LingoflyThe city and its places in Sinhala
92 words in Sinhala on the topic “the city and its places”: කඩේ (kaḍē) — shop, වෙළඳපොළ (veḷandapoḷa) — market, ෆාමසිය (fāmasiya) — pharmacy, බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) — bank. 92 words can be played from recordings.
92 words on the topic
- කඩේkaḍēshopA roadside shop with everything at once. A big one is supiri veladasala on the sign, and the word is used nowhere but there
- වෙළඳපොළveḷandapoḷamarketLiterally 'trading place': velanda is trade, pola is the ground. Pola on its own is the village fair at the weekend. Hard to read: two 'heavy' l sounds and a half-nasal
- ෆාමසියfāmasiyapharmacyThe English pharmacy, written with the youngest letter of the alphabet, fa
- බැංකුවbæṁkuvabankEnglish bank with a Sinhala tail -uva. The nasal mark gives a hum drawn through the nose: 'baeng-kuva'
- පාරpārastreetAlso 'road' and 'one time': eka parak, 'once'. A long pa at the start. Addresses are written exactly so: Galle para, Galle Road
- කවුන්ටරයkavunṭarayacounterThe English counter with a Sinhala ending -ya. At the market the counter is more often just called the shop
- ග්‍රොසරි කඩේgrosari kaḍēgrocery storeThe English grocery plus kaḍē, 'shop'. A chain like Cargills will be called the supermarket
- පෝලිමpōlimaqueueA word you hear every day on the island: pōḷimē innavā, 'to stand in the queue'
- ඇරලාæralāopen for businessFrom the verb 'to open'. The -lā form describes a state: 'it stands opened'. On the door of a shop at noon you'll see exactly this
- වහලාvahalāclosedThe pair to æralā, from vahanavā, 'to close'. On a shop door at noon you'll read exactly this
- තට්ටුවtaṭṭuvastoreyThe second floor is deveni taṭṭuva. The floor under your feet is a different word, bima
- ලිෆ්ට් එකlifṭ ekaliftThe English lift plus eka. The letter fa is the youngest in the alphabet; it appeared for loanwords
- රෝහලrōhalahospitalThe older generation says ispiritālē — from the Portuguese hospital
- තැපැල් කන්තෝරුවtæpæl kantōruvapost officethæpæl is the post as a service, kanthōruva is the office, from Dutch kantoor. The letter boxes on the island are red
- සෙනඟsenangacrowdA word about a mass of people in general: 'the crowd is big'. People standing in line are a different word, pōlima, 'the queue'
- වරායvarāyaportA big port: Colombo Port, Hambantota Port. A jetty for boats is toṭupoḷa — the same word that hides inside 'airport'
- ට්‍රැෆික් ලයිට් එකṭræfik layiṭ ekatraffic lightThe bookish word stands in the road rules; in the street directions go through 'the traffic light eka'
- බයිසිකලේbayisikalēbicycleThe spoken form in -ē, like 'shop' and 'school'. In writing it's the full form; the bookish word meets you in the papers
- බස් හෝල්ට් එකbas hōlṭ ekabus stopLankan English calls the stop a bus halt, and the Sinhala word follows it. The bookish phrase stands on the plate
- සීසන් ටිකට් එකsīsan ṭikaṭ ekaseason ticketThe monthly pass for train and bus goes by exactly this English name, from the ticket window
- රූට් එකrūṭ ekabus routeBuses are named by route number: 'route 138'. The bookish word also means 'a way' in the figurative sense
- පදික මාරුවpadika māruvapedestrian crossingLiterally 'a foot crossing'. In speech you'll also hear the English 'zebra crossing', especially from the young
- ට්‍රැෆික් එකṭræfik ekatraffic jamOne word covers both the flow of cars and the jam: 'the traffic is heavy'. The bookish phrase sounds on the radio
- පාර්කිං එකpārkiṁ ekaparkingBoth the place and the act. The bookish phrase is written on the plate by the mall
