text:
Sinhala phrasebook

Sinhala (සිංහල) is the main language of Sri Lanka. About three fourths of Sri Lanka's population of ca. 22 million speak Sinhala as their mother tongue and many others in the country speak it as a second language. It is widely used in all the regions of the island except the north and east, where many people who speak Tamil as their first language may not be so good at speaking Sinhala.

Sinhala belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. Though originally a language of the common man in Sri Lanka, where scholars - mainly Buddhist monks - preferred Pali and Sanskrit for their writings, Sinhala inscriptions dating from the third or second century BCE have been found. The oldest existing Sinhala literary works date back to the ninth century CE. The alphabet employed is descended from the ancient Brahmi script of the Indian region. The language has been greatly enriched by its association with Buddhism, which was introduced to the island in the third century BCE. In addition to regional tongues like Tamil, languages from far away like Portuguese, Dutch and English have also influenced Sinhala due to European colonization.

A marked difference exists between the spoken and written forms of Sinhala. The simpler spoken variety is found even in informal writing, e.g. in letters among friends. One is likely to hear the written form only in formal announcements and speeches - or in TV/radio newscasts.

Pronunciation guide
''The Sinhala alphabet consist of vowels, consonants and diacritics. If a vowel sound occurs at the beginning of a word, the corresponding vowel letter is used. Vowel sounds that come after a consonant sound are usually denoted by the consonant letter + the necessary diacritic/s. An attempt has been made below to transliterate the Sinhala vowels and consonants with reasonable accuracy using Roman characters and some other signs.''

Vowels

 * අ - a : short version of the following; like 'u' in "cut" in some pronunciations
 * ආ - ā : close to 'a' in "father”
 * ඇ - A : short version of the following
 * ඈ - Ā : like 'a' in "bad”
 * ඉ - i : like 'y' in "happy"
 * ඊ - ī : like 'ee' in "feel" (long version of the preceding)
 * එ - e : like 'e' in "bed"
 * ඒ - ē : like 'a' in "table" in pronunciations without the diphthong (long version of the preceding)
 * ඔ - o : close ‘o’ sound; short version of the following
 * ඕ - ō : long close ‘o’ sound; like 'o' in "note" in pronunciations without the diphthong
 * උ - u : close to 'u' in "put" (short version of the following)
 * ඌ - ū : like 'u' in "flute"
 * ඓ - ai : like 'i' in "like" (NOT like 'ai' in "wait")
 * ඖ - au : like 'ow' in "how" (NOT like ‘au’ in "automatic")
 * ඍ - ru/ri : many pronounce it like 'ri' in "ridge"
 * ඎ - rū/rī : many pronounce it like 'ree' in "reel"
 * අං - aNG : nasal sound like 'un' in "uncle"
 * අඃ - aH : guttural sound like 'ah' in "aha!" (NOT like 'ah' in "ah!")

Consonants

 * ක - k : like 'k' in "kite"
 * ඛ - K : somewhat close to ‘ckh' in "blackhead" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘k’ in everyday speech)
 * ග - g : like 'g' in "gum"
 * ඝ - G : somewhat close to 'g h' in "big hat" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘g’ in everyday speech)
 * ච - ch : like 'ch' in "chat"
 * ඡ - CH : somewhat close to 'ch h' in "church hymn" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘ch’ in everyday speech)
 * ජ - j : like 'j' in "jam"
 * ඣ - J : somewhat close to 'dge h' in "judge him" (aspirated version of the preceding – used only in writing some words of Pali origin)
 * ට - t : retroflex ‘t’; somewhat close to 't' in "cat"
 * ඨ - T : somewhat close to 't h' in "cat hops" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘t’ in everyday speech)
 * ඩ - d : retroflex ‘d’; somewhat close to 'd' in "bad"
 * ඪ - D : somewhat close to 'd H' in "Mad Hatter" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘d’ in everyday speech)
 * ත - th : dental ‘t’; somewhat close to 'th' in "thin"
 * ථ - TH : somewhat close to ‘th h’ in “bath house” (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘th’ in everyday speech)
 * ද - dh : dental ‘d’; somewhat close to 'th' in "this"
 * ධ - DH : somewhat close to 'th h' in "with him" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘dh’ in everyday speech)
 * ප - p : like 'p' in "tap"
 * ඵ - P : somewhat close to 'p h' in "top hat" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘p’ in everyday speech)
 * බ - b : like 'b' in "cab"
 * භ - B : somewhat close to 'b h' in "grab him" (aspirated version of the preceding – often reduced to ‘b’ in everyday speech)
 * ම - m : like 'm' in "him"
 * ය - y : like 'y' in "yard"
 * ර - r : like 'r' in "red"
 * ව - v : approximant ‘v’; somewhat close to 'v' in "van"
 * ස - s : like 's' in "side"
 * ශ / ෂ - sh : like 'sh' in "cash" (both Sinhala letters are pronounced alike today, but they are not interchangeable)
 * න / ණ - n : like 'n' in "can" (both Sinhala letters are pronounced alike today, but they are not interchangeable)
 * ල / ළ - l : like 'l' in "lake" (both Sinhala letters are pronounced alike today, but they are not interchangeable)
 * හ - h : like 'h' in "hat"
 * ෆ - f : like 'f' in "fan" (a letter to transcribe foreign words as the sound does not occur in Sinhala)
 * ඟ - NG : nasal sound like 'ng' in "singer"
 * ඬ - ND : nasal sound somewhat close to 'n d' in "can do"
 * ඳ - NDH: nasal sound somewhat close to 'n th' in "can they"
 * ඹ - MB : nasal sound somewhat close to 'mb' in "tomboy"
 * ඤ / ඥ - GN : nasal sound somewhat close to 'ny' in "canyon" (both Sinhala letters are pronounced alike today, but they are not interchangeable)

The ‘z’ sound, which is not found in Sinhala, is sometimes written 'zස' when transcribing foreign words. Similarly, some people tend to opt for 'fප' to denote the 'f' sound instead of using the letter 'ෆ'.

Diacritics
''All stand-alone Sinhala consonant letters have the corresponding consonant sound + the inherent vowel sound ‘a’(see above) in them. However, in some syllables this inherent vowel sound is reduced to a schwa (i.e. the sound of 'a' in "about" or 'o' in “carrot”) and this transliteration will use the symbol 'ə' instead of 'a' to indicate this. When some other vowel sound is attached to a consonant sound – or when there is no vowel sound attached to it – marks called diacritics are added to the consonant letter to denote the combination – or to show the lack of an attached vowel sound. Here are some examples of how such diacritics are used.''

As can be seen above, the diacritics differ between these two letters when there is no attached vowel sound as ‘ම්’/'ක්'; as well as for the vowel sounds in ‘මු’/කු and ‘මූ’/'කූ'. The other letters also follow either of these two patterns. Only the letter 'ර - ra/rə' has the completely erratic 'රු - ru'/'රූ - rū', which are not to be confused with 'රැ - rA'/'රෑ - rĀ'.

 * 1) Even when some words appear in writing with a long 'ā' sound at their end, it tends to be pronounced 'a' in everyday speech. For example, 'මිනිහා - minihā (man)' becomes 'මිනිහ - miniha' and 'දෙනවා - dhenəvā (give)' becomes 'දෙනව - dhenəva'. Similarly, in some words the long ‘ē’ sound at the end tends to turn into the short ‘e’ in speech. For example, 'මගේ – magē (my/mine)’ becomes ‘මගෙ – mage’ and ‘කරත්තේ – karaththē (cart)’ becomes ‘කරත්තෙ – karaththe’. In the phrases below, the colloquial short patterns have mostly been given to facilitate pronunciation. (However, this is rarely done in actual writing. It may be found in dialogue transcription in some novels.)
 * 2) There is a special letter that is used in some words to denote the sound ‘lu’: 'ළු - lu'
 * 3) The nasalized sound found in ‘මං’ or ‘කං’ occurs with other diacritics too, like in 'කෝං – kōNG' or 'මුං - muNG'.
 * 4) A vowel or a consonant with an attached vowel sound can stand alone as a syllable; or it can combine with a consonant having no attached vowel sound to make up a syllable together: 'අම්·මා - am·mā (mother)', 'බ·ලා·පො·රොත්·තු·ව - ba·lā·po·roth·thu·və (hope)'
 * 5) As may be clear from the above point, when a double consonant occurs, each one of them has to be pronounced separately (i.e. it has to be geminated) since they belong to two separate syllables, like in ‘එන්·න - en·nə’ (come).
 * 6) Sinhala is a rhotic language, so the letter ‘r’ should be pronounced even when it stands alone as 'ර් - r'.

Combined consonants
In certain words, some consonant combinations fuse into one character

It can be combined with some other diacritics to denote the corresponding sounds: 'ක්‍රි - kri', 'ක්‍රෝ - krō' etc. So the ‘Sri’ in Sri Lanka, which actually should be pronounced ‘shrī' though most people do not, is written ‘ශ්‍රී’. Some other diacritics can also be added to this combination, like 'ව්‍යූ - ‘vyū'.
 * 1) For certain consonants, the following diacritic can add the sound '-ra/-rə': 'ක්‍ර - kra/krə', ප්‍ර - pra/prə etc.
 * 1) The sound '-ya/yə' is often combined with the preceding consonant if that consonant has no attached vowel sound: 'ව්‍ය - vya/vyə', 'ද්‍ය - dhya/dhyə' etc.
 * 1) Some consonant letters are written in an attached manner in some words, like 'ක්‍ෂ - ksha'.

Language structure
''The written Sinhala language, having an age-old literary tradition, has fine distinctions of verb conjugation, case inflection and so on. The study of all that is exclusively for the scholar. Even too much detail about the much simpler spoken form is not worthwhile for the casual visitor. However, a basic understanding of the structure of spoken Sinhala might help.''

