සියවස
“සියවස” (siyavasa) — a century in Sinhala. Noun, level A2, topic — time, days and hours. Literally 'a hundred years': the familiar hundred and year fused. 'The twentieth century' is said with it. The bookish centennial word exists, but aloud it's this one. A century as an era is another word. In a live sentence: “මේ පන්සල සියවස් දෙකක් පරණයි” — This temple is two centuries old. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ස, ි, ය, ව, ස.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | සියවස |
| Read in Latin letters | siyavasa |
| Translation | a century |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- සියවසsiyavasaa century
Why it looks that way
Literally 'a hundred years': the familiar hundred and year fused. 'The twentieth century' is said with it. The bookish centennial word exists, but aloud it's this one. A century as an era is another word
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 පන්සල සියවස් දෙකක් පරණයිmē pansala siyavas dekak paraṇayiThis temple is two centuries old
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 “a century” in Sinhala?
Literally 'a hundred years': the familiar hundred and year fused. 'The twentieth century' is said with it. The bookish centennial word exists, but aloud it's this one. A century as an era is another word
- 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 “a century” in Sinhala?
«සියවස», read “siyavasa”. In a live sentence: “මේ පන්සල සියවස් දෙකක් පරණයි” — This temple is two centuries old. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ස, ි, ය, ව, ස.
How is “සියවස” written in Latin letters?
siyavasa. 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 'a hundred years': the familiar hundred and year fused. 'The twentieth century' is said with it. The bookish centennial word exists, but aloud it's this one. A century as an era is another word. 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.