නාට්යයෙන් පස්සේ in Sinhala
Two friends leave the theater and discuss the play, the director and the book it is staged from in Sinhala. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «නාට්යය ඉවර වුණා. ඔයාට කොහොමද?» — The play has ended. How was it for you? 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: two friends leave the theater and discuss the play, the director and the book it is staged from. 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.
- නාට්යය ඉවර වුණා. ඔයාට කොහොමද?nāṭyaya ivara vuṇā. oyāṭa kohomada?The play has ended. How was it for you?
- අත්පොළසන් නවත්තන්න බැරි වුණා. ප්රධාන චරිතය කරපු කෙනා ගොඩක් හොඳයි.atpoḷasan navattanna bæri vuṇā. pradhāna caritaya karapu kenā goḍak hondayi.The applause could not be stopped. The one who played the lead is very good.
- අධ්යක්ෂවරයා ප්රසිද්ධ කෙනෙක්. පහුගිය අවුරුද්දේ සම්මානයක් ගත්තා.adhyakṣavarayā prasiddha kenek. pahugiya avuruddē sammānayak gattā.The director is well known. He received an award last year.
- මම මේ කතාව කලින් පොතක් විදිහට කියෙව්වා. කතා පුවත ටිකක් වෙනස්.mama mē katāva kalin potak vidihaṭa kiyevvā. katā puvata ṭikak venas.I had read this story as a book before. The plot is a little different.
- මේ ප්රභේදය ඔයාට කැමතිද? මම කොමඩි ෆිල්ම් එකකට වඩා නාට්යයක් කැමතියි.mē prabhēdaya oyāṭa kæmatida? mama komaḍi film ekakaṭa vaḍā nāṭyayak kæmatiyi.Do you like this genre? I like a play more than a comedy.
- මමත් එහෙමයි. ඒත් වේදිකාවේ එළිය තව ටිකක් හොඳ වෙන්න තිබුණා.mamat ehemayi. ēt vēdikāvē eḷiya tava ṭikak honda venna tibuṇā.So do I. But the light on the stage could have been better.
- මංගල දර්ශනයට ගිය අයත් එහෙම කිව්වා.maṁgala darśanayaṭa giya ayat ehema kivvā.Those who went to the premiere said the same.
- දෙවෙනි කොටසක් එනවා කියලා ඇහුවා. ඒකටත් යමු.deveni koṭasak enavā kiyalā æhuvā. ēkaṭat yamu.I hear there will be a continuation. Let us go to that one too.
Lines one by one
| Sinhala | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| නාට්යය ඉවර වුණා. ඔයාට කොහොමද? | nāṭyaya ivara vuṇā. oyāṭa kohomada? | The play has ended. How was it for you? |
| අත්පොළසන් නවත්තන්න බැරි වුණා. ප්රධාන චරිතය කරපු කෙනා ගොඩක් හොඳයි. | atpoḷasan navattanna bæri vuṇā. pradhāna caritaya karapu kenā goḍak hondayi. | The applause could not be stopped. The one who played the lead is very good. |
| අධ්යක්ෂවරයා ප්රසිද්ධ කෙනෙක්. පහුගිය අවුරුද්දේ සම්මානයක් ගත්තා. | adhyakṣavarayā prasiddha kenek. pahugiya avuruddē sammānayak gattā. | The director is well known. He received an award last year. |
| මම මේ කතාව කලින් පොතක් විදිහට කියෙව්වා. කතා පුවත ටිකක් වෙනස්. | mama mē katāva kalin potak vidihaṭa kiyevvā. katā puvata ṭikak venas. | I had read this story as a book before. The plot is a little different. |
| මේ ප්රභේදය ඔයාට කැමතිද? මම කොමඩි ෆිල්ම් එකකට වඩා නාට්යයක් කැමතියි. | mē prabhēdaya oyāṭa kæmatida? mama komaḍi film ekakaṭa vaḍā nāṭyayak kæmatiyi. | Do you like this genre? I like a play more than a comedy. |
| මමත් එහෙමයි. ඒත් වේදිකාවේ එළිය තව ටිකක් හොඳ වෙන්න තිබුණා. | mamat ehemayi. ēt vēdikāvē eḷiya tava ṭikak honda venna tibuṇā. | So do I. But the light on the stage could have been better. |
| මංගල දර්ශනයට ගිය අයත් එහෙම කිව්වා. | maṁgala darśanayaṭa giya ayat ehema kivvā. | Those who went to the premiere said the same. |
| දෙවෙනි කොටසක් එනවා කියලා ඇහුවා. ඒකටත් යමු. | deveni koṭasak enavā kiyalā æhuvā. ēkaṭat yamu. | I hear there will be a continuation. Let us go to that one too. |
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?
“නාට්යය ඉවර වුණා. ඔයාට කොහොමද?” (nāṭyaya ivara vuṇā. oyāṭa kohomada?) — The play has ended. How was it for you?. 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.