Word order

 * The word order of the Sinhala sentence is ‘subject-object-verb’.
 * මම තේ බොනව. (mamə thē bonəva.) : I tea drink. (I drink tea.)
 * The order of other words can also be inverted. The first word defines the emphasis.
 * පොත් කීපයක් (poth kīpəyak) : books several (several books)
 * එයාලට බත් දෙන්න. (eyālatə bath dhennə.) :To-them rice give. (Give them rice.) (context: To THEM we need to give the rice, not to the others)
 * බත් එයාලට දෙන්න. (bath eyālatə dhennə.) :Rice to-them give. (Give them rice.) (context: The RICE has to be given to them, the others can have the pasta and...) :
 * The emphasis can also be achieved without changing the order of the words, but through tone. Ex. Tonal emphasis on the second word, instead of the first word in එයාලට බත් දෙන්න. makes it equivalent to "The RICE has to be given to them, the others can have the pasta and...".

Relative positions and demonstrative pronouns

 * While English has two points of spatial reference, i.e. here and there, Sinhala has four of them.
 * මෙතන (methənə) : here (near the speaker)
 * ඔතන (othənə) : there (near the listener)
 * අතන (athənə) : there (away from both the speaker and listener, but they can see the place)
 * එතන (ethənə) : there (away from both the speaker and listener, and they cannot see the place)
 * මේ ළමය (mē laməya) / මේ ළමයි (mē lamayi) : this child / these children (near the speaker) - the same pattern for inanimate nouns
 * ඔය ළමය (oyə laməya) / ඔය ළමයි (oyə lamayi) : that child / those children (near the listener) - the same pattern for inanimate nouns
 * අර ළමය (arə laməya) / අර ළමයි (arə lamayi) : that child / those children (away from both the speaker and listener, but they can see the child/children) - the same pattern for inanimate nouns
 * ඒ ළමය (ē laməya) / ඒ ළමයි (ē lamayi) : that child / those children (away from both the speaker and listener, and they cannot see the child/children) - the same pattern for inanimate nouns
 * මෙයා/මෙයාල (meyā/meyāla) : (s)he/they(animate) (near the speaker)
 * ඔයා/ඔයාල (oyā/oyāla) : you(singualar)/you(plural) (near the listener)
 * අරය/අරයල ( arəya/arəyəla) : (s)he/they(animate) (away from both the speaker and listener, but they can see the person/people)
 * එයා/එයාල (eyā/eyāla) : (s)he/they(animate) (away from both the speaker and listener, and they cannot see the person/people)
 * මේක/මේව (mēkə/mēva) : it/they(inanimate) (near the speaker)
 * ඕක/ඕව (ōkə/ōva) : it/they(inanimate) (near the listener)
 * අරක/අරව (arəkə/arəva) : it/they(inanimate) (away from both the speaker and listener, but they can see the thing/things)
 * ඒක/ඒව (ēkə/ēva) : it/they(inanimate) (away from both the speaker and listener, and they cannot see the thing/things)

Nouns and postpositions

 * There are no articles in Sinhala. The basic form of a noun is used in the definite sense. To render the indefinite sense, the noun ending is changed to ‘-ek’ in masculine nouns (or sometimes colloquially in feminine nouns) and ‘-ak’ in feminine or inanimate ones. Plural formation can be rather erratic but, once formed, it stands for both definite and indefinite senses.
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

! Definite Singular !! Indefinite Singular !! Plural
 * ගොවිය (goviya) - the farmer || ගොවියෙක් (goviyek) - a farmer || ගොවියො (goviyo) - (the) farmers
 * පුතා (puthā) - the son || පුතෙක් (puthek) - a son || පුතාල (puthāla) - (the) sons
 * ළමය (laməya) - the child || ළමයෙක් (laməyek) - a child || ළමයි (lamayi) - (the) children
 * මිනිහ (miniha) - the man || මිනිහෙක් (minihek) - a man || මිනිස්සු (minissu) - (the) men
 * නිළිය (niliyə) - the actress || නිළියක් (niliyak) - an actress || නිළියො (niliyo) - (the) actresses
 * දුව (dhuvə) - the daughter || දුවක් (dhuvak) - a daughter || දුවල (dhuvəla) - (the) daughters
 * වඳුර (vaNDHura) - the monkey || වඳුරෙක් (vaNDHurek) - a monkey || වඳුරො (vaNDHuro) - (the) monkeys
 * අලිය (aliya) - the elephant || අලියෙක් (aliyek) - an elephant || අලි (ali) - (the) elephants
 * මේසෙ (mēse) - the table || මේසයක් (mēsəyak) - a table || මේස (mēsə) - (the) tables
 * පොත (pothə) - the book || පොතක් (pothak) - a book || පොත් (poth) - (the) books
 * පාර (pārə) - the road || පාරක් (pārak) - a road || පාරවල් (pārəval) - (the) roads
 * }
 * To give an indefinite sense to uncountable nouns, the word ‘...ටිකක් (tikak)’ can be added.
 * තේ ටිකක් (thē tikak) : some tea
 * Instead of prepositions, there are postpositions.
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"
 * මේසෙ (mēse) - the table || මේසයක් (mēsəyak) - a table || මේස (mēsə) - (the) tables
 * පොත (pothə) - the book || පොතක් (pothak) - a book || පොත් (poth) - (the) books
 * පාර (pārə) - the road || පාරක් (pārak) - a road || පාරවල් (pārəval) - (the) roads
 * }
 * To give an indefinite sense to uncountable nouns, the word ‘...ටිකක් (tikak)’ can be added.
 * තේ ටිකක් (thē tikak) : some tea
 * Instead of prepositions, there are postpositions.
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"
 * තේ ටිකක් (thē tikak) : some tea
 * Instead of prepositions, there are postpositions.
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

! English Preposition !! Sinhala Postposition (Animate Singular) !! Sinhala Postposition (Animate Plural) !! Sinhala Postposition (Inanimate Sinhular) !! Sinhala Postposition (inanimate plural)
 * ...on the ______ || මිනිහ උඩ... (miniha udə... ) || මිනිස්සු උඩ... (minissu uda...) || පොත උඩ... (pothə udə...) || පොත් උඩ... (poth udə...)
 * ...under the ______ || මිනිහ යට... (miniha yatə... ) || මිනිස්සු යට... (minissu yatə...) || පොත යට.... (pothə yatə...) || පොත් යට... (poth yatə...)
 * ...with the ______ || මිනිහ එක්ක... (miniha ekkə...) || මිනිස්සු එක්ක... (minissu ekkə...) || පොත එක්ක... (pothə ekkə...) || පොත් එක්ක... (poth ekkə...)
 * ...near the ______ || මිනිහ ළඟ/ගාව... (miniha laNGə/gāvə...) || මිනිස්සු ළඟ/ගාව... (minissu laNGə/gāvə...) || පොත ළඟ/ගාව... (pothə laNGə/gāvə...) || පොත් ළඟ/ගාව... (poth laNGə/gāvə...)
 * ...of the ______ (the ______'s...) /...in the ______ || මිනිහගෙ... (minihage...) || මිනිස්සුන්ගෙ... (minissunge...) ||  පොතේ... (pothē...) || පොත්වල... (pothvələ...)
 * ...to/for the ______ || මිනිහට... (minihatə... ) || මිනිස්සුන්ට... (minissuntə...) || පොතට... (pothətə...) || පොත්වලට... (pothvələtə...)
 * ...from the ______ || මිනිහගෙන්... (minihagen...) || මිනිස්සුන්ගෙන්... (minissungen...) || පොතෙන්... (pothen...) || පොත්වලින්... (pothvəlin...)
 * }
 * ...of the ______ (the ______'s...) /...in the ______ || මිනිහගෙ... (minihage...) || මිනිස්සුන්ගෙ... (minissunge...) ||  පොතේ... (pothē...) || පොත්වල... (pothvələ...)
 * ...to/for the ______ || මිනිහට... (minihatə... ) || මිනිස්සුන්ට... (minissuntə...) || පොතට... (pothətə...) || පොත්වලට... (pothvələtə...)
 * ...from the ______ || මිනිහගෙන්... (minihagen...) || මිනිස්සුන්ගෙන්... (minissungen...) || පොතෙන්... (pothen...) || පොත්වලින්... (pothvəlin...)
 * }
 * ...from the ______ || මිනිහගෙන්... (minihagen...) || මිනිස්සුන්ගෙන්... (minissungen...) || පොතෙන්... (pothen...) || පොත්වලින්... (pothvəlin...)
 * }
 * }

Pronouns with postpositions

 * Most Sinhala pronouns were given in the section "Relative positions and demonstrative pronouns" above. Apart from them, there are 'මම (mamə) - I' and 'අපි (api) - we'. The following table illustrates how a representative group of them behave with postpositions.
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