- පෙට්‍රල් ෂෙඩ් එකpeṭral ṣeḍ ekapetrol stationpet-ral shed e-ka; the sh is a hushing sound, distinct from the plain s
- පාර්ක් එකpārk ekaparkThe bookish word stands on the gates of Viharamahadevi Park; in speech — 'the park eka'
- පුස්තකාලයpustakālayalibrarypus-ta-kaa-la-ya; the aa is long, the rest short
- කෞතුකාගාරයkautukāgārayamuseumkau-tu-kaa-gaa-ra-ya; the au is a diphthong, one sign for two sounds
- රංග ශාලාවraṁga śālāvatheatreLiterally 'a hall of performance'. 'Hall' will return once more in 'cinema hall'
- සිනමා ශාලාවsinamā śālāvacinemaThe same 'hall' as in the theatre. In speech people also say 'the film hall eka'
- පල්ලියpalliyachurchA Christian church, a chapel too. A mosque is the same word with 'Muslim' in front
- ක්‍රීඩාංගණයkrīḍāṁgaṇayastadiumkri-daan-ga-na-ya; the n is retroflex
- හන්දියhandiyaintersectionA crossroads, a fork, and a place name all at once: the Bambalapitiya junction
- පදික වේදිකාවpadika vēdikāvasidewalkThe same padika as in padika māruva, 'pedestrian crossing'
- මාවතmāvataavenueIn Colombo addresses this word stands where 'avenue' would: the Bauddhaloka avenue. An ordinary street is pāra
- ලේන් එකlēn ekaalleyEnglish lane: a Colombo address sounds exactly so — 'Fifth Lane'. The bookish word lives on signposts
- වෙරළ මාවතveraḷa māvataseafront promenadeve-ra-la maa-va-ta; the ḷ is the curled-tongue l
- පාලමpālamabridgeOver a river and the footbridge over a road alike
- උමං මාර්ගයumaṁ mārgayatunnelLiterally an 'underground path'. Plain umanga is a burrow, a dig
- වීදි ලාම්පුවvīdi lāmpuvastreet lampLāmpuva, 'lamp', with the modifier 'street'. A pocket flashlight is 'the torch'
- බංකුවbaṁkuvabenchIn the park and at school alike: the school desk is the same word
- කුණු කූඩයkuṇu kūḍayatrash binku-nu kuu-da-ya; the ṇ and ḍ are palate-curled
- බස් ඩ්‍රයිවර්bas ḍrayivarbus driverBas, 'bus', and ḍrayivar, 'driver', together. Addressed politely: 'driver sir'
- අන්තිම නැවතුමantima nævatumalast stopAntima, 'last', plus nævatuma, 'stop', built off the verb 'to halt'
- රූට් නම්බර් එකrūṭ nambar ekaroute numberIn Colombo a route is one number: 'take the one thirty-eight'
- රෂ් අවර් එකraṣ avar ekarush hourEnglish rush hour whole. The bookish phrase is heard only in the news
- බස් කාලසටහනbas kālasaṭahanabus schedulebas kaa-la-sa-ta-ha-na; the ṭa is a retroflex t
- ගාස්තුව ගෙවනවාgāstuva gevanavāto pay the faregāstuva is the fare. On the bus the money goes to the conductor with the words 'one ticket'
- සීට් එකක් අල්ලනවාsīṭ ekak allanavāto grab a seatLiterally 'to seize a seat': the same verb as in catching fish. Holding one for another is 'keeping it'
- ටැක්සියක් කෝල් කරනවාṭæksiyak kōl karanavāto call a taxiṬæksi, 'taxi', with a -yak tail. In Colombo it's more often ordered through an app: 'take a PickMe'
- ඊළඟ එකෙන් බහිනවාīḷanga eken bahinavāto get off at the next stopii-lan-ga e-ken ba-hi-na-vaa; the ḷ is the curled-tongue l
- ප්‍රදේශයpradēśayaneighborhoodA part of the city and an area in general. The administrative district is another word
- ටවුමṭavumacity centerta-vu-ma; the ṭa is a retroflex t
- නගරයේ පිටතnagarayē piṭatathe edge of townLiterally 'the outer part of the city'. About the far sticks they say 'the outback'
- ඉදිකිරීම් බිමidikirīm bimaconstruction siteLiterally 'the land of building'. Væḍapoḷa is a workshop, not a site
- පාරේ අලුත්වැඩියාවpārē alutvæḍiyāvaroadworksAlutvæḍiyāva, 'repair', works for devices and roads alike — there's no separate term
