Texts in Sinhala
Short texts in Sinhala with a translation alongside and comprehension questions, levels A1–B1. The first ones need two or three hundred everyday words; the B1 texts need about three thousand. The translation stands next to it whole, not word by word: stopping at every other word tears the sentence apart.
All texts
- 📖දුම්රියේA2 · Tomorrow we are going to Kandy. The train is at seven in the morning. The train ticket is…
- වෙළඳපොළ (veḷandapoḷa)📖වෙළඳපොළ (veḷandapoḷa)A2 · On Sunday morning I go to the market. There are mangoes, bananas and vegetables there.…
- අපේ (apē) ගෙදර (gedara)📖අපේ (apē) ගෙදර (gedara)A2 · Our house has two floors. Upstairs there are two rooms and a bathroom. Downstairs there…
- බෙහෙත් (behet) කඩේ (kaḍē)📖බෙහෙත් (behet) කඩේ (kaḍē)A2 · My friend has had a cough since yesterday. There is no fever, but he is very tired. Today…
- වැහි කාලය (væhi kālaya)📖වැහි කාලය (væhi kālaya)A2 · There is no winter in Sri Lanka. The rainy season begins in May. In those days it rains…
- නිමල්ගේ වැඩ (væḍa)📖නිමල්ගේ වැඩ (væḍa)A2 · Nimal is an engineer. He works in an office in Colombo. The workday begins at nine in the…
- මහනුවර (mahanuvara) ට්රේන් (ṭrēn) එක (eka)📖මහනුවර (mahanuvara) ට්රේන් (ṭrēn) එක (eka)A2 · Yesterday I went to Kandy. The train left at seven in the morning. I took a round-trip…
- 📖මිරිස්සේ උදෑසනA2 · The beach in Mirissa is beautiful. In the morning the wave is small, in the evening it is…
- අලුත් (alut) ඇඳුම් (ændum)📖අලුත් (alut) ඇඳුම් (ændum)A2 · Yesterday I went to a clothing store. I needed a shirt and trousers. The first shirt was…
- මගේ (magē) යාළුවා (yāḷuvā)📖මගේ (magē) යාළුවා (yāḷuvā)A2 · My friend’s name is Saman. He is a calm and kind person. He often laughs and rarely gets…
- 📖කුස්සියේ (kussiyē)A2 · Every evening Mother cooks rice in the kitchen. I cut the onion and the carrot. Mother…
- උදේට (udēṭa) ෆෝන් එක (fōn eka)📖උදේට (udēṭa) ෆෝන් එක (fōn eka)A2 · In the morning I turn on the phone and look at the messages that came in the night.…
- 📖වැඩපොළේ (væḍapoḷē)A2 · Yesterday my phone fell on the floor, and the screen broke. I walked along the street and…
- සෙනසුරාදා (senasurādā) ෆිල්ම් එක (film eka)📖සෙනසුරාදා (senasurādā) ෆිල්ම් එක (film eka)A2 · Last Saturday we went to the cinema. The film began at seven. We were a little late…
- අලුත් අවුරුද්ද (alut avurudda) සහ (saha) පන්සල (pansala)📖අලුත් අවුරුද්ද (alut avurudda) සහ (saha) පන්සල (pansala)A2 · Every year in April the New Year comes. Before it Mother cleans the house, and I sweep…
- අපේ (apē) ගෙදරයි මිදුලයි📖අපේ (apē) ගෙදරයි මිදුලයිA2 · Our house is small, but the yard is wide. Outside there is a fence and a gate. By the…
- මගේ (magē) පාඩම් වේලාවල් (pāḍam vēlāval)📖මගේ (magē) පාඩම් වේලාවල් (pāḍam vēlāval)A2 · I am in the sixth grade. At eight in the morning the school bell rings. Most of all I…
- මාසේ (māsē) බජට් එක (bajaṭ eka)📖මාසේ (māsē) බජට් එක (bajaṭ eka)A2 · My income is about one hundred thousand rupees a month. Forty thousand goes to rent…
- රෝහලේ (rōhalē) දවසක් (davasak)📖රෝහලේ (rōhalē) දවසක් (davasak)A2 · Yesterday Mother’s stomach suddenly began to ache. Early in the morning we went to the…
- අලුත් (alut) රස්සාව (rassāva)📖අලුත් (alut) රස්සාව (rassāva)B1 · A month ago I saw a job advertisement in the newspaper. I sent my resume and applied for…