! Meaning !! මම (mamə) !! අපි (api) !! ඔයා (oyā) !! ඔයාල (oyāla !! ඒක (ēkə) !! ඒව (ēva)
 * ...with ______ || මා එක්ක... (mā ekkə...) || අපි එක්ක... (api ekkə...) || ඔයා එක්ක... (oyā ekkə...) || ඔයාල එක්ක... (oyāla ekkə...) || ඒක එක්ක... (ēkə ekkə...) || ඒව එක්ක... (ēva ekkə...)
 * ...near ______ || මා ළඟ/ගාව... (mā laNGə/gāvə...) || අපි ළඟ/ගාව... (api laNGə/gāvə...) || ඔයා ළඟ/ගාව... (oyā laNGə/gāvə...) || ඔයාල ළඟ/ගාව... (oyāla laNGə/gāvə...) || ඒක ළඟ/ගාව... (ēkə laNGə/gāvə...) || ඒව ළඟ/ගාව... (ēva laNGə/gāvə...)
 * ...of ______ || මගෙ... (mage...) || අපේ... (apē...) || ඔයාගෙ... (oyāge...) || ඔයාලගෙ... (oyālage...) || ඒකෙ... (ēke...) || ඒවගෙ... (ēvage...)
 * ...to/for ______ || මට... (matə...) || අපට... (apətə...) || ඔයාට... (oyātə...) || ඔයාලට... (oyālatə...) || ඒකට... (ēkətə...) || ඒවට... (ēvatə...)
 * ...from ______ || මගෙන්... (magen...) || අපෙන්... (apen...) || ඔයාගෙන්... (oyāgen...) || ඔයාලගෙන්... (oyālagen...) || ඒකෙන්... (ēken...) || ඒවගෙන්... (ēvagen...)
 * }
 * Even when speaking to a friend, people often tend to use just that person's name, leaving out 'ඔයා (oyā) - you'. This is compulsory when addressing a person of higher rank.
 * කමල් මොනවද කරන්නෙ? (Kamal monəvadhə kəranne?) : What is Kamal doing? (What are you doing, Kamal?)
 * සුනිල් මහත්තය කොහෙද යන්නෙ? (sunil mahaththəya kohedhə yanne?) : Where is Mr. Sunil going? (Where are you going, Mr. Sunil?)
 * නිමාලි නෝන බැඳලද? (nimāli nōna bANDHəladhə?) : Is Ms. Nimali married? (Are you married, Ms. Nimali?)
 * රතන හාමුදුරුවො පත්තරේ බැලුවද? (rathənə hāmodhuruvo paththərē bAluvadhə?): Did Venerable Rathana read the paper? (Did you read the paper, Venerable Rathana?) - addressing a Buddhist monk.
 * Even when speaking to a friend, people often tend to use just that person's name, leaving out 'ඔයා (oyā) - you'. This is compulsory when addressing a person of higher rank.
 * කමල් මොනවද කරන්නෙ? (Kamal monəvadhə kəranne?) : What is Kamal doing? (What are you doing, Kamal?)
 * සුනිල් මහත්තය කොහෙද යන්නෙ? (sunil mahaththəya kohedhə yanne?) : Where is Mr. Sunil going? (Where are you going, Mr. Sunil?)
 * නිමාලි නෝන බැඳලද? (nimāli nōna bANDHəladhə?) : Is Ms. Nimali married? (Are you married, Ms. Nimali?)
 * රතන හාමුදුරුවො පත්තරේ බැලුවද? (rathənə hāmodhuruvo paththərē bAluvadhə?): Did Venerable Rathana read the paper? (Did you read the paper, Venerable Rathana?) - addressing a Buddhist monk.

Verbs and sentence patterns

 * In spoken Sinhala, a verb changes form only between the present, past and future. In the present tense, for example, the verb remains the same for all pronouns and nouns, singular or plural. However, if some word other than the verb is highlighted in a sentence, a different verb form has to be used.
 * මම කනව. (mamə kanəva.) : I eat. / I’m eating. / I'm going to eat.
 * අපි කනව. (api kanəva.) : We eat. / We’re eating. / We're going to eat.
 * මම කන්නෙ. (mamə kanne.) : I'm the one who eats. / I'm the one who is eating. / I'm the one who is going to eat.
 * අපි කන්නෙ. (api kanne.) : We're the ones who eat. / We're the ones who are eating. / We're the ones who are going to eat.
 * මිනිහ කෑව. (miniha kĀva.) : The man ate.
 * මිනිස්සු කෑව. (minissu kĀva.) : The men ate.
 * මිනිහ කෑවෙ. (miniha kĀve.) : It's the man who ate.
 * මිනිස්සු කෑවෙ. (minissu kĀve.) : It's the men who ate.
 * ළමය කයි. (laməya kayi.) : The child will eat.
 * ළමයි කයි. (lamayi kayi.) : The children will eat.
 * Hikers in Narangala Sri Lanka.jpg), some with tents]]

 * Other useful sentence patternsː
 * බත් කන්න. (bath kannə.) : Eat rice. ('Eating rice' often means having lunch or dinner. Of course they do not have just rice; several dishes called curries usually accompany the staple rice.)
 * බත් කමු. (bath kamu.) : Let's eat rice.
 * බත් කමුද? (bath kamudhə?) : Shall we eat rice?
 * මම බත් කනව. (mamə bath kanəva.) : I eat rice. / I’m eating rice. / I'm going to eat rice.
 * මම කන්නෙ නෑ. (mamə bath kanne nĀ.) : I don't eat rice. / I’m not eating rice. / I'm not going to eat rice.
 * මම බත් කන්න ඕනැ. (mamə bath kannə ōnA.): I have to eat rice.
 * මම බත් කන්න ඕනැ නෑ. (mamə bath kannə ōnA nĀ.): I don't have to eat rice.

 * මට බත් කන්න ඕනැ. (matə bath kannə ōnA.): I want to eat rice.
 * මට බත් කන්න ඕනැ නෑ. (matə bath kannə ōnA nĀ.): I don't want to eat rice.

 * මට බත් ඕනැ. (matə bath ōnA.): I want rice.
 * මට බත් එපා. (matə bath epā.): I don't want rice.
 * මට බත් කන්න පුළුවන්. (matə bath kannə puluvan.): I can eat rice.
 * මට බත් කන්න බෑ. (matə bath kannə bĀ.): I can't eat rice.
 * මම බත් කෑව. (mamə bath kĀva.): I ate rice.
 * මම බත් කෑවෙ නෑ. (mamə bath kĀve nĀ.): I didn't eat rice.
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

! Meaning !! Present !! Past !! Future !! Imperative !! Let's ______
 * eat || කනව/කන්නෙ (kanəva/kanne) || කෑව/කෑවෙ (kĀva/kĀve) || කයි (kayi) || කන්න (kannə) || කමු (kamu)
 * drink || බොනව/බොන්නෙ (bonəva/bonne) || බිව්ව/බිව්වෙ (bivva/bivve) || බොයි (boyi) || බොන්න (bonnə) || බොමු (bomu)
 * come || එනව/එන්නෙ (enəva/enne) || ආව/ආවෙ (āva/āve) || එයි (eyi) || එන්න (ennə) || එමු (emu)
 * go || යනව/යන්නෙ (yanəva/yanne) || ගියා/ගියේ (giyā/giyē) || යයි (yayi) || යන්න (yannə) || යමු (yamu)
 * give || දෙනව/දෙන්නෙ (dhenəva/dhennne) || දුන්න/දුන්නෙ (dhunna/dhunne) || දෙයි (dheyi) || දෙන්න (dhennə) || දෙමු (dhemu)
 * take (buy) || ගන්නව/ගන්නෙ (gannəva/ganne) || ගත්ත/ගත්තෙ (gaththa/gaththe) || ගනී (ganī) || ගන්න (gannə) || ගමු (gamu)
 * do || කරනව/කරන්නෙ (kərənəva/kəranne) || කෙරුව/කෙරුවෙ (keruva/keruve) || කරයි (kərayi) || කරන්න (kərannə) || කරමු (kərəmu)
 * }
 * give || දෙනව/දෙන්නෙ (dhenəva/dhennne) || දුන්න/දුන්නෙ (dhunna/dhunne) || දෙයි (dheyi) || දෙන්න (dhennə) || දෙමු (dhemu)
 * take (buy) || ගන්නව/ගන්නෙ (gannəva/ganne) || ගත්ත/ගත්තෙ (gaththa/gaththe) || ගනී (ganī) || ගන්න (gannə) || ගමු (gamu)
 * do || කරනව/කරන්නෙ (kərənəva/kəranne) || කෙරුව/කෙරුවෙ (keruva/keruve) || කරයි (kərayi) || කරන්න (kərannə) || කරමු (kərəmu)
 * }
 * do || කරනව/කරන්නෙ (kərənəva/kəranne) || කෙරුව/කෙරුවෙ (keruva/keruve) || කරයි (kərayi) || කරන්න (kərannə) || කරමු (kərəmu)
 * }
 * }

Questions

 * When the ending ‘-ද (-dhə)’ is added to the verb, a statement turns into a question. If ‘-ද (-dhə)’ has to be added to some other word in the sentence or if a question word is used, the verb changes its form.
 * එයා ඊයෙ ආව. (eyā īye āva.) : He/She came yesterday.
 * එයා ඊයෙ ආවද? (eyā īye āvadhə?) : Did he/she come yesterday?
 * එයා ආවෙ ඊයෙද? (eyā āve īyedhə?) : Was it yesterday that he/she came?
 * එයා ආවෙ කවදද? (eyā āve kavədhadhə?) : When (What day) did he/she come?

Negation

 * To turn a positive statement into a negative one, the word 'නෑ (nĀ)' is used (with the verb form also changed). If the negation applies to a specific word rather than the whole statement, 'නෙමේ (nemē)' is placed after that word instead of 'නෑ (nĀ)'. In negative questions, 'නෑ (nĀ)' becomes 'නැද්ද (nAdhdhə)' and 'නෙමේ (nemē)' becomes 'නෙමේද (nemēdhə)'.
 * එයාල හෙට එනව. (eyāla hetə enəva.) : They're coming tomorrow.
 * එයාල හෙට එන්නෙ නෑ. (eyāla hetə enne nĀ.) : They're not coming tomorrow.
 * එයාල හෙට එන්නෙ නැද්ද? (eyāla hetə enne nAdhdhə?) : Aren't they coming tomorrow?
 * එයාල එන්නෙ හෙට නෙමේ. (eyāla enne hetə nemē.) : They're not coming tomorrow.
 * එයාල එන්නෙ හෙට නෙමේද? (eyāla enne hetə nemēdhə?) : Aren't they coming tomorrow ?