- දිශා පුවරුවdiśā puvaruvasignpostLiterally a 'board of directions'. Mārga lakuṇa, 'road sign', is the rules sign; this one shows where to go
- මහජන වැසිකිළියmahajana væsikiḷiyapublic restroomma-ha-ja-na væ-si-ki-li-ya; the ḷ is the curled-tongue l
- පිරිසිදුpirisiducleanOf a room, of water, of hands alike. 'To clean up' is said with it
- කිලුටුkiluṭudirtyki-lu-tu; the ṭa is a retroflex t
- සෙනඟ වැඩියිsenanga væḍiyiit's crowdedLiterally 'people are many', from senanga, 'crowd'. There's no adverb here — it's a predicate
- ගමgamavillageA warm word: 'going to the village' means going to your people, even if the kin live in a small town
- අගනුවරaganuvaracapitalLiterally the 'chief city', from nuvara, 'city' — the same word as in Kandy's own name. Lanka has two capitals: life is in Colombo, parliament in Sri Jayawardenepura
- මහජන ප්‍රවාහනයmahajana pravāhanayapublic transportMahajana, 'public', plus pravāhanaya, 'transport'. In speech they simply say 'bus and train'
- මොන්ටිසෝරි එකmonṭisōri ekadaycareOn the island any preschool is called 'Montessori', no relation to the method. The bookish 'pre-school' stands on the sign
- සෙල්ලම් පිටියsellam piṭiyaplaygroundSellama, 'game', plus piṭiya, 'field'. The same field word names a sports ground, cricket included
- දිය උල්පතdiya ulpatafountainLiterally a 'water spring': the word fits a natural spring too. The city fountain in speech is 'the fountain'
- සුසාන භූමියsusāna bhūmiyacemeterysu-saa-na bhuu-mi-ya; the bh is a breathy b
- ගිනි නිවන රථයgini nivana rathayafire truckThe same cut as 'firefighter', with 'cart, vehicle' in place of the man. In speech: 'the fire engine'
- නගර කොටසnagara koṭasacity blockkoṭasa is 'a part'. The city here isn't cut into blocks; people more often just say pāra, 'the street'
- කුඩා උද්‍යානයkuḍā udyānayasmall parkudyānaya is a garden or a park; kuḍā shrinks it to a pocket park with benches
- කුළුණkuḷuṇatowerBoth a tower and a column. Colombo's TV tower is the 'Lotus Tower'
- උපනගරයupanagarayasuburbupa- means 'under, near'. In speech people describe it: 'a place close to Colombo'
- ජනපදයjanapadayasettlementjana is 'people', pada is 'a place'. The word names the new settlements built by reservoirs
- පාරේ යන කෙනෙක්pārē yana kenekpasser-byLiterally 'a person going along the street' — there is no single word for a passer-by
- පදිකයාpadikayāpedestrianThe same root pada as in the pedestrian crossing, padika māruva
- නාම පුවරුවnāma puvaruvasignboardpuvaruva is a board; the same board appears in the notice board, dænvīm puvaruva
- කුණු බඳුනkuṇu bandunalitter binbaṇduna is a vessel: the street kind. The bin at home has its own name, kuṇu bāldiya
- පාරේ ලයිට් එකpārē layiṭ ekastreetlightThis is how people say it on the street; the municipality's papers keep the longer bookish phrase
- තණකොළ පිට්ටනියtaṇakoḷa piṭṭaniyalawnthaṇakola is grass, piṭṭaniya is a ground, the same as in the sports ground. City lawns are rare on the island: it's the grass by the house and in the park
- මල් පාත්තියmal pāttiyaflower bedpāttiya is a bed, both the vegetable and the flower kind; the language never made a separate word for a flower bed
- ඉස්සරහ පඩිපෙළissaraha paḍipeḷafront stepsThere is no porch in the usual sense: before the door sits a veranda, and steps lead up to it — they are called the front stairway
- තරප්පු පඩියtarappu paḍiyastep (of stairs)Bare padiya means both a step and a salary; on a staircase people say tarappu padiya
