǣ. vistarātmakava kiyanna puḷuvanda?It is unclear to me. Can you tell in detail?
- vināḍiyak inna, mama kiyalā dennam. piyavaren piyavara karannaOne minute, I will explain. Do it step by step.
- නම අකුරෙන් අකුර කියන්න පුළුවන්ද?nama akuren akura kiyanna puḷuvanda?Can you dictate the name letter by letter?
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| සමාවෙන්න (samāvenna), සද්දේ නිසා මට ඇහුණේ නෑ (saddē nisā maṭa æhuṇē nǣ). මොකක්ද කිව්වේ? (mokakda kivvē) | samāvenna, saddē nisā maṭa æhuṇē nǣ. mokakda kivvē? | Sorry, because of the noise I did not catch it. What did you say? |
| ලියුම (liyuma) හෙට (heṭa) උදේ (udē) ගේන්න (gēnna) කිව්වා (kivvā) | liyuma heṭa udē gēnna kivvā | I said, bring the letter tomorrow morning. |
| ඔයා කියන්නේ (oyā kiyannē) හෙට (heṭa) උදේ (udē) එන්න (enna) කියලද (kiyalada)? | oyā kiyannē heṭa udē enna kiyalada? | Do you mean that I must come tomorrow morning? |
| ඔව් (ov). සමහර (samahara) ලියවිලිත් ගේන්න (gēnna) ඕනේ (ōnē) | ov. samahara liyavilit gēnna ōnē | Yes. And you also need to bring some documents. |
| මට තේරෙන්නේ නෑ (maṭa tērennē nǣ). විස්තරාත්මකව කියන්න (vistarātmakava kiyanna) පුළුවන්ද (puḷuvanda)? | maṭa tērennē nǣ. vistarātmakava kiyanna puḷuvanda? | It is unclear to me. Can you tell in detail? |
| විනාඩියක් ඉන්න, මම කියලා දෙන්නම් (vināḍiyak inna, mama kiyalā dennam). පියවරෙන් පියවර කරන්න (piyavaren piyavara karanna) | vināḍiyak inna, mama kiyalā dennam. piyavaren piyavara karanna | One minute, I will explain. Do it step by step. |
| නම අකුරෙන් අකුර කියන්න (nama akuren akura kiyanna) පුළුවන්ද (puḷuvanda)? | nama akuren akura kiyanna puḷuvanda? | Can you dictate the name letter by letter? |
| පුළුවන් (puḷuvan). දැන් (dæn) තේරුණාද? (tēruṇāda) | puḷuvan. dæn tēruṇāda? | I can. Is it clear now? |
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), සද්දේ නිසා මට ඇහුණේ නෑ (saddē nisā maṭa æhuṇē nǣ). මොකක්ද කිව්වේ?” (mokakda kivvē) (samāvenna, saddē nisā maṭa æhuṇē nǣ. mokakda kivvē?) — Sorry, because of the noise I did not catch it. What did you say? 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.