පරස්පරය
“පරස්පරය” (parasparaya) — a contradiction in Sinhala. Noun, level B1. When one thing doesn't square with another: in statements, in a document, in the person himself. In speech they say 'they don't go together'. In a live sentence: “ලියවිල්ලේ පරස්පරයක් තියෙනවා” — There's a contradiction in the document. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ප, ර, ස, ්, ප, ර, ය. A word from the everyday Sinhala course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | පරස්පරය |
| Read in Latin letters | parasparaya |
| Translation | a contradiction |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- පරස්පරයparasparayaa contradiction
Why it looks that way
When one thing doesn't square with another: in statements, in a document, in the person himself. In speech they say 'they don't go together'
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.
- ලියවිල්ලේ පරස්පරයක් තියෙනවාliyavillē parasparayak tiyenavāThere's a contradiction in the document
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 contradiction” in Sinhala?
«පරස්පරය», read “parasparaya”. In a live sentence: “ලියවිල්ලේ පරස්පරයක් තියෙනවා” — There's a contradiction in the document. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1; written with the characters ප, ර, ස, ්, ප, ර, ය.
How is “පරස්පරය” written in Latin letters?
parasparaya. 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?
When one thing doesn't square with another: in statements, in a document, in the person himself. In speech they say 'they don't go together'. 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.