- අලුත් (alut) ගෙදර (gedara)📖අලුත් (alut) ගෙදර (gedara)A2 · Last week we moved. The things were brought by truck, the glassware was wrapped in paper.…
- 📖පාරේ (pārē) නීති (nīti)A2 · We rented a car for three days. At the rental office they said to return it with a full…
- පෝස්ට් (pōsṭ) එකයි (ekayi) කමෙන්ට් (kamenṭ) එකයි (ekayi)📖පෝස්ට් (pōsṭ) එකයි (ekayi) කමෙන්ට් (kamenṭ) එකයි (ekayi)B1 · Yesterday I posted a photo from a trip. In two hours about a hundred likes and many…
- පොලීසියේ (polīsiyē) දවසක් (davasak)📖පොලීසියේ (polīsiyē) දවසක් (davasak)B1 · Last night an incident happened on our street. Someone broke the door of the shop, so we…
- මගේ අදහස නම් (magē adahasa nam)📖මගේ අදහස නම් (magē adahasa nam)B1 · My friend said that he wants to take a new job. In my view, it is a somewhat hasty…
- හදිසි (hadisi) උදෑසනක් (udǣsanak)📖හදිසි (hadisi) උදෑසනක් (udǣsanak)B1 · Yesterday morning I got up at six, as always. First I made myself tea, and after that I…
- මගේ (magē) ලොකු අයියා (loku ayiyā)📖මගේ (magē) ලොකු අයියා (loku ayiyā)A2 · My elder brother is of medium height, quite slim. His hair is curly, now a little gray.…
- රණ්ඩුවකින් පස්සේ (passē)📖රණ්ඩුවකින් පස්සේ (passē)B1 · A month ago my friend and I had a conflict. I shouted at him, he took offense and stopped…
- ලේසි (lēsi) රෙසිපි (resipi) එකක් (ekak)📖ලේසි (lēsi) රෙසිපි (resipi) එකක් (ekak)A2 · This is a simple recipe; the dish can be made in twenty minutes. First peel the…
- මෝල් (mōl) එකේ (ekē) දවසක් (davasak)📖මෝල් (mōl) එකේ (ekē) දවසක් (davasak)A2 · Yesterday we went to the shopping center. I took a cart and bought several packs and…
- වොෂිං මැෂින් එක (voṣiṁ mæṣin eka) කැඩුණා (kæḍuṇā)📖වොෂිං මැෂින් එක (voṣiṁ mæṣin eka) කැඩුණා (kæḍuṇā)B1 · Last week our washing machine stopped working. First one little lamp began to blink, then…
- ගමේ (gamē) දවසක් (davasak)📖ගමේ (gamē) දවසක් (davasak)A2 · Last week we went to the village. In the morning fog settled, then it became sunny. Along…
- 📖පාරේදී (pāradī) වුණ (vuṇa) දෙයක් (deyak)B1 · Yesterday I was driving by car to Galle. At rush hour there were many traffic jams, so I…
- මම (mama) සිංහල (siṁhala) ඉගෙන (igena) ගන්න (ganna) විදිය📖මම (mama) සිංහල (siṁhala) ඉගෙන (igena) ගන්න (ganna) විදියA2 · I started the Sinhala course a year ago. At first I could not write the letters; now I…
- මාමාගේ ජීවිතේ (jīvitē)📖මාමාගේ ජීවිතේ (jīvitē)B1 · My uncle was born in a village. His childhood passed among rice fields; as a child he…
- 📖ටෙලිෆෝන් කතාවක් (katāvak)B1 · Yesterday I was called from the office. Because of the noise I heard poorly and therefore…
- තමන්ගේ (tamangē) ව්යාපාරය📖තමන්ගේ (tamangē) ව්යාපාරයB1 · My uncle worked at a factory for ten years, and then started his own business. At first…
- නොකියෙව්ව ගිවිසුම (givisuma)📖නොකියෙව්ව ගිවිසුම (givisuma)B1 · I signed the internet contract without reading the clauses. I thought that the tariff did…
- අපේ (apē) ගම (gama)📖අපේ (apē) ගම (gama)A2 · About a thousand people live in our village. Drinking water used to be taken from the…
- පොත් කඩේ (pot kaḍē)📖පොත් කඩේ (pot kaḍē)A2 · Every Saturday I go to the book shop. There are novels, short stories and books of poems…
- කොළඹ (koḷamba) මැරතන් එක (mæratan eka)📖කොළඹ (koḷamba) මැරතන් එක (mæratan eka)B1 · Last year my friend took part in the marathon in Colombo. For three months he ran every…
