නැවත කියන්න
“නැවත කියන්න” (nævata kiyanna) — say it again, please in Sinhala. Phrase, level A0, topic — phrases that save you. Literally 'say anew'. The ending -nna is itself the polite request — no separate 'please' needed. In speech people more often say āyeth kiyanna with the everyday word for 'again'. In a live sentence: “සමාවෙන්න, නැවත කියන්න” — Excuse me, please say that again. You can hear how it sounds right here.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | නැවත කියන්න |
| Read in Latin letters | nævata kiyanna |
| Translation | say it again, please |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
- නැවත කියන්නnævata kiyannasay it again, please
Why it looks that way
Literally 'say anew'. The ending -nna is itself the polite request — no separate 'please' needed. In speech people more often say āyeth kiyanna with the everyday word for 'again'
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.
- සමාවෙන්න, නැවත කියන්නsamāvenna, nævata kiyannaExcuse me, please say that again
Nearby words: phrases that save you
“I don't understand”, “say that again”, “slower, please”, “help”. They are learned first for a reason: they bring back a conversation that has already gone wrong.
- මට තේරෙන්නේ නෑmaṭa tērenne nǣI don't understandLiterally 'it is not understood to me' — understanding happens to you, with no subject of its own. The negative nǣ, as always, closes the sentence
- හෙමින්heminslowlyIn speech it's usually doubled: hemin hemin, 'gently, no rush'. Add ṭikak and the request gets softer: ṭikak hemin kiyanna — 'a bit slower, please'
- උදව්udavhelpBarely stands on its own: udav karanna, 'to give help'; udavvak ōnē, 'I need help'. The street cry for help is simply udav karanna!
- කාර්මිකයෙක්ට කතා කරන්නkārmikayekṭa katā karannacall a technicianLiterally 'talk with a technician': phoning and talking are the same verb. The ending -ṭa marks the one you turn to
- විනාඩියක් ඉන්නvināḍiyak innawait a minuteLiterally 'stay a minute': no separate verb 'to wait' is needed for such a request
- මට අරින්න බෑmaṭa arinna bǣI can't open itbǣ is 'I can't', the pair to puḷuvan, 'I can'. The scheme maṭa + verb-nna + bǣ works with any action
- ඇම්බියුලන්ස් එකæmbiyulans ekaambulanceThe bookish name, 'the sick man's carriage', lives on the side of the vehicle; people call it by the English word. The number is 1990
- මට දොස්තර කෙනෙක් ඕනේmaṭa dostara kenek ōnēI need a doctorkenek is 'one person', the counter word for people: without it the phrase sounds like 'I need medicine'
- පරිස්සමින්!parissamin!careful!Literally 'with carefulness'. Parting, people wish the same word: 'go carefully'
- භයානකයිbhayānakayidangerousbha-ya-na-kayi: the bh is an aspirated b, the puff of air right after the consonant
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “phrases that save you”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “say it again, please” in Sinhala?
Literally 'say anew'. The ending -nna is itself the polite request — no separate 'please' needed. In speech people more often say āyeth kiyanna with the everyday word for 'again'
- How do you say “ambulance” in Sinhala?
The bookish name, 'the sick man's carriage', lives on the side of the vehicle; people call it by the English word. The number is 1990
- How do you say “help” in Sinhala?
Barely stands on its own: udav karanna, 'to give help'; udavvak ōnē, 'I need help'. The street cry for help is simply udav karanna!
- How do you say “dangerous” in Sinhala?
From bhaya, 'fear', a Sanskrit root. It means both 'scary' and 'dangerous'
- How do you say “I can't open it” in Sinhala?
bǣ is 'I can't', the pair to puḷuvan, 'I can'. The scheme maṭa + verb-nna + bǣ works with any action
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 “say it again, please” in Sinhala?
«නැවත කියන්න», read “nævata kiyanna”. In a live sentence: “සමාවෙන්න, නැවත කියන්න” — Excuse me, please say that again. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A0, from the set “phrases that save you”; written with the characters න, ැ, ව, ත, ක, ි, ය, න, ්, න.
How is “නැවත කියන්න” written in Latin letters?
nævata kiyanna. 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 'say anew'. The ending -nna is itself the polite request — no separate 'please' needed. In speech people more often say āyeth kiyanna with the everyday word for 'again'. 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.