- ගෙදර නම්බරයgedara nambarayahouse numbernambaraya is the English number, and in an address it's the only thing said aloud. The bookish angaya lives in forms
- පාරේ නමpārē namastreet namepāra covers both 'street' and 'road'; the language draws no line, and addresses are written with pāra
- කණුවkaṇuvapoleAny pole: the electricity pole and the wooden post alike. Posters get pasted onto it
- පරණ නගරයparaṇa nagarayaold townparaṇa is the spoken 'old'; the bookish purāṇa is saved for antiquities like Anuradhapura
- නිවාස ගොඩනැගිල්ලnivāsa goḍanægillaresidential buildingnivāsa is 'housing', as in the housing scheme. One's own home is still called gedara
- නිශ්ශබ්දතාවniśśabdatāvasilenceThe noun from the adjective 'quiet'. In speech people more often say saddayak nǣ — 'there's no sound'
- නගරයnagarayacityṬavuma is the town centre people go shopping in, and gama is the village. Nagaraya is the city as a unit on the map: addresses and road signs use it
- ගොඩනැගිල්ලgoḍanægillabuildingLiterally 'something built up': from goḍanaganavā, 'to erect'. A written word, off signs and notices; about the house you live in people say gedara
- ශාලාවśālāvahallA written word that lives in compounds: a concert hall, a dining hall. A room in a flat is never called this — for it there is kāmaraya
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
කඩේ (kaḍē) — shop. A roadside shop with everything at once. A big one is supiri veladasala on the sign, and the word is used nowhere but there.
වෙළඳපොළ (veḷandapoḷa) — market. Literally 'trading place': velanda is trade, pola is the ground. Pola on its own is the village fair at the weekend. Hard to read: two 'heavy' l sounds and a half-nasal.
ෆාමසිය (fāmasiya) — pharmacy. The English pharmacy, written with the youngest letter of the alphabet, fa.
බැංකුව (bæṁkuva) — bank. English bank with a Sinhala tail -uva. The nasal mark gives a hum drawn through the nose: 'baeng-kuva'.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is කඩේ (kaḍē) — shop.
- What is this word?
It is පෝලිම (pōlima) — queue.
- What is this word?
It is සෙනඟ (senanga) — crowd.
- What is this word?
It is පදික මාරුව (padika māruva) — pedestrian crossing.
- What is this word?
It is රංග ශාලාව (raṁga śālāva) — theatre.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “shop” in Sinhala?
A roadside shop with everything at once. A big one is supiri veladasala on the sign, and the word is used nowhere but there
- How do you say “queue” in Sinhala?
A word you hear every day on the island: pōḷimē innavā, 'to stand in the queue'
- How do you say “crowd” in Sinhala?
A word about a mass of people in general: 'the crowd is big'. People standing in line are a different word, pōlima, 'the queue'
- How do you say “pedestrian crossing” in Sinhala?
Literally 'a foot crossing'. In speech you'll also hear the English 'zebra crossing', especially from the young
- How do you say “theatre” in Sinhala?
Literally 'a hall of performance'. 'Hall' will return once more in 'cinema hall'
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “shop” in Sinhala?
«කඩේ» (kaḍē), read “kaḍē”. A roadside shop with everything at once. A big one is supiri veladasala on the sign, and the word is used nowhere but there. It is one of 92 words in the set “the city and its places” — the rest are in the table above.
How many street and place words do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 92 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
Is there audio?
Yes, 92 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.