Useful foreign phrases |
Individual languages |
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Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs
Useful foreign phrases |
Individual languages |
Colours |
Numbers |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Proverbs
A collection of useful phrases in Sinhala. You can see them in many other languages by clicking on the English versions.
There is no particular word for 'hello' in Sinhala and people often greet each other with a smile. The phrase ආයුඛෝවන් (ayubovan), which means "may you live long", accompanied by a small bow and the hands clasped together is used for greetings and partings.
If you can help fill in the gaps on this page, please contact me.
| English | සිංහල (Sinhala) |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Sadarayen piliganimi |
| Hello | ආයුඛෝවන් (aayuboovan) / හලෝ (halō) |
| How are you? Good, thank you |
කොහොමද? (kohomadha?) කොහොමද සැප සනිප? (kohomadha saesa saniipa?) සැප සනීප කොහොමද? (saepa saniipa kohomadha?) |
| හොඳින් ඉන්නවා (hondhin innavaa) ඉස්තුති මම හොදින් ඉන්නව (istuti mama hodin innava) |
|
| Long time no see | Huga kalekin dakke |
| What's your name? My name is ... |
ඔයාගේ නම මොකක්ද (oyāgē nama mokakda?) |
| මගේ නම ... (magē nama ...) | |
| Where are you from? I'm from ... |
ඔබ කොහෙන්ද? (oba kohendha?) |
| මම ... වෙන්/යෙන් (mama ... ven/yen) | |
| Pleased to meet you | ඔබ දැනගන්න ලැබිම සතුටක් (oba dhanagana lakeema sathutak) |
| Good morning | සුභ උදෑසනක් (subha udhaasanak) |
| Good afternoon | සුභ දවාලක් (subha dhavalak) |
| Good evening | සුභ සැන්දෑවක් (subha sandhavak) |
| Good night | සුභ රාත්රියක් (subha raahthriyak) |
| Goodbye | aayuboovan gehilla ennam - leaving ආයුඛෝවන් (aayuboovan) - staying නැවත හමුවෙමු (naevata hamuvemu) |
| Good luck | mama obata suba pathami |
| Cheers/Good health! | jaya wewa |
| Have a nice day | suba dawasak |
| Bon appetit | |
| Bon voyage | suba gaman |
| Do you understand? | terenavaa da? |
| I understand | mata terenavaa |
| I don't understand | මට ඔබව තේරැමි ගන්න බැනැ (mata obava therum ganna baha) |
| Please speak more slowly | karunakara hemin kiyanna |
| Could you please repeat that? |
කරැණාකරල ඒක නැවත කියන්න පුළුවන්ද (karunaakarala eka navata kiyanna puluvandha?) |
| Could you please write that for me? |
කරැණාකරල මට ඒක ලියලා දෙන්න පුළුවන්ද (karunaakarala mata eka liyala dhenna puluvandha?) |
| Do you speak English? | ඔබ ඉංග්රිසි කථා කරනවාද (oba ingreesi kathaa karanavadha?) |
| Do you speak Sinhala? Yes, a little |
ඔබ සිංහළ කථා කරනවාද (oba sinhala kathaa karanavadha?) |
| මට එය කියන්න පුළුවන් (maṭa eya kiyanna pūl̠ūvan) | |
| How would you say ...? | ... කියන්නේ කොහොමද? (... kiyanne kohomadha?) |
| Excuse me | සමාවත්ත (samavanna) /
අචසර (avasara - to priests) samavanna kanagatui |
| How much is it? | ehekka keeyada? / keeyada? |
| Sorry | මට සමාවෙන්න (mata samaavenna) කණගාටුයි (kan'agaaṭuuyi) |
| Please | කරැණාකරල (karunakarala) |
| Thank you Response |
ඉස්තුති (istuti) / බොහොම ස්තුතියි (bohoma stutiyi) |
| matak karanna epa | |
| Where's the toilet? | wasikiliya koheda thiyenne? |
| This gentleman/lady will pay for everything |
me karunawantha kanthawa hamadetama gewai |
| Would you like to dance with me? |
oya math ekka poddak natanna kamathida? |
| I love you | මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි (mama oyāṭa ādareyi) |
| Get well soon | ikmaning saneepa wenna |
| I'm lost | mang ivarai / mang vinaasai |
| Go away! | metanin yanna! |
| Leave me alone! | |
| Help! Fire! Stop! |
aaneh! aayoh! amboh! navatinna! |
| Call the police! | policiyata katha karanna! |
| Merry Christmas and Happy New Year |
සුභ නත්තලක් (subha natthalak) සුබ නව වසරක් වේවා (suba tava vasarak) |
| Happy Easter | |
| Happy Birthday | සුභ උපන් දිනයක් (subha upan dinayak) සුභපැතුම් (sūbhapætūm) |
| One language is never enough | eka bashawak danagena kawadawth madi |
| My hovercraft is full of eels |
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please contact me.
Information about the Sinhala language and alphabet
Other collections of Sinhala phrases
http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=31976
http://www.sinhala-online.com/sinhalese-conversation.html?unicode=yes
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/language/sinhala-phrases.html
http://www.languageshome.com/English-Sinhalese.htm
http://www.the-backpacking-site.com/countries/sri_lanka-phrase.html
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