Existence and possession

 * The same pattern, with modifications, is taken to indicate existence and possession (or relationship). The only thing to remember is that the verb used differs between animate and inanimate nouns in the positive sense. Nothing else matters.
 * සල්ලි තියනව. (salli thiyənava.) : There is money. (used with inanimate nouns)
 * එයාට සල්ලි තියනව. (eyātə salli thiyənava.) : He/She has money. (used with inanimate nouns)
 * එයා ළඟ/ගාව සල්ලි තියනව. (eyā laNGə/gāvə salli thiyənava.) : He/She has money with him/her. (used with inanimate nouns)
 * පුතෙක් ඉන්නව. (puthek innəva.) : There is a son. (used with animate nouns)
 * ළමයි ඉන්නව. (lamayi innəva.) : There are children. (used with animate nouns)
 * එයාට පුතෙක් ඉන්නවා. (eyātə puthek innəva.) : He/She has a son. (used with animate nouns)
 * එයාට ළමයි ඉන්නවා. (eyātə lamayi innəva.) : He/She has children. (used with animate nouns)
 * සල්ලි නෑ. (salli nĀ.) : There is no money.
 * එයාට සල්ලි නෑ. (eyātə salli nĀ.) : He/She has no money.
 * එයා ළඟ/ගාව සල්ලි නෑ. (eyā laNGə/gāvə salli nĀ.) : He/She has no money with him/her.
 * පුතෙක් නෑ. (puthek nĀ.) : There is no son.
 * ළමයි නෑ. (lamayi nĀ.) : There are no children.
 * එයාට පුතෙක් නෑ. (eyātə puthek nĀ.) : He/She has no son.
 * එයාට ළමයි නෑ. (eyātə lamayi nĀ.) : He/She has no children.

Adjectives and adverbs

 * Adjectives indicating characteristics are generally placed before the noun they qualify. The word 'නැති (nAthi)' coming between the adjective and the noun makes it negative. Corresponding adverbs are generally made by adding '-ට (-tə)', which becomes '-යට (-yətə)' or '-වට (-vətə)' after certain vowel sounds, to the end of an adjective. Adverbs also precede the verbs they qualify.
 * හොඳ කතාවක් (hoNDHə kathāvak) : a good story
 * හොඳ නැති කතාවක් (hoNDHə nAthi kathāvak) : a story that is not good, i.e. a bad story - නරක කතාවක් (narəkə kathāvak)
 * හොඳට කතා කරන්න. (hoNDHətə kathā kərannə.) : Speak well.
 * හරි පාර (hari pārə) : the correct road
 * හරියට කියන්න. (hariyətə kiyannə.) : Say correctly.

 * When an adjective is used at the end of a sentence, '-යි (-yi)' is added to its end in most cases. In the negative sense, the adjective is followed by the word 'නෑ (nĀ)'.
 * කතාව හොඳයි. (kathāvə hoNDHayi.) : The story is good.
 * කතාව හොඳ නෑ. (kathāvə hoNDHə nĀ.) : The story is not good.

Requests

 * When making a request, the expression for ‘please’ is almost always left out in everyday speech and the tone of voice as well as a friendly smile will convey the politeness. The request can be made more polite by turning it into a question.
 * මට වතුර ටිකක් දෙන්න. (matə vathurə tikak dhennə.) : Give me some water.
 * මට වතුර ටිකක් දෙනවද? (matə vathurə tikak dhenəvadhə?) : Will you give me some water? (more polite than the first - more suitable for a request with 'please' in English)
 * මට වතුර ටිකක් දෙන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə vathurə tikak dhennə puluvandhə?) : Can you give me some water? (even more polite than the second)

Using English words in Sinhala
''As Sri Lanka was a British colony for over 100 years, English still remains a language of prestige and most people know at least some words of it. While speaking Sinlala, many Sri Lankans tend to intersperse their speech with English words, though this practice is frowned upon by language purists. The visitor can happily benefit from this as follows:''
 * 1) An inanimate English noun used alone has the plural sense (definite or indefinite). It is possible to use such an English noun + ’එක (ekə)’ to make it singular (definite) or an English noun + ’එකක් (ekak)’ to make it singular (indefinite).
 * 2) ; 'bus' : (the) buses
 * 3) ; ‘bus එක’ : the bus
 * 4) ; ‘bus එකක්’ : a bus
 * 5) When it comes to an animate noun, the English noun used alone has the definite singular sense while ‘කෙනෙක් (kenek)’ can be added to make it indefinite. To form the plural, '-ල (-la)' is added to its end.
 * 6) ; 'driver' : the driver
 * 7) ; ‘driver කෙනෙක්’ : a driver
 * 8) ; 'driverල' : (the) drivers
 * 9) ’වෙනව (venəva) - happen/become’ is added to an English verb or adjective to give a passive sense of undergoing/becoming and ’කරනව (kərənəva) - do’ is added the same way for an active sense of doing/causing.
 * 10) ; ‘worry වෙනව’ : to be worried
 * 11) ; ‘disturb වෙනව’ : to get disturbed
 * 12) ; ‘disturb කරනව’ : to disturb
 * 13) ; 'dance කරනව' : to dance
 * 14) ; ‘cool වෙනව’ : to get cool
 * 15) ; ‘cool කරනව’ : to cool (something)
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

! Present !! Past !! Future !! Imperative !! Let's ______ Though quite convenient, it is better not to overdo this.
 * වෙනව/වෙන්නෙ (venəva/venne) || උනා/උනේ (unā/unē) || වෙයි (veyi) || වෙන්න (vennə) || වෙමු (vemu)
 * කරනව/කරන්නෙ (kərənəva/kəranne) || කෙරුව/කෙරුවෙ (keruva/keruve) || කරයි (kərayi) || කරන්න (kərannə) || කරමු (kərəmu)
 * }
 * කරනව/කරන්නෙ (kərənəva/kəranne) || කෙරුව/කෙරුවෙ (keruva/keruve) || කරයි (kərayi) || කරන්න (kərannə) || කරමු (kərəmu)
 * }

Basics

 * Hello. : ආයුබෝවන්. (āyubōvan.)
 * Hello. (informal) : හලෝ. (halō.)
 * How are you? : කොහොමද? (kohomədə?)
 * Fine, thank you. : හොඳින් ඉන්නව, ස්තූතියි. (hoNDHin innəva, sthūthiyi.) / හොඳයි, ස්තූතියි. (hoNDHayi, sthūthiyi.)
 * What is your name? : ඔයාගෙ නම මොකක්ද? (oyāge namə mokakdə?)
 * My name is ______ . : මගෙ නම ______ . (mage namə _____ .)
 * Nice to meet you. : හමුවීම ගැන සන්තෝසයි. (hamuvīmə gAnə santhōsayi.)
 * Please. : කරුණාකරල. (kalunākərəla.)
 * Thank you. : ස්තූතියි. (sthūthiyi.)
 * You're welcome. : සුළු දෙයක්. (sulu deyak.)
 * Yes. (agreeing that something is so) : ඔව්. (ovu.)
 * Yes. (agreeing to act as requested or accept what is being offered) : හා. (hā.) – This is actually pronounced in a nasalized manner.
 * No. (denying that something is so) : නෑ. (nĀ.)
 * No. (refusing to act as requested) : බෑ. (bĀ.)
 * No. (refusing to accept what is being offered) : එපා. (epā.)
 * Excuse me. (getting attention from a man) : මහත්තය. (mahaththəya.) - gentleman
 * Excuse me. (getting attention from a woman) : නෝන. (nōna.) - lady
 * Excuse me. (getting attention from a Buddhist monk) : හාමුදුරුවනේ. (hāmudhuruvənē.) - venerable monk
 * Excuse me. (begging pardon) : සමාවෙන්න. (samāvennə.)
 * I'm sorry. : කණගාටුයි. (kanəgātuyi.)
 * Goodbye : ආයුබෝවන්. (āyubōvan.)
 * Goodbye (informal) : ගිහින් එන්නම්. (gihin ennam.)
 * I can't speak Sinhala/English [well]. : මට [හොඳට] සිංහල/ඉංග්‍රීසි කතා කරන්න බෑ. (matə [hoNDHətə] sinhələ/iNGgrīsi kathā kərannə bĀ.)
 * Do you speak English? : ඔයා ඉංග්‍රීසි කතා කරනවද? (oyā iNGgrīsi kathā kərənəvadhə)
 * Is there someone here who speaks English? : ඉංග්‍රීසි කතා කරන කවුරු හරි මෙහෙ ඉන්නවද? (iNGgrīsi kathā kərənə kavuru hari mehe innəvadə?)
 * Help! : උදව් කරන්න! (udavu kərannə!)
 * Look out! : බලාගෙනයි! (balāgenayi!)
 * Good morning. : සුබ උදෑසනක්. (subə udhĀsənak.) / ආයුබෝවන්. (āyubōvan,)
 * Good evening. : සුබ සැන්දෑවක්. (subə sAndhĀvak.) / ආයුබෝවන්. (āyubōvan.)
 * Good night. : සුබ රාත්‍රියක්. (subə rāthriyak.)
 * Good night (to sleep) : සුබ නින්දක්. (subə nindhak.)
 * I don't understand. : මට තේරෙන්නෙ නෑ. (matə thērenne nĀ.)
 * Where is the toilet? : වැසිකිළිය කොහෙද? (vAsikiliyə kohedhə?)
 * ______ and ______ : ______යි ______යි (______yi ______yi) - the ending '-yi' becomes '-uyi' when added to a consonant with no attached vowel sound.
 * ______ or ______ : ______ හරි ______ හරි (______ hari ______ hari)

