නවාතැන
“නවාතැන” (navātæna) — housing in Sinhala. Noun, level A1, topic — home and things. Literally 'a place of staying': thena is a place. A rented student room is a bōḍima. In a live sentence: “මම කොළඹ නවාතැනක් හොයනවා” — I'm looking for housing in Colombo. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters න, ව, ා, ත, ැ, න. One of 198 words in the set “home and things” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | නවාතැන |
| Read in Latin letters | navātæna |
| Translation | housing |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- නවාතැනnavātænahousing
Why it looks that way
Literally 'a place of staying': thena is a place. A rented student room is a bōḍima
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.
- මම කොළඹ නවාතැනක් හොයනවාmama koḷamba navātænak hoyanavāI'm looking for housing in Colombo
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- ගෙදරgedarahomeHome as your own place and 'homeward' are one word with no preposition at all: gedara yanava, 'I'm going home'. A house as a building is another word, ge
- කූඩයkūḍayabasketA woven basket and the shop's basket alike. A long u: kuu-daya
- කැඩිලාkæḍilābrokenFrom kæḍenavā, 'to break'. The same -lā state form as in æralā: a state, not an action
- කාමරයkāmarayaroomFrom Sanskrit. One room is kāmarayak, two are kāmara dekak: with the non-living the plural is often shorter than the singular
- කුස්සියkussiyakitchenkus-si-ya: the doubled ss is held longer than a single one
- නාන කාමරයnāna kāmarayabathroomLiterally 'the washing room', from nānavā, 'to wash'. The toilet is separate: væsikiliya
- බැල්කනියbælkaniyabalconyThe English balcony with the ending -ya. In a simpler house the same spot will be called the veranda
- තට්ටුවtaṭṭuvastoreyThe second floor is deveni taṭṭuva. The floor under your feet is a different word, bima
- ලිෆ්ට් එකlifṭ ekaliftThe English lift plus eka. The letter fa is the youngest in the alphabet; it appeared for loanwords
- තරප්පුවtarappuvastairsIn speech you'll rather hear 'a row of steps' or simply tarappu, 'steps'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “housing” in Sinhala?
Literally 'a place of staying': thena is a place. A rented student room is a bōḍima
- How do you say “balcony” in Sinhala?
The English balcony with the ending -ya. In a simpler house the same spot will be called the veranda
- How do you say “broken” in Sinhala?
From kæḍenavā, 'to break'. The same -lā state form as in æralā: a state, not an action
- How do you say “stairs” in Sinhala?
In speech you'll rather hear 'a row of steps' or simply tarappu, 'steps'
- How do you say “bathroom” in Sinhala?
Literally 'the washing room', from nānavā, 'to wash'. The toilet is separate: væsikiliya
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 “housing” in Sinhala?
«නවාතැන», read “navātæna”. In a live sentence: “මම කොළඹ නවාතැනක් හොයනවා” — I'm looking for housing in Colombo. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters න, ව, ා, ත, ැ, න.
How is “නවාතැන” written in Latin letters?
navātæna. 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?
Literally 'a place of staying': thena is a place. A rented student room is a bōḍima. 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.