කියපු විදිහටම
“කියපු විදිහටම” (kiyapu vidihaṭama) — word for word in Sinhala. Phrase, level B1. Literally 'exactly the way it was said': the familiar manner word with the booster -ma. There's no word for 'word' in the turn — it speaks of the way, not the units. In a live sentence: “එයා කියපු විදිහටම මම ලිව්වා” — I wrote it down word for word, as he said. You can hear how it sounds right here. A word from the everyday Sinhala course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | කියපු විදිහටම |
| Read in Latin letters | kiyapu vidihaṭama |
| Translation | word for word |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- කියපු විදිහටමkiyapu vidihaṭamaword for word
Why it looks that way
Literally 'exactly the way it was said': the familiar manner word with the booster -ma. There's no word for 'word' in the turn — it speaks of the way, not the units
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.
- එයා කියපු විදිහටම මම ලිව්වාeyā kiyapu vidihaṭama mama livvāI wrote it down word for word, as he said
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 “word for word” in Sinhala?
«කියපු විදිහටම», read “kiyapu vidihaṭama”. In a live sentence: “එයා කියපු විදිහටම මම ලිව්වා” — I wrote it down word for word, as he said. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1; written with the characters ක, ි, ය, ප, ු, ව, ි, ද, ි, හ, ට, ම.
How is “කියපු විදිහටම” written in Latin letters?
kiyapu vidihaṭama. 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 'exactly the way it was said': the familiar manner word with the booster -ma. There's no word for 'word' in the turn — it speaks of the way, not the units. 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.