Problems

 * Leave me alone. : මට පාඩුවෙ ඉන්න දෙන්න. (matə pāduve innə dennə.)
 * Don't touch me! : මාව අල්ලන්න එපා! (māvə allannə epāǃ)
 * I'll call the police. : මම පොලීසියට කතා කරනව. (mamə polīsiyətə kathā kərənəva.)
 * Police! : පොලිස්! (polis!)
 * Stop! Thief! : අල්ලන්න! හොරෙක්! (allannəǃ horek!)
 * I need your help. : මට ඔයාගේ උදව් ඕනැ. (matə oyāge udhavu ōnA.)
 * It's an emergency. : මේක හදිස්සියක්. (mēkə hadhissiyak.)
 * I'm lost. : මම අතරමං වෙලා. (mamə athərəmaNG velā.)
 * I lost my bag. : මගෙ බෑග් එක නැති උනා. (mage bĀg ekə nAthi unā.)
 * I lost my wallet. : මගෙ මුදල් පසුම්බිය නැති උනා. (mahe mudhal pasumbiyə nAthi unā.)
 * I'm sick. : මට සනීප නෑ. (matə sanīpa nĀ.)
 * I've been injured. : මට තුවාලයි. (matə thuvālayi.)
 * I was bitten by a dog. : මාව බල්ලෙක් කෑව. (māvə ballel kĀva.)
 * I was bitten by a snake. : මාව සර්පයෙක් කෑව. (māvə sarpəyek kĀva.)
 * I was stung by bees/wasps/hornets. : මට මීමැස්සො/බඹරු/දෙබරු ඇන්න. (matə mīmAsso/baMBəru/dhebəru Anna.)
 * I need a doctor. : මට දොස්තර කෙනෙක් හම්බ වෙන්න ඕනැ. (matə dhosthərə kenek hambə vennə ōnA.)
 * Can I use your phone? : මට ඔයාගෙ ෆෝන් එක පාවිච්චි කරන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə oyāge fōn ekə pāvichchi kərannə puluvandhə.)

Numbers
The Sinhala numbers are a little more irregular than their English counterparts and rather a large number of examples had to be included below to give a fairly accurate overview.

 * 1 : එක (ekə)
 * 2 : දෙක (dhekə)
 * 3 : තුන (thunə)
 * 4 : හතර (hathərə)
 * 5 : පහ (paha)
 * 6 : හය (hayə)
 * 7 : හත (hathə)
 * 8 : අට (atə)
 * 9 : නමය (naməyə)
 * 10 : දහය (dhahayə)
 * 11 : එකොළහ (ekolaha)
 * 12 : දොළහ (dholaha)
 * 13 : දහ තුන (dhaha thunə)
 * 14 : දාහතර (dhāhathərə)
 * 15 : පහළොව (pahalovə)
 * 16 : දාසය (dhāsəyə)
 * 17 : දාහත (dhāhathə)
 * 18 : දහ අට (dhaha atə)
 * 19 : දහ නමය (dhaha naməyə)
 * 20 : විස්ස (vissə)
 * 21 : විසි එක (visi ekə)
 * 22 : විසි දෙක (visi dhekə)
 * 23 : විසි තුන (visi thunə)
 * 30 : තිහ (thihə)
 * 31 : තිස් එක (this ekə)
 * 40 : හතළිහ (hathəlihə)
 * 41 : හතළිස් එක (hathəlis ekə)
 * 50 : පනහ (panaha)
 * 51 : පනස් එක (panas ekə)
 * 60 : හැට (hAtə)
 * 61 : හැට එක (hAtə ekə)
 * 70 : හැත්තෑව (hAththĀvə)
 * 71 : හැත්තැ එක (hAththA ekə)
 * 80 : අසූව (asūvə)
 * 81 : අසූ එක (asū ekə)
 * 90 : අනූව (anūvə)
 * 91 : අනූ එක (anū ekə)
 * 100 : සීය (sīyə)
 * 101 : එකසිය එක (ekəsiyə ekə)
 * 200 : දෙසීය (dhesīyə)
 * 201 : දෙසිය එක(dhesiyə ekə)
 * 300 : තුන් සීය (thun sīyə)
 * 301 : තුන් සිය එක (thun siyə ekə)
 * 400 : හාර සීය (hārə sīyə)
 * 500 : පන් සීය(pan sīyə)
 * 600 : හය සීය (hayə sīyə)
 * 700 : හත් සීය (hath sīyə)
 * 800 : අට සීය (atə sīyə)
 * 900 : නම සීය (namə sīyə)
 * 1000 : දාහ (dhāha)
 * 1001 : එක් දාස් එක (ek dhās ekə)
 * 2000 : දෙදාහ (dhedhāha)
 * 2001 : දෙදාස් එක (dhedhās ekə)
 * 3000 : තුන් දාහ (thun dhāha)
 * 10,000 : දහ දාහ (dhaha dhāha)
 * 11,000 : එකොළොස් දාහ (ekolos dhāha)
 * 12,000 : දොළොස් දාහ (dholos dhāha)
 * 13,000 : දහ තුන් දාහ (dhaha thun dhāha)
 * 14,000 : දාහතර දාහ (dhāhathərə dhāha)
 * 15,000 : පාළොස් දාහ (pālos dhāha)
 * 16,000 : දාසය දාහ (dhāsəyə dhāha)
 * 17,000 : දාහත් දාහ (dhāhath dhāha)
 * 18,000 : දහ අට දාහ (dhaha atə dhāha)
 * 19,000 : දහ නම දාහ (dhaha namə dhāha)
 * 20,000 : විසි දාහ (visi dhāha)
 * 21,000 : විසි එක් දාහ (visi ek dhāha)
 * 30,000 : තිස් දාහ (this dhāha)
 * 100,000 : ලක්ෂය (lakshəyə)
 * 100,001 : එක් ලක්ෂ එක (ek lakshə ekə)
 * 1,000,000 : දස ලක්ෂය (dhasə lakshəyə) / මිලියනය (miliyənəyə)
 * 2,000,000 : විසි ලක්ෂය (visi lakshəyə) / මිලියන දෙක (miliyənə dhekə)
 * 10,000,000 : කෝටිය (kōtiyə) / මිලියන දහය (miliyənə dhahayə)
 * 11,000,000 : එක් කෝටි දස ලක්ෂය (ek kōti dhasə lakshəyə) / මිලියන එකොළහ (miliyənə ekolaha)
 * 1,000,000,000 : සිය කෝටිය (siyə kōtiyə) / බිලියනය (biliyənəyə)
 * 1,000,000,000,000 : ට්‍රිලියනය (triliyənəyə)
 * number _____ (train, bus, etc.) : අංක _____ (aNGkə _____)
 * one stamp : මුද්දරයක් (mudhdhərəyak)
 * two/three... stamps : මුද්දර දෙකක්/තුනක් (mudhdhərə dhekak/thunak...)
 * ten rupees : රුපියල් දහයක් (rupiyal dhahayak)
 * one kilo of _____ : _____ කිලෝ එකක් (_____ kilō ekak)
 * two kilos of _____ : _____ කිලෝ දෙකක් (_____ kilō dhekak)
 * 100 grams of _____ : _____ ග්‍රෑම් සීයක් (_____ grĀm sīyak)
 * 250 grams of _____ : _____ ග්‍රෑම් දෙසිය පනහක් (_____ grĀm dhesiyə panahak)
 * 500 grams of _____ : _____ ග්‍රෑම් පන් සීයක් (_____ grĀm pan sīyak)
 * half : බාගයක් (bāgəyak)
 * less : අඩුවෙන් (aduven)
 * more : වැඩියෙන් (vAdiyen)

Time

 * now : දැන් (dhAn)
 * later : පස්සෙ (passe)
 * before : කලින් (kalin)
 * morning : උදේ (udhē)
 * afternoon : දවල් (dhaval)
 * evening : හවස (havəsə)
 * night : රෑ (rĀ)

Clock time

 * 1.00 a.m. : පෙරවරු එක (perəvəru ekə)
 * 2.00 a.m. : පෙරවරු දෙක (perəvəru dhekə)
 * noon : මධ්‍යහනය (maDHyahanəyə)
 * 1.00 p.m. : පස්වරු එක (pasvaru ekə)
 * 2.00 p.m. : පස්වරු දෙක (pasvaru dekə)
 * midnight : මධ්‍යම රාත්‍රිය (maDHyəmə rāthriyə)
 * at 8.00 in the morning : උදේ අටට (udhē Atətə)
 * at 9.30 in the morning : උදේ නමය හමාරට (udhē naməyə hamārətə)
 * at 2.15 in the afternoon : දවල් දෙකයි කාලට (dhaval dhekayi kālətə)
 * at 6.20 in the evening : හවස හයයි විස්සට (havəsə hayayi vissətə)
 * at 10.45 at night : රෑ දහයයි හතළිස් පහට (rĀ dhahayayi hathəlis pahatə)

Duration

 * _____ minute(s) : විනාඩි/මිනිත්තු _____ක් (vinādi / miniththu _____k)
 * _____ hour(s) : පැය _____ක් (pAyə ____k)
 * _____ day(s) : දවස් _____ක් (dhavas _____k)
 * _____ week(s) : සති _____ක්  (sathi _____k)
 * _____ month(s) : මාස _____ක් (māsə _____k)
 * _____ year(s) : අවුරුදු _____ක්  (avurudhu _____k)

Days
The Sinahala words marked with *** are written here with the long 'ā' sound at the end as they appear so on calendars, for example, but in everyday speech that sound is generally reduced to a short 'a', which is what you find in the pronunciation transcription.