- 📖කරන්ට් (karanṭ) ගියාම (giyāma)A2 · The power in our house is not cut every week, but when it is cut — it is a big problem.…
- රෝහලේ (rōhalē) දවස් (davas) තුනක් (tunak)📖රෝහලේ (rōhalē) දවස් (davas) තුනක් (tunak)B1 · Uncle fell from a ladder and broke an arm bone. At the hospital they first took an X-ray…
- ගමේ (gamē) පන්සල (pansala)📖ගමේ (gamē) පන්සල (pansala)B1 · The temple in our village is placed above the village, on a hill. On every full moon a…
- 📖ආරංචියB1 · Talk went around the village that a new road is being built. At first someone said that…
- දෙවෙනි (deveni) උත්සාහය (utsāhaya)📖දෙවෙනි (deveni) උත්සාහය (utsāhaya)B1 · My younger sister did not pass the exam the first time. She was very upset, but Mother…
- පරණ (paraṇa) අල්මාරිය (almāriya)📖පරණ (paraṇa) අල්මාරිය (almāriya)B1 · In the back room of the house stood an old wardrobe. Its door had warped, the lock had…
- ගමේ (gamē) පාර (pāra)📖ගමේ (gamē) පාර (pāra)B1 · The road to our village is narrow; there are potholes at the edges. If you drive from the…
- කඩේ (kaḍē) ගාණ (gāṇa)📖කඩේ (kaḍē) ගාණ (gāṇa)B1 · At the shop of our village goods are sold per piece, not by kilograms. Last year the…
- කල් (kal) ඇදුණු වැඩේ (væḍē)📖කල් (kal) ඇදුණු වැඩේ (væḍē)B1 · We set about the work on the roof of the house in April. Although we thought to finish in…
- 📖හෙළි (heḷi) වුණු (vuṇu) කතාව (katāva)B1 · Talk went around the office that the firm is being closed. At first no one saw a basis…
- වෙනස් (venas) වුණ (vuṇa) ගම (gama)📖වෙනස් (venas) වුණ (vuṇa) ගම (gama)B1 · My grandfather says that in those years there was no road to the village. The ancestors…
- 📖ගඟයි කුණුයිB1 · Near our village there is a river, but now there are harmful impurities in the water. The…
- 📖ගබඩාවට (gabaḍāvaṭa) ආපු (āpu) තොගයB1 · Yesterday a new batch of goods came to the warehouse — fifty boxes. Having looked at the…
- ඒ දවසේ (davasē) ගමන (gamana)📖ඒ දවසේ (davasē) ගමන (gamana)B1 · It was like this: we set out at six in the morning, thinking that the weather was good.…
- අලුත් කෙනා (alut kenā)📖අලුත් කෙනා (alut kenā)B1 · A new person came to our office; he is accommodating. At first it seemed to everyone that…
How to read a text in a language you barely know
First pass — all the way through, without peeking at the translation. The goal is not to understand but to catch familiar words: there will be more of them than you expect, and that feeling matters more than any rule.
Second pass — with the translation beside you. Now it becomes clear what exactly was in the way: an unknown word, a construction you did not get, or just reading speed.
Third pass — all the way through again. The second pass brings noticeably more, and this step is what makes reading useful: it turns analysis into recognition.
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read texts in Sinhala?
A1–B1. For the first texts the letters and two or three hundred everyday words are enough; the B1 texts need about three thousand. The translation sits next to it, so an unknown word does not stop the reading.
How many times should you reread the text?
Three times: without the translation, with it, and without it again. The third pass is what all of this is for — the second time you recognize noticeably more.