කේවල් කරනවා
“කේවල් කරනවා” (kēval karanavā) — to haggle in Sinhala. Verb, level B1, topic — shopping and money. At the market and with the tuk-tuk you can't do without it. 'He's haggling' is said with it. In a live sentence: “වෙළඳපොළේ කේවල් කරන්න ඕනේ” — At the market one must haggle. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ක, ේ, ව, ල, ්, ක, ර, න, ව, ා.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | කේවල් කරනවා |
| Read in Latin letters | kēval karanavā |
| Translation | to haggle |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | B1 |
- කේවල් කරනවාkēval karanavāto haggle
Why it looks that way
At the market and with the tuk-tuk you can't do without it. 'He's haggling' is said with it
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.
- වෙළඳපොළේ කේවල් කරන්න ඕනේveḷandapoḷē kēval karanna ōnēAt the market one must haggle
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
- ගණනgaṇanapriceAlso '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'
- 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
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 “to haggle” in Sinhala?
At the market and with the tuk-tuk you can't do without it. 'He's haggling' is said with it
- 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 do you say “rupee” in Sinhala?
One 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
- How do you say “kilogram” in Sinhala?
Counted through eka: kilō ekak is one kilogram, kilō dekak is two
- How do you say “counter” in Sinhala?
The English counter with a Sinhala ending -ya. At the market the counter is more often just called the shop
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 haggle” in Sinhala?
«කේවල් කරනවා», read “kēval karanavā”. In a live sentence: “වෙළඳපොළේ කේවල් කරන්න ඕනේ” — At the market one must haggle. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level B1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters ක, ේ, ව, ල, ්, ක, ර, න, ව, ා.
How is “කේවල් කරනවා” written in Latin letters?
kēval karanavā. 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?
At the market and with the tuk-tuk you can't do without it. 'He's haggling' is said with it. 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.