යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරෙනවා
“යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරෙනවා” (yunivarsiṭi ekaṭa tērenavā) — to get into university in Sinhala. Phrase, level B1. tērenavā here isn't 'to understand' but 'to be selected': you don't apply your way in, you pass on points. The familiar 'maṭa tērenavā' is the same verb in another sense. In a live sentence: “එයා යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරුණා” — He got into university. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ය, ු, න, ි, ව, ර, ්, ස, ි, ට, ි, එ.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරෙනවා |
| Read in Latin letters | yunivarsiṭi ekaṭa tērenavā |
| Translation | to get into university |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරෙනවාyunivarsiṭi ekaṭa tērenavāto get into university
Why it looks that way
tērenavā here isn't 'to understand' but 'to be selected': you don't apply your way in, you pass on points. The familiar 'maṭa tērenavā' is the same verb in another sense
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.
- එයා යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරුණාeyā yunivarsiṭi ekaṭa tēruṇāHe got into university
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 “to get into university” in Sinhala?
«යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරෙනවා», read “yunivarsiṭi ekaṭa tērenavā”. In a live sentence: “එයා යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරුණා” — He got into university. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters ය, ු, න, ි, ව, ර, ්, ස, ි, ට, ි, එ.
How is “යුනිවර්සිටි එකට තේරෙනවා” written in Latin letters?
yunivarsiṭi ekaṭa tērenavā. 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?
tērenavā here isn't 'to understand' but 'to be selected': you don't apply your way in, you pass on points. The familiar 'maṭa tērenavā' is the same verb in another sense. 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.