අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි
“අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි” (ahanna maṭa læjjayi) — I feel awkward asking in Sinhala. Phrase, level B1. a-han-na ma-ta laj-jay-i; the jj is a long j. In a live sentence: “අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි, හැබැයි උදව්වක් ඕනේ” — I feel awkward asking, but I need help. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters අ, හ, න, ්, න, ම, ට, ල, ැ, ජ, ්, ජ. A word from the everyday Sinhala course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි |
| Read in Latin letters | ahanna maṭa læjjayi |
| Translation | I feel awkward asking |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයිahanna maṭa læjjayiI feel awkward asking
How to pronounce it
a-han-na ma-ta laj-jay-i; the jj is a long j
Why it looks that way
The familiar 'I'm ashamed' with 'to ask' added. Shame, shyness and awkwardness aren't split here
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.
- අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි, හැබැයි උදව්වක් ඕනේahanna maṭa læjjayi, hæbæyi udavvak ōnēI feel awkward asking, but I need help
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 “I feel awkward asking” in Sinhala?
«අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි», read “ahanna maṭa læjjayi”. a-han-na ma-ta laj-jay-i; the jj is a long j. In a live sentence: “අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි, හැබැයි උදව්වක් ඕනේ” — I feel awkward asking, but I need help. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters අ, හ, න, ්, න, ම, ට, ල, ැ, ජ, ්, ජ.
How is “අහන්න මට ලැජ්ජයි” written in Latin letters?
ahanna maṭa læjjayi. 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?
The familiar 'I'm ashamed' with 'to ask' added. Shame, shyness and awkwardness aren't split here. 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.