කරුණාකර
“කරුණාකර” (karuṇākara) — please in Sinhala. Adverb, level A0, topic — polite words. karuṇākara opens a request: 'kindly…'. It is never said in reply to 'thank you' — that slot belongs to other words. In a live sentence: “කරුණාකර වතුර ටිකක් දෙන්න” — Please give me some water. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ක, ර, ු, ණ, ා, ක, ර. One of 11 words in the set “polite words” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | කරුණාකර |
| Read in Latin letters | karuṇākara |
| Translation | please |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A0 |
- කරුණාකරkaruṇākaraplease
Why it looks that way
karuṇākara opens a request: 'kindly…'. It is never said in reply to 'thank you' — that slot belongs to other words
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.
- කරුණාකර වතුර ටිකක් දෙන්නkaruṇākara vatura ṭikak dennaPlease give me some water
Nearby words: polite words
“Thank you”, “please” and “sorry” carry you while the rest of the words are still missing: with them even a gesture reads as a request rather than a demand.
- ස්තූතියිstūtiyithank youstūtiyi — STOO-tee-yee, from the Sanskrit word for praise. It's often boosted: bohoma stūtiyi, 'many thanks', is the everyday strong version
- සමාවෙන්නsamāvennaexcuse meLiterally 'forgive me' — an imperative by shape, but it lives as a ready-made exclamation. To hail a stranger people more often just say ov or a polite title
- ටිකක් අඩු කරන්න පුළුවන්ද?ṭikak aḍu karanna puḷuvanda?can you make it cheaper?Literally 'can you reduce it a little?'. Puḷuvanda is 'can you' — the universal polite wrapper for any request
- කමක් නෑkamak nǣno problemLiterally 'there is no matter', that is, 'nothing terrible'. It answers both an apology and a thank-you
- තව එක පාරක් කියලා දෙන්නtava eka pārak kiyalā dennaexplain it againLiterally 'once more, having said, give'. 'To explain' is itself built from 'say' and 'give'
- පාස්පෝට් එක පෙන්නන්නpāspōṭ eka pennannashow your passport'To show' plus the -nna request, which is polite already. This is what you'll hear at the counter
- ආචාරශීලීācāraśīlīpoliteaa-cha-ra-shii-lii: three long vowels in a row
- පරක්කු වුණාට සමාවෙන්නparakku vuṇāṭa samāvennasorry for being lateThe ending -ṭa on the past means 'for the fact that': 'for what has happened'
- කිසිවක් නෑkisivak nǣyou're welcomeLiterally 'there is nothing' — nothing to thank for. People also answer with satuṭin, 'gladly', or kāmak nǣ, which you know as 'no problem'
- හම්බවෙලා සතුටුයිhambavelā satuṭuyinice to meet youThe same turn as in 'it was pleasant to talk': a participle plus satuṭuyi, 'glad'. The full polite version is oba hamuvīmaṭa satuṭuyi
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “polite words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “please” in Sinhala?
karuṇākara opens a request: 'kindly…'. It is never said in reply to 'thank you' — that slot belongs to other words
- How do you say “polite” in Sinhala?
A word off certificates and references. In speech people describe the deed: 'someone who speaks nicely'
- How do you say “can you make it cheaper?” in Sinhala?
Literally 'can you reduce it a little?'. Puḷuvanda is 'can you' — the universal polite wrapper for any request
- How do you say “nice to meet you” in Sinhala?
The same turn as in 'it was pleasant to talk': a participle plus satuṭuyi, 'glad'. The full polite version is oba hamuvīmaṭa satuṭuyi
- How do you say “show your passport” in Sinhala?
'To show' plus the -nna request, which is polite already. This is what you'll hear at the counter
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 “please” in Sinhala?
«කරුණාකර», read “karuṇākara”. In a live sentence: “කරුණාකර වතුර ටිකක් දෙන්න” — Please give me some water. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adverb, level A0, from the set “polite words”; written with the characters ක, ර, ු, ණ, ා, ක, ර.
How is “කරුණාකර” written in Latin letters?
karuṇākara. 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?
karuṇākara opens a request: 'kindly…'. It is never said in reply to 'thank you' — that slot belongs to other words. 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.