මට හරියට තේරුණාද
“මට හරියට තේරුණාද” (maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda) — if I understood correctly in Sinhala. Phrase, level B1. ma-ta ha-ri-ya-ta tæ-ru-naa-da; the ṭa is a retroflex t. In a live sentence: “හෙට එන්න කියලා මට හරියට තේරුණාද?” — If I understood correctly, we must come tomorrow? You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ම, ට, හ, ර, ි, ය, ට, ත, ේ, ර, ු, ණ. A word from the everyday Sinhala course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | මට හරියට තේරුණාද |
| Read in Latin letters | maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda |
| Translation | if I understood correctly |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- මට හරියට තේරුණාදmaṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇādaif I understood correctly
How to pronounce it
ma-ta ha-ri-ya-ta tæ-ru-naa-da; the ṭa is a retroflex t
Why it looks that way
It goes at the end: first you retell what was said with kiyalā, then you ask
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.
- හෙට එන්න කියලා මට හරියට තේරුණාද?heṭa enna kiyalā maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda?If I understood correctly, we must come tomorrow?
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 “if I understood correctly” in Sinhala?
«මට හරියට තේරුණාද», read “maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda”. ma-ta ha-ri-ya-ta tæ-ru-naa-da; the ṭa is a retroflex t. In a live sentence: “හෙට එන්න කියලා මට හරියට තේරුණාද?” — If I understood correctly, we must come tomorrow? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters ම, ට, හ, ර, ි, ය, ට, ත, ේ, ර, ු, ණ.
How is “මට හරියට තේරුණාද” written in Latin letters?
maṭa hariyaṭa tēruṇāda. 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?
It goes at the end: first you retell what was said with kiyalā, then you ask. 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.