බින්දුව
“බින්දුව” (binduva) — zero in Sinhala. Numeral, level A1, topic — basic words. Literally 'a dot', and the digit 0 is one too. Phone numbers are usually dictated with the English word for zero; the bookish shunyaya lives in a maths textbook. In a live sentence: “ෆෝන් නම්බරේ පටන් ගන්නේ බින්දුවෙන්” — The phone number starts with a zero. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters බ, ි, න, ්, ද, ු, ව.
In short
| Written in Sinhala | බින්දුව |
| Read in Latin letters | binduva |
| Translation | zero |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A1 |
- බින්දුවbinduvazero
Why it looks that way
Literally 'a dot', and the digit 0 is one too. Phone numbers are usually dictated with the English word for zero; the bookish shunyaya lives in a maths textbook
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.
- ෆෝන් නම්බරේ පටන් ගන්නේ බින්දුවෙන්fōn nambarē paṭan gannē binduvenThe phone number starts with a zero
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- හොඳයිhondayifine, wellThe standard answer to kohomada. The ending -yi turns a quality into a ready sentence: 'it is good'. English splits 'good' and 'well' — this word covers both
- හොඳhondagoodThe bare stem of hondayi: before a noun it stands without the tail — honda tē, 'good tea'. As a statement it takes the tail back
- ඔව්ovyesVery often the answer isn't 'yes' but a repeat of the verb: 'Are you going?' — 'Going'. The word is that economical
- නෑnǣnonǣ also serves as the negation after a verb, where it stands as the last word: mama yannē nǣ, 'I'm not going'. One little word, two jobs
- ලොකුlokubigBefore a noun it stands bare: loku kaḍē. As a predicate it takes -yi: lokuyi. About people it also means 'elder': loku aiyā, 'the elder brother'
- පොඩිpoḍismallA retroflex ḍ. As a predicate: poḍiyi. It also means 'a little': poḍḍak, 'just a bit'. The bookish kuḍā lives on plates and in textbooks
- ලස්සනයිlassanayibeautifulFrom lassana, 'beautiful', with the ending -yi, just as 'tasty' comes from 'taste'. Before a noun it stands bare: lassana gedarak, 'a beautiful house'
- බාගයbāgayahalfAt the shop it sounds as bāgayak, 'a half of it': kilō bāgayak, 'half a kilo'
- මට එපාmaṭa epāI don't need itEpā is the exact opposite of ōnē. It also works as a polite 'no, thanks' and as a prohibition: yanna epā, 'don't go'
- තව එකක්tava ekakone moreTava is 'more', ekak is 'a piece'. In a tea shop that's enough to get a second cup
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “zero” in Sinhala?
Literally 'a dot', and the digit 0 is one too. Phone numbers are usually dictated with the English word for zero; the bookish shunyaya lives in a maths textbook
- How do you say “beautiful” in Sinhala?
From lassana, 'beautiful', with the ending -yi, just as 'tasty' comes from 'taste'. Before a noun it stands bare: lassana gedarak, 'a beautiful house'
- How do you say “yes” in Sinhala?
Very often the answer isn't 'yes' but a repeat of the verb: 'Are you going?' — 'Going'. The word is that economical
- How do you say “one more” in Sinhala?
Tava is 'more', ekak is 'a piece'. In a tea shop that's enough to get a second cup
- How do you say “small” in Sinhala?
A retroflex ḍ. As a predicate: poḍiyi. It also means 'a little': poḍḍak, 'just a bit'. The bookish kuḍā lives on plates and in textbooks
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 “zero” in Sinhala?
«බින්දුව», read “binduva”. In a live sentence: “ෆෝන් නම්බරේ පටන් ගන්නේ බින්දුවෙන්” — The phone number starts with a zero. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Numeral, level A1, from the set “basic words”; written with the characters බ, ි, න, ්, ද, ු, ව.
How is “බින්දුව” written in Latin letters?
binduva. 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 'a dot', and the digit 0 is one too. Phone numbers are usually dictated with the English word for zero; the bookish shunyaya lives in a maths textbook. 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.