මුලින්
“මුලින්” (mulin) — to begin with in Sinhala. Adverb, level A2, topic — time, days and hours. About the order of actions: 'first eat, then go'. Without the booster -ma — otherwise you get 'above all', and that's about importance. In a live sentence: “මුලින් කන්න, පස්සේ යමු” — Eat first, then we'll go. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ම, ු, ල, ි, න, ්.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | මුලින් |
| Read in Latin letters | mulin |
| Translation | to begin with |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A2 |
- මුලින්mulinto begin with
Why it looks that way
About the order of actions: 'first eat, then go'. Without the booster -ma — otherwise you get 'above all', and that's about importance
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- මුලින් කන්න, පස්සේ යමුmulin kanna, passē yamuEat first, then we'll go
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- අදadatodayFirst in the row today — tomorrow — yesterday. 'For today' adds -ṭa, 'from today on' adds 'starting from'
- හෙටheṭatomorrowA retroflex ṭ at the end. 'The day after tomorrow' is its own word, not 'after tomorrow'. 'Until tomorrow' is heta venakam
- ඊයේīyēyesterdayA long ii at the start: 'ee-ye'. 'The day before yesterday' is another word. 'Since yesterday' adds 'starting from'
- උදේudēmorningAlso 'in the morning', with no preposition: udē enna, 'come in the morning'. The greeting takes the bookish form of the same word
- හවසhavasaeveningThe evening before dark, roughly from three to six; after that night begins. 'In the evening' adds -ṭa. The bookish word lives in timetables and poems
- රෑrǣnightOne letter with a long vowel, and it must be held: the short version reads 'ra' and gives no word. Night and late evening share one word. 'At night' adds -ṭa
- වෙලාවvelāvatimeTime on the clock and a convenient moment alike: 'what time is it?' and 'do you have a minute?'. Time as a flow is a different word, kālaya
- ඔයා කවදාද එන්නේ?oyā kavadāda ennē?when will you come?kavadāda asks 'on which day'. The hour is asked with kīyaṭada. The verb in the question takes the -nnē form
- විනාඩියක් ඉන්නvināḍiyak innawait a minuteLiterally 'stay a minute': no separate verb 'to wait' is needed for such a request
- දවසට දෙපාරක්davasaṭa depāraktwice a daydavasaṭa is 'per day', pāra is 'a time'. Three times is tunpārak
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to begin with” in Sinhala?
About the order of actions: 'first eat, then go'. Without the booster -ma — otherwise you get 'above all', and that's about importance
- How do you say “time” in Sinhala?
Time on the clock and a convenient moment alike: 'what time is it?' and 'do you have a minute?'. Time as a flow is a different word, kālaya
- How do you say “yesterday” in Sinhala?
A long ii at the start: 'ee-ye'. 'The day before yesterday' is another word. 'Since yesterday' adds 'starting from'
- How do you say “twice a day” in Sinhala?
davasaṭa is 'per day', pāra is 'a time'. Three times is tunpārak
- How do you say “night” in Sinhala?
One letter with a long vowel, and it must be held: the short version reads 'ra' and gives no word. Night and late evening share one word. 'At night' adds -ṭa
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to begin with” in Sinhala?
«මුලින්», read “mulin”. In a live sentence: “මුලින් කන්න, පස්සේ යමු” — Eat first, then we'll go. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adverb, level A2, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ම, ු, ල, ි, න, ්.
How is “මුලින්” written in Latin letters?
mulin. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
About the order of actions: 'first eat, then go'. Without the booster -ma — otherwise you get 'above all', and that's about importance. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.