ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවා
“ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවා” (istirikka karanavā) — to do the ironing in Sinhala. Verb, level A2, topic — home and things. From the Portuguese estirar, to stretch — another colonial trace. Stroking a person's head is a different verb altogether. In a live sentence: “මම කමිසේ ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවා” — I'm ironing a shirt. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ඉ, ස, ්, ත, ි, ර, ි, ක, ්, ක, ක, ර.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවා |
| Read in Latin letters | istirikka karanavā |
| Translation | to do the ironing |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A2 |
- ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවාistirikka karanavāto do the ironing
Why it looks that way
From the Portuguese estirar, to stretch — another colonial trace. Stroking a person's head is a different verb altogether
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 කමිසේ ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවාmama kamisē istirikka karanavāI'm ironing a shirt
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
- නවාතැනnavātænahousingLiterally 'a place of staying': thena is a place. A rented student room is a bōḍima
- 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
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 “to do the ironing” in Sinhala?
From the Portuguese estirar, to stretch — another colonial trace. Stroking a person's head is a different verb altogether
- How do you say “bathroom” in Sinhala?
Literally 'the washing room', from nānavā, 'to wash'. The toilet is separate: væsikiliya
- 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 “lift” in Sinhala?
The English lift plus eka. The letter fa is the youngest in the alphabet; it appeared for loanwords
- How do you say “kitchen” in Sinhala?
The spoken word; the bookish one is three times longer and is never heard in the house
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 do the ironing” in Sinhala?
«ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවා», read “istirikka karanavā”. In a live sentence: “මම කමිසේ ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවා” — I'm ironing a shirt. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A2, from the set “home and things”; written with the characters ඉ, ස, ්, ත, ි, ර, ි, ක, ්, ක, ක, ර.
How is “ඉස්තිරික්ක කරනවා” written in Latin letters?
istirikka 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?
From the Portuguese estirar, to stretch — another colonial trace. Stroking a person's head is a different verb altogether. 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.