වැඩ
“වැඩ” (væḍa) — work in Sinhala. Noun, level A1, topic — everyday life and routine. Plural in shape, 'tasks' in sense; one task is væḍak. A job as a position is another word, and 'to work' is 'do work'. In a live sentence: “අද වැඩ ගොඩක් තියෙනවා” — Today there is a lot of work. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ව, ැ, ඩ. One of 11 words in the set “everyday life and routine” in the Sinhala course.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | වැඩ |
| Read in Latin letters | væḍa |
| Translation | work |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- වැඩvæḍawork
Why it looks that way
Plural in shape, 'tasks' in sense; one task is væḍak. A job as a position is another word, and 'to work' is 'do work'
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.
- අද වැඩ ගොඩක් තියෙනවාada væḍa goḍak tiyenavāToday there is a lot of work
Nearby words: everyday life and routine
Work, home, rest, errands. The words the answer to “how are things?” is made of.
- ඇහැරෙනවාæhærenavāto wake upTo wake someone else is æhæravanavā: the tail -va- makes the causative
- නැගිටිනවාnægiṭinavāto get upWaking and getting up are two different deeds and two different verbs, as in European languages
- මූණ හෝදනවාmūṇa hōdanavāto wash one's faceLiterally 'to wash the face' — Sinhala names what is being washed. Nānavā is washing the whole self
- හිසකෙස් පීරනවාhisakes pīranavāto comb one's hairLiterally 'to comb the hair'. Hisakes is 'hair'; the comb shares the same root
- රැවුල කපනවාrævula kapanavāto shaveLiterally 'to cut the beard' — the same image as 'to cut'. The languages landed on the same picture
- ඇඳුම් අඳිනවාændum andinavāto get dressedLiterally 'to put on clothes'. The nasal ňd sounds are separate Sinhala sounds
- ඇඳුම් ගලවනවාændum galavanavāto get undressedThe pair to 'get dressed': galavanavā is 'to take off'
- වාඩි වෙනවාvāḍi venavāto sit down'To sit down' is vāḍi venavā; 'to be sitting' is vāḍi velā innavā, through the lasting form
- නිදාගන්නවාnidāgannavāto go to bedBoth 'go to bed' and 'sleep'. A compound with gannavā — 'take for oneself'
- විවේක ගන්නවාvivēka gannavāto take a breakFrom vivēka, 'quiet, repose', a Sanskrit root, plus gannavā, 'take for oneself'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “everyday life and routine”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “work” in Sinhala?
Plural in shape, 'tasks' in sense; one task is væḍak. A job as a position is another word, and 'to work' is 'do work'
- How do you say “to get undressed” in Sinhala?
The pair to 'get dressed': galavanavā is 'to take off'
- How do you say “to wash one's face” in Sinhala?
Literally 'to wash the face' — Sinhala names what is being washed. Nānavā is washing the whole self
- How do you say “to take a break” in Sinhala?
From vivēka, 'quiet, repose', a Sanskrit root, plus gannavā, 'take for oneself'
- How do you say “to get dressed” in Sinhala?
Literally 'to put on clothes'. The nasal ňd sounds are separate Sinhala sounds
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 “work” in Sinhala?
«වැඩ», read “væḍa”. In a live sentence: “අද වැඩ ගොඩක් තියෙනවා” — Today there is a lot of work. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “everyday life and routine”; written with the characters ව, ැ, ඩ.
How is “වැඩ” written in Latin letters?
væḍa. 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?
Plural in shape, 'tasks' in sense; one task is væḍak. A job as a position is another word, and 'to work' is 'do work'. 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.