LingoflyWhat if it rains? in Sinhala
Two arrange a trip to the temple and go over conditions: rain, bus, time in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «හෙට (heṭa) වන්දනා (vandanā) ගමනක් (gamanak) යනවා (yanavā) නම් (nam) උදේ (udē) පහට (pahaṭa) යන්න (yanna) ඕන (ōna).» — If we are going on the pilgrimage tomorrow, we must leave at five in the morning; «වැස්ස (væssa) වුණත් (vuṇat) යනවද (yanavada)?» — Even if it rains, shall we go? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two arrange a trip to the temple and go over conditions: rain, bus, time. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- mokak vuṇat yanavā. ēt væhuvot bas eken yamu.We are going in any case. But if it rains, we will go by bus.
- ehema nam mama kuḍēt aran ennam, ōna vuṇot kiyalā.In that case I will take an umbrella too, just in case.
- mama væradi nætnam ara pāra vahalā nēda?If I am not mistaken, that road is closed?
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| හෙට (heṭa) වන්දනා (vandanā) ගමනක් (gamanak) යනවා (yanavā) නම් (nam) උදේ (udē) පහට (pahaṭa) යන්න (yanna) ඕන (ōna). | heṭa vandanā gamanak yanavā nam udē pahaṭa yanna ōna. | If we are going on the pilgrimage tomorrow, we must leave at five in the morning. |
| වැස්ස (væssa) වුණත් (vuṇat) යනවද (yanavada)? | væssa vuṇat yanavada? | Even if it rains, shall we go? |
| මොකක් වුණත් (mokak vuṇat) යනවා (yanavā). ඒත් (ēt) වැහුවොත් බස් (bas) එකෙන් (eken) යමු (yamu). | mokak vuṇat yanavā. ēt væhuvot bas eken yamu. | We are going in any case. But if it rains, we will go by bus. |
| එහෙම නම් (ehema nam) මම (mama) කුඩේත් (kuḍēt) අරන් (aran) එන්නම් (ennam), ඕන වුණොත් කියලා (ōna vuṇot kiyalā). | ehema nam mama kuḍēt aran ennam, ōna vuṇot kiyalā. | In that case I will take an umbrella too, just in case. |
| හොඳයි (hondayi). ඉක්මනට (ikmanaṭa) එන්න (enna), නැත්නම් (nætnam) බස් එක (bas eka) මිස් (mis) වෙනවා (venavā). | hondayi. ikmanaṭa enna, nætnam bas eka mis venavā. | Good. Come sooner, otherwise we will miss the bus. |
| බොහෝ දුරට (bohō duraṭa) මම (mama) හතරහමාරට එතන ඉන්නවා (innavā). | bohō duraṭa mama hatarahamāraṭa etana innavā. | Most likely I will be there at half past four. |
| එතකොට (etakoṭa) කතා (katā) කරමු (karamu). පස්සේ (passē) තේරුණොත් වෙලාව (velāva) වෙනස් (venas) කරමු (karamu). | etakoṭa katā karamu. passē tēruṇot velāva venas karamu. | Then we will talk then too. If it later turns out otherwise, we will change the time. |
| මම වැරදි නැත්නම් (mama væradi nætnam) අර (ara) පාර (pāra) වහලා (vahalā) නේද (nēda)? | mama væradi nætnam ara pāra vahalā nēda? | If I am not mistaken, that road is closed? |
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?
“හෙට (heṭa) වන්දනා (vandanā) ගමනක් (gamanak) යනවා (yanavā) නම් (nam) උදේ (udē) පහට (pahaṭa) යන්න (yanna) ඕන (ōna).” (heṭa vandanā gamanak yanavā nam udē pahaṭa yanna ōna.) — If we are going on the pilgrimage tomorrow, we must leave at five 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.