තුන
“තුන” (tuna) — three in Sinhala. Numeral, level A0, topic — numbers and counting. Counting things it takes -k: tunak. Before another word it shrinks to tun-: tun vaṭāvak, 'three times'; tunveni, 'third'; tunsīya, 'three hundred'. In a live sentence: “මට පාන් තුනක් දෙන්න” — Give me three loaves of bread. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ත, ු, න. One of 56 words in the set “numbers and counting” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | තුන |
| Read in Latin letters | tuna |
| Translation | three |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A0 |
- තුනtunathree
Why it looks that way
Counting things it takes -k: tunak. Before another word it shrinks to tun-: tun vaṭāvak, 'three times'; tunveni, 'third'; tunsīya, 'three hundred'
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.
- මට පාන් තුනක් දෙන්නmaṭa pān tunak dennaGive me three loaves of bread
Nearby words: numbers and counting
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
- එකekaoneAlso 'a piece, a unit': tē ekak is 'one tea'. Where English needs 'a' or 'one', Sinhala just tags the noun
- දෙකdekatwoThe vowel sign stands to the left of the letter but is read after it: 'de-ka', not 'ed-ka'
- හතරhatarafourIn compounds the stem changes a lot: hataḷiha, 'forty'; hārasīya, 'four hundred'. Counting things: hatarak
- පහpahafiveCounting things: pahak; about clock time: pahaṭa, 'at five'. In compounds it takes the bookish stems pan- or pas-: pansīya, 'five hundred'; pasvana, 'fifth'
- හයhayasixThe spoken haya against the bookish saya: the latter sits on banknotes and in textbooks. Counting things: hayak
- හතhatasevenBefore another word it drops its vowel: hatsīya, 'seven hundred'; hatveni, 'seventh'. Don't confuse it with hatara, 'four' — they are neighbours and sound close
- අටaṭaeightA retroflex ṭ: the tongue at the roof of the mouth, the sound duller than a plain 't'. That is exactly what separates it from ata, 'a hand' — a hard pair by ear
- නවයnavayanineIn counting and in compounds the tail -ya falls off: navasīya, 'nine hundred'; navaveni, 'ninth'. Mind nava, 'new' — the same beginning, a different word
- දහයdahayatenThe tail -ya drops just as in navaya: dahaveni, 'tenth'; daha-aṭa, 'eighteen'. Length decides everything: dāha with a long 'aa' is already a thousand
- කිලෝkilōkilogramCounted through eka: kilō ekak is one kilogram, kilō dekak is two
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “three” in Sinhala?
Counting things it takes -k: tunak. Before another word it shrinks to tun-: tun vaṭāvak, 'three times'; tunveni, 'third'; tunsīya, 'three hundred'
- How do you say “eight” in Sinhala?
A retroflex ṭ: the tongue at the roof of the mouth, the sound duller than a plain 't'. That is exactly what separates it from ata, 'a hand' — a hard pair by ear
- How do you say “four” in Sinhala?
In compounds the stem changes a lot: hataḷiha, 'forty'; hārasīya, 'four hundred'. Counting things: hatarak
- How do you say “kilogram” in Sinhala?
Counted through eka: kilō ekak is one kilogram, kilō dekak is two
- How do you say “seven” in Sinhala?
Before another word it drops its vowel: hatsīya, 'seven hundred'; hatveni, 'seventh'. Don't confuse it with hatara, 'four' — they are neighbours and sound close
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 “three” in Sinhala?
«තුන», read “tuna”. In a live sentence: “මට පාන් තුනක් දෙන්න” — Give me three loaves of bread. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Numeral, level A0, from the set “numbers and counting”; written with the characters ත, ු, න.
How is “තුන” written in Latin letters?
tuna. 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?
Counting things it takes -k: tunak. Before another word it shrinks to tun-: tun vaṭāvak, 'three times'; tunveni, 'third'; tunsīya, 'three hundred'. 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.