නවත්තන්න බැහැ
“නවත්තන්න බැහැ” (navattanna bæhæ) — you can't put it down in Sinhala. Phrase, level B1. Literally 'impossible to stop', from the 'to cease' verb. Sinhala speaks not of not tearing yourself away but of not dropping it. In a live sentence: “මේ පොත පටන් ගත්තම නවත්තන්න බැහැ” — Having started this book, you can't put it down. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters න, ව, ත, ්, ත, න, ්, න, බ, ැ, හ, ැ.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | නවත්තන්න බැහැ |
| Read in Latin letters | navattanna bæhæ |
| Translation | you can't put it down |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- නවත්තන්න බැහැnavattanna bæhæyou can't put it down
Why it looks that way
Literally 'impossible to stop', from the 'to cease' verb. Sinhala speaks not of not tearing yourself away but of not dropping 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.
- මේ පොත පටන් ගත්තම නවත්තන්න බැහැmē pota paṭan gattama navattanna bæhæHaving started this book, you can't put it down
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 “you can't put it down” in Sinhala?
«නවත්තන්න බැහැ», read “navattanna bæhæ”. In a live sentence: “මේ පොත පටන් ගත්තම නවත්තන්න බැහැ” — Having started this book, you can't put it down. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters න, ව, ත, ්, ත, න, ්, න, බ, ැ, හ, ැ.
How is “නවත්තන්න බැහැ” written in Latin letters?
navattanna bæhæ. 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 'impossible to stop', from the 'to cease' verb. Sinhala speaks not of not tearing yourself away but of not dropping 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.