 * today : අද (adhə)
 * yesterday : ඊයෙ (īye)
 * the day before yesterday : පෙරේද (perēdha)
 * tomorrow : හෙට (hetə)
 * the day after tomorrow : අනිද්ද (anidhdha)
 * this week : මේ සතියෙ (mē sathiye)
 * last week : ගිය සතියෙ (giyə sathiye)
 * next week : ලබන සතියෙ (labənə sathiye) / එන සතියෙ (enə sathiye)

 * Sunday : ඉරිදා*** (iridha)
 * Monday : සඳුදා*** (saNDHudha)
 * Tuesday : අඟහරුවාදා*** (aNGaharuvādha)
 * Wednesday : බදාදා*** (badhādha)
 * Thursday : බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා*** (brahaspəthindha)
 * Friday : සිකුරාදා*** (sikurādha)
 * Saturday : සෙනසුරාදා*** (senəsurādha)

Months

 * January : ජනවාරි (janəvāri)
 * February : පෙබරවාරි (pebərəvāri)
 * March : මාර්තු (mārthu)
 * April : අප්‍රේල් (aprēl)
 * May : මැයි (mAyi)
 * June : ජූනි (jūni)
 * July : ජූලි (jūli)
 * August : අගෝස්තු (agōsthu)
 * September : සැප්තැම්බර් (sApthAmbər)
 * October : ඔක්තෝබර් (okthōbər)
 * November : නොවැම්බර් (novAmbər)
 * December : දෙසැම්බර් (dhesAmbər)

Writing time and date

 * 10.30 a.m. : පෙ.ව. 10.30

 * 2.00 p.m. : ප.ව. 2.00

Dates are often written in the format 'year/month/day'.

 * 5 March 2011 (March 5, 2011) : 2011 මාර්තු 5 (2011.03.05)

Colors

 * black : කළු (kalu)
 * white : සුදු (sudu)
 * gray : අළු (alu)
 * red : රතු (rathu)
 * blue : නිල් (nil)
 * yellow : කහ (kaha)
 * green : කොළ (kolə)
 * orange : තැඹිලි (thAMBili)
 * purple : දම් (dham)
 * brown : දුඹුරු (dhuMBuru)

Bus and train

 * How much is a ticket to _____? : _____ට ටිකට් එකක් කීයද ? (_____tə tikət ekak kīyədhə?)
 * One/Two ticket(s) to _____, please. : _____ට ටිකට් එකක්/දෙකක් දෙනවද? (_____tə tikət ekak/dekak dhenəvadhə?)
 * Where does this train/bus go? : මේ (කෝච්චිය)/(බස් එක) යන්නෙ කොහාටද? (mē (kōchchiyə)/(bas ekə) yanne kohātədhə?)
 * Where is the train/bus to _____? : _____ යන (කෝච්චිය)/(බස් එක) කොහෙද? (_____ yanə (kōchchiyə)/(bas ekə) kohedhə?)
 * Does this train/bus stop in _____? : මේ (කෝච්චිය)/(බස් එක) _____ නතර කරනවද? (mē (kōchchiyə)/(bas ekə) _____ nathərə kərənəvadhə?)
 * When does the train/bus for _____ leave? : _____ යන (කෝච්චිය)/(බස් එක) පිටත් වෙන්නෙ කීයටද? (_____ yanə (kōchchiyə)/(bas ekə) pitath venne kīyətədhə?)
 * When will this train/bus arrive in _____? : මේ (කෝච්චිය)/(බස් එක) _____ යන කොට කීය වෙයිද? (mē (kōchchiyə)/(bas ekə) _____ yanə kotə kīyə veyidhə?)

Directions

 * How do I get to _____ ? : ______ට යන්නෙ කොහොමද? (_____tə yanne kohomədhə?)
 * ...the train station? : දුම්රියපොළ...? (dhumriyəpolə?...) / ස්ටේෂන් එක...? (stēshən ekə?...) – more common
 * ...the bus station? : බස් නැවතුම්පොළ...? (bas nAvəthumpolə...?) / බස් ස්ටෑන්ඩ් එක...? (bas stĀnd ekə...?) – more common
 * ...the airport? : ගුවන් තොටුපොළ...? (guvan thotupolə...?) / එයා පෝට් එක...? (eyā pōt ekə...?) – more common
 * ...downtown? : කඩ සාප්පු තියන හරිය...? (kadə sāppu thiyənə hariyə...?)
 * ...the market? : මාකට් එක...? (mākət ekə...?)
 * ...the supermarket? : සුපර්මාකට් එක...? (supə(r)mākət ekə...?)
 * ...the bank? : බැංකුව...? (bANGkuvə...?)
 * ...the youth hostel? : ගෙස්ට් හවුස් එක...? (gest havus ekə...?) – Inexpensive lodges are called ‘guest houses’. Real youth hostels are hard to find in Sri Lanka.
 * ...the _____ hotel? : _____ හෝටලේ...? (_____ hōtəlē...?) – Be aware that simple restaurants are also referred to as ‘hotels’.
 * ...the American/Canadian/Australian/British consulate? : ඇමරිකාවෙ/කැනඩාවෙ/ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවෙ/බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය තානාපති කාර්යාලය...? (Amərikāve/kAnədāve/ōstrēliyāve/brithānyə thānāpəthi kāryāləyə...?)
 * Where are there a lot of... : ගොඩක්...තියෙන්නෙ කොහෙද?(godak...thiyenne kohedhə?)
 * ...hotels? : ...හෝටල්...? (...hōtal...?)
 * ...restaurants? : ...රෙස්ටොරන්ට්...? (...restorənt...?)
 * ...bars? : ...බාර්...? (...bār...?)
 * ...sites to see? : ...බලන්න වටින තැන්...? (...balannə vatinə thAn...?)
 * Can you show me on the map? : මට සිතියමේ පෙන්නන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə sithiyəmē pennannə puluvandhə?)
 * street : පාර (pārə)
 * Turn left. : වමට හැරෙන්න. (vamətə hArennə.)
 * Turn right. : දකුණට හැරෙන්න. (dhakunətə hArennə.)
 * left : වම් පැත්තෙ (vam pAththe)
 * right : දකුණු පැත්තෙ (dhakunu pAththe)
 * straight ahead : කෙළින්ම (kelinmə)
 * towards the _____ : _____ පැත්තට (_____ pAththətə)
 * past the _____ : _____ට පස්සෙ (_____tə passe)
 * before the _____ : _____ට කලින් (_____tə kalin)
 * Watch for the _____. : _____ බලාගෙන යන්න. (_____ balāgenə yannə.)
 * intersection : හංදිය (haNGdhiyə)
 * north : උතුරට (uthurətə)
 * south : දකුණට (dhakunətə)
 * east : නැගෙනහිරට (nAgenəhirətə)
 * west : බස්නාහිරට (basnāhirətə)
 * uphill : කන්ද උඩහට (kandhə udəhatə)
 * downhill : කන්ද පහළට (kandhə pahalətə)

Taxi
''While metered taxis are available in urban areas, three-wheeler cabs are far more common. Most of them do not have a meter and bargaining for a good fare before the trip is recommended.''

 * Taxi! : ටැක්සි! (tAksi!)
 * I want to take a three-wheeler taxi. : මට ත්‍රී වීලර් එකක යන්න ඕනැ. (matə thrī vīlər ekəkə yannə ōnA.)
 * Take me to _____, please. : මාව _____ට ගෙනියනවද? (māvə _____tə geniyənəvadhə?)
 * How much does it cost to get to _____? : _____ට යන්න කීයක් වෙනවද? (_____tə yannə kīyak venəvadhə?)
 * That's too much. Can't you reduce it? : ගාන වැඩියි. අඩු කරන්න බැරිද? (gānə vAdiyi. adu kərannə bAridhə?)
 * I'll give you _____ rupees. : රුපියල් _____ක් දෙන්නම්. (rupiyal _____k dhennam.)
 * Take me there, please. : මාව එහාට ගෙනියනවද? (māvə ehātə geniyənəvadhə?)

Lodging

 * Do you have any rooms available? : ඔයාල ළඟ කාමර තියනවද? (oyāla laNGə kāmərə thiyənəvadhə?)
 * How much is a room for one person/two people? : (එක් කෙනෙකුට)/(දෙන්නෙකුට) කාමරයක් කීයද? ((ek kenekutə)/(dennekutə) kāmərəyak kīyədhə?)
 * Does the room come with... : කාමරේ...තියනවද? (kāmərē...thiyənəvadhə?)
 * ...bedsheets? : ...ඇඳ ඇතිරිලි...? (...ANDHə Athirili...)
 * ...towels? : ...තුවා...? (...thuvā...)
 * ...pillows? : ...කොට්ට...? (...kottə...)
 * ...a bathroom? : ...නාන කාමරයක්,,,? (...nānə kāmərəyak...)
 * ...a telephone? : ...ටෙලිෆෝන් එකක්,,,? (...telifōn ekak...)
 * ...a TV? : ...ටී. වී. එකක්...? (...tī. vī. ekak...)
 * ...air conditioning? : ...ඒ. සී....? (...ē. sī....)
 * ...a mosquito net? : ...මදුරු දැලක්...? (...madhuru dhAlak...)
 * May I see the room first? : මට කාමරේ කලින් බලන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə kāmərē kalin balannə puluvandhə?)
 * Do you have anything quieter? : මීට වඩා (සද්ද අඩු) එකක් තියනදද? (mītə vadā (sadhdhə adu) ekak thiyənəvadhə?)
 * ...bigger? : ...ලොකු...? (...loku...)
 * ...cleaner? : ...පිරිසිදු...? (...pirisidu...)
 * ...cheaper? : ...ලාබ...? (...lābə...)
 * OK, I'll take it. : හරි, මම මේක ගන්නව. (hari, mamə mēkə gannəva.)
 * I will stay for _____ night(s). : මම රෑ _____ක් නවතිනව. (mamə rĀ _____k navəthinəva.)
 * Can you suggest another hotel? : වෙන හෝටලයක් කියන්න පුළුවන්ද? (venə hōtətəyak kiyannə puluvandhə?)
 * Do you have a safe? : ඔයාල ළඟ (සේප්පුවක්) තියනවද? (oyāla laNGə (sēppuvak) thiyənəvadhə?)
 * ...lockers? : ...ලොකර් ...? (...lokər...)
 * Is breakfast/supper included? : (උදේ කෑම) / (රෑ කෑම) මිළට ඇතුළත්ද? ((udhē kĀmə)/(rĀ kĀmə) milətə Athulathdhə?)
 * What time is breakfast/supper? : (උදේ කෑම) / (රෑ කෑම) තියෙන්නෙ කීයටද? ((udhē kĀmə)/(rĀ kĀmə) thiyenne kīyətədhə?)
 * Please clean my room. : මගෙ කාමරේ සුද්ද කරනවද? (mage kāmərē sudhdhə kərənəvadhə?)
 * Can I have another _____? : මට තව _____ ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə thavə _____ gannə puluvandhə?)
 * ...towel? : ...තුවායක්...? (...thuvāyak...)
 * ...pillow? : ...කොට්ටයක්...? (...kottəyak...)
 * ...blanket? : ...පොරවනයක්...? (...porəvənəyak...)
 * Can you wake me at _____? : මාව _____ට ඇහැරවන්න පුළුවන්ද? (māvə _____tə ĀhĀrəvannə puluvandhə?)
 * I want to check out. : මට බිල ගෙවල යන්න ඕනැ. (matə bilə gevəla yannə ōnA.)

