අගනුවර
“අගනුවර” (aganuvara) — capital in Sinhala. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. Literally the 'chief city', from nuvara, 'city' — the same word as in Kandy's own name. Lanka has two capitals: life is in Colombo, parliament in Sri Jayawardenepura. In a live sentence: “ලංකාවේ අගනුවර කොළඹ නෙවෙයි” — The capital of Lanka is not Colombo. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters අ, ග, න, ු, ව, ර.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | අගනුවර |
| Read in Latin letters | aganuvara |
| Translation | capital |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- අගනුවරaganuvaracapital
Why it looks that way
Literally the 'chief city', from nuvara, 'city' — the same word as in Kandy's own name. Lanka has two capitals: life is in Colombo, parliament in Sri Jayawardenepura
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.
- ලංකාවේ අගනුවර කොළඹ නෙවෙයිlaṁkāvē aganuvara koḷamba neveyiThe capital of Lanka is not Colombo
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- කඩේkaḍēshopA roadside shop with everything at once. A big one is supiri veladasala on the sign, and the word is used nowhere but there
- වෙළඳපොළveḷandapoḷamarketLiterally 'trading place': velanda is trade, pola is the ground. Pola on its own is the village fair at the weekend. Hard to read: two 'heavy' l sounds and a half-nasal
- ෆාමසියfāmasiyapharmacyThe English pharmacy, written with the youngest letter of the alphabet, fa
- බැංකුවbæṁkuvabankEnglish bank with a Sinhala tail -uva. The nasal mark gives a hum drawn through the nose: 'baeng-kuva'
- පාරpārastreetAlso 'road' and 'one time': eka parak, 'once'. A long pa at the start. Addresses are written exactly so: Galle para, Galle Road
- කවුන්ටරයkavunṭarayacounterThe English counter with a Sinhala ending -ya. At the market the counter is more often just called the shop
- ග්රොසරි කඩේgrosari kaḍēgrocery storeThe English grocery plus the familiar kaḍē. A chain like Cargills will be called the supermarket
- පෝලිමpōlimaqueueA word you hear every day on the island: pōḷimē innavā, 'to stand in the queue'
- ඇරලාæralāopen for businessFrom the verb 'to open'. The -lā form describes a state: 'it stands opened'. On the door of a shop at noon you'll see exactly this
- වහලාvahalāclosedThe pair to æralā, from vahanavā, 'to close'. On a shop door at noon you'll read exactly this
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “capital” in Sinhala?
Literally the 'chief city', from nuvara, 'city' — the same word as in Kandy's own name. Lanka has two capitals: life is in Colombo, parliament in Sri Jayawardenepura
- How do you say “grocery store” in Sinhala?
The English grocery plus the familiar kaḍē. A chain like Cargills will be called the supermarket
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Sinhala?
The English pharmacy, written with the youngest letter of the alphabet, fa
- How do you say “closed” in Sinhala?
The pair to æralā, from vahanavā, 'to close'. On a shop door at noon you'll read exactly this
- How do you say “counter” in Sinhala?
The English counter with a Sinhala ending -ya. At the market the counter is more often just called the shop
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 “capital” in Sinhala?
«අගනුවර», read “aganuvara”. In a live sentence: “ලංකාවේ අගනුවර කොළඹ නෙවෙයි” — The capital of Lanka is not Colombo. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters අ, ග, න, ු, ව, ර.
How is “අගනුවර” written in Latin letters?
aganuvara. 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 the 'chief city', from nuvara, 'city' — the same word as in Kandy's own name. Lanka has two capitals: life is in Colombo, parliament in Sri Jayawardenepura. 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.