එයා කොහොමද පේන්නේ? in Sinhala
At the airport: the greeter describes over the phone what the person to find looks like in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «මම එයාව දන්නේ නෑ. එයා කොහොමද පේන්නේ?» — I don't know him. What does he look like?; «එයා සාමාන්ය උසයි, ටිකක් සිහින්» — He is of medium height, quite slim. Every line can be played right on the page. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: at the airport: the greeter describes over the phone what the person to find looks like. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- මම එයාව දන්නේ නෑ. එයා කොහොමද පේන්නේ?mama eyāva dannē nǣ. eyā kohomada pēnnē?I don't know him. What does he look like?
- එයා සාමාන්ය උසයි, ටිකක් සිහින්eyā sāmānya usayi, ṭikak sihinHe is of medium height, quite slim.
- කොණ්ඩේ කොහොමද? තට්ටද?koṇḍē kohomada? taṭṭada?And the hair? Is he bald?
- නෑ, රැළි කොණ්ඩේ. ටිකක් පැහුණුnǣ, ræḷi koṇḍē. ṭikak pæhuṇuNo, curly hair. A little gray.
- මූණේ මොකක් හරි ලකුණක් තියෙනවද?mūṇē mokak hari lakuṇak tiyenavada?Is there any mark on the face?
- ඔව්, නිකට ළඟ පොඩි ලපයක් තියෙනවාov, nikaṭa ḷanga poḍi lapayak tiyenavāYes, a small mole by the chin.
- හොඳයි. එයා කතාබහට කැමතිද?hondayi. eyā katābahaṭa kæmatida?Good. Is he sociable?
- ඔව්, ගොඩක්. හොඳ සෙන්ස් ඔෆ් හියුමර් එකකුත් තියෙනවාov, goḍak. honda sens of hiyumar ekakut tiyenavāYes, very. And a good sense of humor.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| මම එයාව දන්නේ නෑ. එයා කොහොමද පේන්නේ? | mama eyāva dannē nǣ. eyā kohomada pēnnē? | I don't know him. What does he look like? |
| එයා සාමාන්ය උසයි, ටිකක් සිහින් | eyā sāmānya usayi, ṭikak sihin | He is of medium height, quite slim. |
| කොණ්ඩේ කොහොමද? තට්ටද? | koṇḍē kohomada? taṭṭada? | And the hair? Is he bald? |
| නෑ, රැළි කොණ්ඩේ. ටිකක් පැහුණු | nǣ, ræḷi koṇḍē. ṭikak pæhuṇu | No, curly hair. A little gray. |
| මූණේ මොකක් හරි ලකුණක් තියෙනවද? | mūṇē mokak hari lakuṇak tiyenavada? | Is there any mark on the face? |
| ඔව්, නිකට ළඟ පොඩි ලපයක් තියෙනවා | ov, nikaṭa ḷanga poḍi lapayak tiyenavā | Yes, a small mole by the chin. |
| හොඳයි. එයා කතාබහට කැමතිද? | hondayi. eyā katābahaṭa kæmatida? | Good. Is he sociable? |
| ඔව්, ගොඩක්. හොඳ සෙන්ස් ඔෆ් හියුමර් එකකුත් තියෙනවා | ov, goḍak. honda sens of hiyumar ekakut tiyenavā | Yes, very. And a good sense of humor. |
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 it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.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?
“මම එයාව දන්නේ නෑ. එයා කොහොමද පේන්නේ?” (mama eyāva dannē nǣ. eyā kohomada pēnnē?) — I don't know him. What does he look like?. 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.