Money

 * Do you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars? : ඔයාල ඇමරිකාවෙ/කැනඩාවෙ/ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවෙ ඩොලර් ගන්නවද? (oyāla Amərikāve/kAnədāve/ōstrēliyāve dolər gannəvadhə?)
 * Do you accept British pounds? : ඔයාල බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පවුම් ගන්නවද? (oyāla brithānyə pavum gannəvadhə?)
 * Do you accept credit cards? : ඔයාල ක්‍රෙඩිට් කාඩ් ගන්නවද? (oyāla kredit kād gannəvadhə?)
 * Can you change money for me? : මට සල්ලි මාරු කරල දෙන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə salli māru kərəla dhennə puluvandhə?)
 * Where can I get money changed? : මට සල්ලි මාරු කර ගන්න පුළුවන් කොහෙන්ද? (matə salli māru kərə gannə puluvan kohendhə?)
 * Can you change a traveler's check for me? : මට ට්‍රැවලර්ස් චෙක් එකක් මාරු කරල දෙන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə travələ(r)s chek ekak māru kərəla dhennə puluvandhə?)
 * Where can I get a traveler's check changed? : මට ට්‍රැවලර්ස් චෙක් එකක් මාරු කර ගන්න පුළුවන් කොහෙන්ද? ( matə travələ(r)s chek ekak māru kərə gannə puluvan kohendhə?)
 * What is the exchange rate? : මාරු කරන රේට් එක මොකක්ද? (māru kərənə rēt ekə mokakdhə?)
 * Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)? : සල්ලි ගන්න මැෂිමක් (ඒ. ටී. එම්. එකක්) තියෙන්නෙ කොහෙද? (salli gannə mAshimak (ā. tī. em. ekak) thiyenne kohedhə?)

 * Sri Lankan rupees : (ලංකාවෙ) රුපියල් ((lankāve) rupiyal)

Eating
''Local fare available at typical Sri Lankan restaurants can be quite spicy. To have it not so hot, one may have to say 'සැර අඩුවට (sArə aduvətə)'. 'Tea' in such places may mean white tea with a lot of sugar in and black tea has to be ordered as 'plain tea', which also contains a lot of sugar. To have tea of either sort with less sugar, one can mention 'අඩු සීනි - adu sīni'. More modern places, on the other hand, have more options available and ask the customers about their taste when taking the order.''

The Sinahala words marked with *** are written here with the long 'ā' sound at the end as they appear so on labels, for example, but in everyday speech that sound is generally reduced to a short 'a', which is what you find in the pronunciation transcription.
 * A table for one person/two people, please. : (එක් කෙනෙකුට)/(දෙන්නෙකුට) මේසයක් තියනවද? ((ek kenekutə)/(dhennekutə) mēsəyak thiyənəvadhə?)
 * Can I look at the menu, please? : මට මෙනූ එක බලන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə menū ekə balannə puluvandhə?)
 * Can I look in the kitchen? : මට කුස්සිය බලන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə kussiyə balannə puluvandhə?)
 * Is there a house specialty? : මෙහෙ විශේෂ කෑමක් තියනවද? (mehe vishēshə kĀmak thiyənəvadhə?)
 * Is there a local specialty? : මේ පළාතේ විශේෂ කෑමක් තියනවද? (mē palāthe vishēshə kĀmak thiyənəvadhə?)
 * I'm a vegetarian. : මම මස් මාළු කන්නෙ නෑ. (mamə mas mālu kanne nĀ.)
 * I don't eat pork. : මම ඌරු මස් කන්නෙ නෑ. (mamə ūru mas kanne nĀ.)
 * I don't eat beef. : මම හරක් මස් කන්නෙ නෑ. (mamə harak mas kanne nĀ.)
 * I only eat kosher/halal food. : මම කන්නෙ කොෂර්/හලාල් කෑම විතරයි. (mamə kanne koshər/halāl kĀmə vithərayi.)
 * Can you make it "lite", please? (less oil/butter/lard) : මේක තෙල් අඩුව හදන්න පුළුවන්ද? (mēkə thel aduvə hadhannə puluvanthə?)
 * fixed-price meal : සෙට් මෙනූ එක (set menū ekə)
 * a la carte : මෙනූ එකෙන් (menū eken)
 * breakfast : උදේ කෑම (udhē kĀmə)
 * lunch : දවල් කෑම (dhaval kĀmə)
 * tea (meal) : තේ බොන්න කන කෑම (thē bonnə kanə kĀmə)
 * dinner (supper) : රෑ කෑම (rĀ kĀmə)
 * I want _____. : මට _____ ඕනැ. (matə _____ ōnA.)
 * I want a dish containing _____. : මට _____ තියන කෑමක් ඕනැ. (matə _____ thiyənə kĀmak ōnA.)
 * I want a dish without _____. : මට _____ නැති කෑමක් ඕනැ. (matə _____ nAthi kĀmak ōnA.)
 * May I have some _____? : මට _____ ටිකක් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə _____ tikak gannə puluvandhə?)
 * chicken : කුකුල් මස් (kukul mas )
 * beef : හරක් මස් (harak mas)
 * fish : මාළු (mālu)
 * dried fish : කරවල (karəvələ)
 * ham : හැම් (hAm)
 * sausage : සොසේජ් (sosēj)
 * cheese : චීස් (chīs)
 * eggs : බිත්තර (biththərə)
 * salad : සැලඩ් (sAləd)
 * soup : සුප් (sup)
 * (fresh) vegetables : (අළුත්) එළවලු ((aluth) eləvəlu)
 * (fresh) fruit : (අළුත්) පළතුරු ((aluth) paləthuru)
 * bread : පාන් (pān)
 * toast : ටෝස්ට් (tōst)
 * butter : බටර් (batər)
 * jam : ජෑම් (jĀm)
 * noodles : නූඩ්ල්ස් (nūdls)
 * string hoppers : ඉඳි ආප්ප (iNDHi āppə) – steamed noodles
 * hoppers : ආප්ප (āppə) – a bowl-shaped crêpe with a soft middle and crispy edge
 * pol roti : පොල් රොටී (pol rotī) – a type of unleavened bread with scraped coconut and spices
 * pittu : පිට්ටු (pittu) – steamed cylinders of ground rice and scraped coconut
 * chickpeas (garbanzo) : කඩල (kadələ)
 * cowpeas : කව්පි (kavupi)
 * green gram : මුං ඇට (muNG Atə)
 * rice : බත් (bath)
 * dhal (lentils) : පරිප්පු (parippu)
 * beans : බෝංචි (bōNGchi)
 * potatoes : අර්තාපල් (arthāpal)/අල (alə)
 * tomatoes : තක්කලි (thakkali)
 * pumpkin : වට්ටක්ක (vattakka)
 * ladies' fingers (okra) : බණ්ඩක්ක (bandakka)
 * brinjal (aubergine/eggplant) : වම්බටු (vambatu)
 * Thai eggplant : තලන බටු (thalənə batu)
 * wild eggplant (turkey berry) : තිබ්බටු (thibbatu)
 * banana flower : කෙසෙල් මුව (kesel muvə)
 * jakfruit (jackfruit : කොස් (kos)
 * snake gourd : පතෝල (pathōlə)
 * bitter gourd : කරවිල (karəvilə)
 * cucumber : කැකිරි/පිපිඥ්ඥ (kAkiri/pipiGNGNa)
 * leeks : ලීක්ස් (līks)
 * carrot : කැරට් (kArət)
 * cabbage : ගෝව (gōva)
 * radish : රාබු (rābu)
 * beetroot (beet) : බීට් රූට් (bīt rūt)
 * capsicum (green pepper) : මාළු මිරිස් (mālu miris)
 * spinach : නිවිති (nivithi)
 * Indian pennywort (centella) : ගොටු කොළ (gotu kolə)
 * vegetable mallum : කොළ මැල්ලුම් (kolə mAllum) – shredded leafy vegetable mixed with scraped coconut and spices
 * cooked : උයපු (uyəpu)
 * fried : බැදපු (bAdhəpu)
 * tempered : තෙම්පරාදු කරපු (thempərādhu kərəpu)
 * coconut : පොල් (pol)
 * scraped coconut : ගාපු පොල් (gāpu pol)
 * coconut sambol : පොල් සම්බෝල (pol sambōlə) – scraped coconut mixed with ground chilli (chili), onion etc.
 * coconut milk : පොල් කිරි (pol kiri)
 * coconut oil : පොල් තෙල් (pol thel)
 * chilli (chili) : මිරිස් (miris)
 * black pepper : ගම් මිරිස් (gam miris)
 * salt : ලුනු (lunu)
 * onions : ලූනු (lūnu)
 * garlic : සුදු ලූනු (sudu lūnu)
 * cumin : සූදුරු (sūdhuru)
 * fennel (sweet cumin) : මාදුරු (mādhuru)
 * fenugreek : උළු හාල් (ulu hāl)
 * curry leaves : කරපිංච (karəpiNGcha)
 * cardamom : කරදමුංගු (karədhəmuNGgu)
 * cloves : කරාබුනැටි (karābunAti)
 * nutmeg : සාදික්ක (sādhikka)
 * mace : වසාවාසි (vasāvāsi)
 * ginger : ඉඟුරු (iNGuru)
 * turmeric : කහ (kaha)
 * mustard : අබ (abə)
 * coriander : කොත්තමල්ලි (koththəmalli)
 * cinnamon : කුරුඳු (kuruNDHu)
 * tamarind : සියඹල (siyəMBəla)
 * gamboge (gambooge, Malabar tamarind) : ගොරක (gorəkə)
 * lemongrass : සේර (sērə)
 * screwpine (fragrant pandanus) : රම්පෙ (rampe)
 * rice and curry : බතුයි වෑංජනයි (bathuyi vĀNGjənayi) –  typical Sri Lankan rice served with a number of other dishes called curries, some of which can be quite spicy
 * rice with _____ : _____ එක්ක බත් (_____ ekkə bath)
 * ...fish curry : මාළු වෑංජනයක්... (mālu vĀNGjənəyak...)
 * ...chicken curry : කුකුල් මස් වෑංජනයක්... (kukul mas vĀNGjənəyak...)
 * ...beef curry : හරක් මස් වෑංජනයක්... (harak mas vĀNGjənəyak...)
 * ...pork curry : ඌරු මස් වෑංජනයක්... (ūru mas vĀNGjənəyak...)
 * ...crab curry : කකුළුවො වෑංජනයක්... (kakuluvo vĀNGjənəyak...)
 * ...prawn (shrimp) curry : ඉස්සො වෑංජනයක්... (isso vĀNGjənəyak...)
 * ...dhal (lentil) curry : පරිප්පු වෑංජනයක්... (parippu vĀNGjənəyak...)
 * ...vegetable curries : එළවලු වෑංජන... (eləvəlu vĀNGjənə...)
 * fried rice : ෆ්‍රයිඩ් රයිස් (frayid rayis) – stir-fried rice mixed with minced vegetables, eggs and meat
 * yellow rice : කහ බත් (kaha bath) – rice stir-fried with turmeric, onion, curry leaves etc.
 * biriyani (biryani, buriyani) : බුරියානි (buriyāni) – rice stir-fried with turmeric and other spices, mixed with meat or fish
 * lamprais : ලම්ප්‍රයිස් (lamprayis) – rice boiled in stock, served with a special curry and meatballs
 * naan : නාන් (kōpi) – a type of unleavened bread
 * godamba roti (paratha) : ගෝදම්බ රොටී (gōdhambə rotī) – a type of oily unleavened bread
 * kottu : කොත්තු (koththu) – unleavened bread shredded and mixed with stir-fried vegetables and, optionally, meat or fish
 * thosai (dosa) : තෝසෙ (thōse) – a pancake of ground rice, lentils and spices
 * vadei : වඩේ (vadē) – deep-fried balls or rings of ground lentils and spices
 * Can you make it less spicy, please? : මේක සැර අඩුවට හදන්න පුළුවන්ද? (mēkə sArə aduvətə hadhannə puluvandhə?)
 * May I have a glass of _____? : මට _____ වීදුරුවක් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə _____ vīdhuruvak gannə puluvandhə?)
 * May I have a cup of _____? : මට _____ කෝප්පයක් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə _____ kōppəyak gannə puluvandhə?)
 * May I have a bottle of _____? : මට _____ බෝතලයක් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə _____ bōthələyak gannə puluvandhə?)
 * coffee : කෝපි (kōpi)
 * tea (drink) : තේ (thē)
 * sugar : සීනි (sīni)
 * milk : කිරි (kiri)
 * faluda : ෆලූඩා*** (falūda) – a milkshake with rose syrup, vaniila ice cream, basil seeds etc.
 * fruit juice : පළතුරු යුෂ (paləthuru yushə)
 * king coconut / king coconut water : තැඹිලි / තැඹිලි වතුර (thAMBili / thAMBili vathurə) – an orange-colored coconut known for the liquid inside
 * (bubbly) water : සෝඩා*** (sōda)
 * water : වතුර (vathurə)
 * beer : බියර් (biyər)
 * red/white wine : රතු/සුදු වයින් (rathu/sudhu vayin)
 * Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server): පොඩ්ඩක් එනවද? (poddak enəvadhə?)
 * What’s there for dessert? : අතුරුපසට මොනවද තියෙන්නෙ? (athurupasətə monəvadhə thiyenne?)
 * Can I have the dessert now? : මට දැන් අතුරුපස ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə dhAN athurupasə gannə puluvandhə?)
 * curd and treacle : කිරි පැණි (kiri pAni) - typical Sri Lankan dessert of buffalo-milk yogurt with syrup made from the sap of palm-tree flowers
 * fruit : පළතුරු (paləthuru)
 * fruit salad : ෆ්රුට් සැලඩ් (frut sAləd)
 * banana : කෙසෙල් (kesel)
 * mango : අඹ (aMBə)
 * pineapple : අන්නාසි (annāsi)
 * watermelon : පැණි කොමඩු (pAni komədu)
 * papaya : පැපොල් (pApol)
 * orange : දොඩම් (dhodam)
 * apple : ඇපල් (Apəl)
 * grapes : මිදි (midhi)
 * custard apple (sugar apple, sweetsop) : වැලි අනෝද (vAli anōdha)
 * soursop : කටු අනෝද (katu anōdha)
 * mangosteen : මැංගුස්ටින් (mANGgustin)
 * rambutan : රඹුටන් (raMButan) – a small, lychee-like fruit
 * (ripe) jakfruit (jackfruit : වරක (varəka) – a large fruit with a spiky skin
 * durian : දූරියන් (dhūriyan) – a fruit with a spiky skin and peculiar smell
 * I'm finished. : මම කාල ඉවරයි. (mamə kāla ivərayi.)
 * It was delicious. : කෑම රසට තිබුන. (kĀmə rasətə thibuna.)
 * Please clear the plates. : පිඟන් අරන් යනවද? (piNGan aran yanəvadhə?)
 * The bill (check), please. : බිල ගේනවද? (bilə gēnəvadhə?)

