ඒ කාලේ
“ඒ කාලේ” (ē kālē) — back then in Sinhala. Phrase, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. Literally 'in that time'. Elders open half their stories with it. In a live sentence: “ඒ කාලේ ෆෝන් තිබුණේ නෑ” — Back then there were no phones. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ඒ, ක, ා, ල, ේ. One of 141 words in the set “time, days and hours” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | ඒ කාලේ |
| Read in Latin letters | ē kālē |
| Translation | back then |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- ඒ කාලේē kālēback then
Why it looks that way
Literally 'in that time'. Elders open half their stories with it
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.
- ඒ කාලේ ෆෝන් තිබුණේ නෑē kālē fōn tibuṇē nǣBack then there were no phones
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 “back then” in Sinhala?
Literally 'in that time'. Elders open half their stories with it
- 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 “back then” in Sinhala?
«ඒ කාලේ», read “ē kālē”. In a live sentence: “ඒ කාලේ ෆෝන් තිබුණේ නෑ” — Back then there were no phones. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ඒ, ක, ා, ල, ේ.
How is “ඒ කාලේ” written in Latin letters?
ē kālē. 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?
Literally 'in that time'. Elders open half their stories with it. 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.