Bhasaly › Learn Sinhala › Phrases
Sinhala phrases for a short visit
කෙටි නවාතැන
The lines a visitor actually uses, and the ones you will hear back. Romanized first so you can say them today. Every phrase is recorded — open it in Bhasaly to hear it.
Hear these phrases →First words
The go-and-come-back goodbye
aayuboowan opens formally — may you live long. The goodbye is a round trip: gihin ennam, I will go and come back, answered gihin enna. kamak naee — no problem — smooths everything over.
| aayuboowan | hello (formal) | ආයුබෝවන් |
| sthuuthiyi | thank you | ස්තූතියි |
| bohoma sthuuthiyi | thank you very much | බොහොම ස්තූතියි |
| samaawenna | sorry · excuse me | සමාවෙන්න |
| ov | yes | ඔව් |
| naee | no | නෑ |
| hari | okay · right | හරි |
| kamak naee | no problem | කමක් නෑ |
| gihin ennam | goodbye — I will go and come back | ගිහින් එන්නම් |
Being polite
ayiyaa and akkaa
ayiyaa and akkaa — older brother, older sister — address waiters, drivers and shopkeepers warmly. mata epaa declines anything without offence.
| ayiyaa | older brother — any man a bit older | අයියා |
| akkaa | older sister — any woman a bit older | අක්කා |
| mallii | younger brother | මල්ලී |
| nangii | younger sister | නංගී |
| karunaakaralaa | please | කරුණාකරලා |
| mata epaa | I do not want it (politely) | මට එපා |
Meeting someone
Introductions
magee nama … — my name is …. hemin kiyanna — say it slowly — and aayeth kiyanna — say it again — rescue any conversation.
| magee nama | my name (is…) | මගේ නම |
| oyaagee nama mokakdha | what is your name? | ඔයාගේ නම මොකක්ද |
| mata theerennee naee | I do not understand | මට තේරෙන්නේ නෑ |
| hemin kiyanna | say it slowly | හෙමින් කියන්න |
| aayeth kiyanna | say it again | ආයෙත් කියන්න |
| mama dhannee naee | I do not know | මම දන්නේ නෑ |
Sentence patterns
Four frames that do the work
Four frames cover most of what you need. Tap a word, hear the whole sentence.
What you will hear
Tea arrives in minutes
bath kaaladha? — eaten rice? — is a greeting; kaalaa answers it. thee bonna enna — come drink tea — is meant literally, and soon.
| bath kaaladha | have you eaten? (a greeting) | බත් කාලද |
| kaalaa | eaten already (the answer) | කාලා |
| thee bonna enna | come drink tea! | තේ බොන්න එන්න |
| gedharata enna | come to our home! | ගෙදරට එන්න |
| aethulata enna | come inside! | ඇතුළට එන්න |
| waadiwenna | sit down, please | වාඩිවෙන්න |
| kohendha | from where? | කොහෙන්ද |
Numbers
Rupees in the hundreds
A king coconut runs about siiya; rice and curry a few hundred; tuk rides likewise. Prices are honest outside the tourist strips.
| eka | 1 | එක |
| dheka | 2 | දෙක |
| paha | 5 | පහ |
| dhahaya | 10 | දහය |
| siiya | 100 | සීය |
| pansiiya | 500 | පන්සීය |
| dhaaha | 1,000 | දාහ |
| rupiyal | rupees | රුපියල් |
The three-wheeler
Meters in Colombo, deals upcountry
The tuk-tuk is the thriiwiil eka. In Colombo insist on the meter or fix the price first; upcountry it is all negotiation. Buses stop for a raised hand.
| thriiwiil eka | the three-wheeler (tuk-tuk) | ත්රීවීල් එක |
| bas eka | the bus | බස් එක |
| bas staend eka | the bus stand | බස් ස්ටෑන්ඩ් එක |
| methana nawaththanna | stop here, please | මෙතන නවත්තන්න |
| mata Kolambata tikat ekak dhenna | one ticket to Colombo, please | මට කොළඹට ටිකට් එකක් දෙන්න |
| bas eke | by bus | බස් එකේ |
Directions
Catch one word of the answer
Ask with the kohedha frame above, then listen for these.
| wamata | to the left | වමට |
| dhakunata | to the right | දකුණට |
| kelinma | straight ahead | කෙළින්ම |
| ethana | there | එතන |
Rice & curry
Fiery, by hand, wonderful
Rice and curry is lunch, eaten by hand, and it can be FIERY — harima saerayi! earns sympathy and wathura tikak puts the fire out. The orange thaembili is the roadside drink.
