ගණන
“ගණන” (gaṇana) — price in Sinhala. Noun, level A1, topic — shopping and money. Also 'number' and 'count': muḷu ganana, 'the total'. The retroflex ṇ sits in the middle. The familiar ganan, 'expensive', is the same word in the plural — literally 'in price'. In a live sentence: “ගණන ටිකක් අඩු කරන්න” — Bring the price down a little. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ග, ණ, න.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | ගණන |
| Read in Latin letters | gaṇana |
| Translation | price |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- ගණනgaṇanaprice
Why it looks that way
Also 'number' and 'count': muḷu ganana, 'the total'. The retroflex ṇ sits in the middle. The familiar ganan, 'expensive', is the same word in the plural — literally 'in price'
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.
- ගණන ටිකක් අඩු කරන්නgaṇana ṭikak aḍu karannaBring the price down a little
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- කීයද?kīyada?how much is it?Literally just 'how much?'. The same particle -da as in kohomada and koheda
- රුපියල්rupiyalrupeeOne form for any number, no agreement at all: rupiyal sīyayi, 'a hundred rupees'. In speech the sum is often named with no word at all — just the number
- 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
- කවුන්ටරයkavunṭarayacounterThe English counter with a Sinhala ending -ya. At the market the counter is more often just called the shop
- මුදලාලිmudalālishopkeeperThe owner of the shop, and at the same time the polite way to address him: 'Shopkeeper, how much?' — this is how the price talk starts
- ගනුදෙනුකරුවාganudenukaruvāshopperLiterally 'the one who makes the deal': ganudenu is trade. The ending -vā marks the living, as in 'friend'. In speech people often just say the English 'customer'
- තරාදියtarādiyascalesThe very beam scales of the market. The electronic kind is called the English 'scale'
- කිලෝkilōkilogramCounted through eka: kilō ekak is one kilogram, kilō dekak is two
- නැවුම්nævumfreshStands before the word: nævum māḷu, 'fresh fish'. In city speech people often use the English 'fresh' or alut, 'new'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “price” in Sinhala?
Also 'number' and 'count': muḷu ganana, 'the total'. The retroflex ṇ sits in the middle. The familiar ganan, 'expensive', is the same word in the plural — literally 'in price'
- How do you say “shopper” in Sinhala?
Literally 'the one who makes the deal': ganudenu is trade. The ending -vā marks the living, as in 'friend'. In speech people often just say the English 'customer'
- How do you say “shop” in Sinhala?
A roadside shop with everything at once. A big one is supiri veladasala on the sign, and the word is used nowhere but there
- How do you say “fresh” in Sinhala?
Stands before the word: nævum māḷu, 'fresh fish'. In city speech people often use the English 'fresh' or alut, 'new'
- How do you say “shopkeeper” in Sinhala?
The owner of the shop, and at the same time the polite way to address him: 'Shopkeeper, how much?' — this is how the price talk starts
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 “price” in Sinhala?
«ගණන», read “gaṇana”. In a live sentence: “ගණන ටිකක් අඩු කරන්න” — Bring the price down a little. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters ග, ණ, න.
How is “ගණන” written in Latin letters?
gaṇana. 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?
Also 'number' and 'count': muḷu ganana, 'the total'. The retroflex ṇ sits in the middle. The familiar ganan, 'expensive', is the same word in the plural — literally 'in price'. 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.