| bath | rice · the meal | බත් |
| thee | tea | තේ |
| kopi | coffee | කෝපි |
| thaembili gediyak | a king coconut | තැඹිලි ගෙඩියක් |
| rasayi | tasty! | රසයි |
| harima saerayi | very spicy! | හරිම සැරයි |
| wathura tikak | some water | වතුර ටිකක් |
| thawa | more | තව |
Shopping
The smiling negotiation
ganan waediyi plus adu karanna is the whole negotiation, done with a smile. Supermarkets are fixed; the street market bends a little.
| kadee | the shop | කඩේ |
| ganan waediyi | too expensive | ගණන් වැඩියි |
| laabayi | cheap | ලාබයි |
| adu karanna | please reduce it | අඩු කරන්න |
| salli | money | සල්ලි |
Staying somewhere
Mind the false friend
A hootalee is often an eatery, not lodging — places to sleep say guest house. dhawasakata kiiyadha asks the day rate; a fan often beats the aircon price.
| hootalee | hotel — often an eatery! | හෝටලේ |
| kaamaraya | the room | කාමරය |
| yathura | the key | යතුර |
| dhawasakata kiiyadha | how much per day? | දවසකට කීයද |
Getting help
Serious words, hopefully unused
udhaw karanna! — please help — is the sentence to know; say it clearly. praweesamen is what everyone will call after you as you leave.
| udhaw karanna | please help! | උදව් කරන්න |
| mata udhaw oonae | I need help | මට උදව් ඕනැ |
| poliisiya | the police | පොලීසිය |
| dhosthara | doctor | දොස්තර |
| beheth | medicine | බෙහෙත් |
| ispirithaalee | hospital | ඉස්පිරිතාලේ |
| praweesamen | take care! · carefully! | ප්රවේසමෙන් |
Staying in touch
Phone, wifi & photos
Guesthouse wifi is standard; a local SIM needs your passport. Ask foto ekak ganna puluwandha before photographing people.
| foon eka | the phone | ෆෝන් එක |
| nambar eka | the number | නම්බර් එක |
| kool ekak dhenna | give me a call | කෝල් එකක් දෙන්න |
| foto ekak ganna puluwandha | may I take a photo? | ෆොටෝ එකක් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද |
Ask where anything is
Where is the ___?
| bas eka kohedha? | Where is the bus? | බස් එක කොහෙද |
| hootalee kohedha? | Where is the hotel? | හෝටලේ කොහෙද |
| kadee kohedha? | Where is the shop? | කඩේ කොහෙද |
| poliisiya kohedha? | Where is the police? | පොලීසිය කොහෙද |
| waesikiliya kohedha? | Where is the toilet? | වැසිකිළිය කොහෙද |
Ask if something is there
Is there ___?
| kaamarayak thiyenawadha? | Is there a room? | කාමරයක් තියෙනවද |
| wathura thiyenawadha? | Is there water? | වතුර තියෙනවද |
| thee thiyenawadha? | Is there tea? | තේ තියෙනවද |
| kopi thiyenawadha? | Is there coffee? | කෝපි තියෙනවද |
| bath thiyenawadha? | Is there rice? | බත් තියෙනවද |
Ask for something politely
___, please.
| wathura dhenna | water, please. | වතුර දෙන්න |
| thee dhenna | tea, please. | තේ දෙන්න |
| bath dhenna | rice and curry, please. | බත් දෙන්න |
| meeka dhenna | this one, please. | මේක දෙන්න |
| thaembili gediyak dhenna | a king coconut, please. | තැඹිලි ගෙඩියක් දෙන්න |
Ask any price
How much is ___?
| meeka kiiyadha? | How much is this? | මේක කීයද |
| kaamaraya kiiyadha? | How much is the room? | කාමරය කීයද |
| thee kiiyadha? | How much is the tea? | තේ කීයද |
| thriiwiil eka kiiyadha? | How much is the tuk-tuk? | ත්රීවීල් එක කීයද |
Common questions
How do you say hello in Sinhala?
Aayuboowan. The greetings section above has the full set, including the reply you are likely to hear back.
Do I need an account to use these Sinhala phrases?
No. Every phrase on this page is open to read, and you can hear all of them in Bhasaly without signing up.
Do I need to read the Sinhala script to use these?
No. Every line is romanized first, so you can say it straight away. The script is there alongside if you want to start reading it.
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