Bars
The Sinahala words marked with *** are written here with the long 'ā' sound at the end as they appear so on labels, for example, but in everyday speech that sound is generally reduced to a short 'a', which is indicated in the pronunciation.

 * Do you serve alcohol? : සැර බීම තියනවද? (sĀrə bīmə thiyənəvadhə?)
 * Is there table service? : මේසෙට ගෙනත් දෙනවද? (mēsetə genath dhenəvadhə?)
 * A beer/two beers, please. : බියර් එකක්/දෙකක් දෙනවද? (biyər ekak/dekak denəvadhə?)
 * A glass of red/white wine, please. : රතු/සුදු වයින් වීදුරුවක් දෙනවද? (rathu/sudu vayin vīdhuruvak denəvadhə?)
 * A pint, please. : පයින්ට් එකක් දෙනවද? (payint ekak dhenəvadhə?)
 * A bottle, please. : බෝතලයක් දෙනවද? (bōthələyak dhenəvadhə?)
 * _____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please. : _____(mixer) එක්ක _____(hard liquor) දෙනවද? ( _____(mixer) ekkə _____(hard liquor) dhenəvadhə?)
 * whiskey : විස්කි (viski)
 * vodka : වොඩ්කා*** (vodka)
 * rum : රම් (ram)
 * arrack : අරක්කු (arakku) – typical Sri Lankan distilled alcoholic drink made from the fermented sap of the coconut flower
 * water : වතුර (vathurə)
 * club soda : සෝඩා*** (sōda)
 * tonic water : ටොනික් (tonik)
 * orange juice : දොඩම් යුෂ (dhodam yushə)
 * Coke (soda) : කොකා කෝලා*** (kokā kōla)
 * Do you have any bar snacks? : බයිට් මොනව හරි තියනවද? (bayit monəva hari thiyənəvadhə?)
 * One more, please. : තව එකක් දෙනවද? (thavə ekak dhenəvadhə?)
 * Another round, please. : තව රවුමක් දෙනවද? (thavə ravumak dhenəvadhə?)
 * When is closing time? : වහන්නෙ කීයටද? (vahanne kīyətədhə?)
 * Cheers! : චියර්ස්! (chiyə(r)s!)

Shopping
Most products sold in Sri Lanka have labels that are printed in English too.
 * Do you have...? : ...තියනවද? (...thiyənəvadhə?)
 * Do you have this in my size? : මේකෙ මගෙ සයිස් එක තියනවද? (mēke mage sayis ekə thiyənəvadhə?)
 * How much is this? : මේක කීයද? (mēkə kīyədhə?)
 * That's too expensive. : ගනං වැඩියි. (ganaNG vAdiyi.)
 * Would you take _____? : ඔයා _____ ගන්න කැමතිද? (oyā _____ gannə kAməthidhə?)
 * expensive : ගනං (ganaNG)
 * cheap : ලාබයි (lābayi)
 * I can't afford it. : මට මේක ගන්න සල්ලි නෑ. (matə mēkə gannə salli nĀ.)
 * I don't want it. : මට මේක එපා. (matə mēkə epā.)
 * You're cheating me. : ඔයා මාව රවට්ටනව. (oyā māvə ravattənəva.)
 * I'm not interested. : මම කැමැති නෑ. (mamə kAməthi nĀ.)
 * OK, I'll take it. : හරි, මම මේක ගන්නව. (hari, mamə mēkə gannəva.)
 * Can I have a bag? : මට බෑග් එකක් දෙන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə bĀg ekak dhennə puluvandhə?)
 * Do you ship overseas? : ඔයාල පිටරටට එවනවද? (oyāla pitəratətə evənəvadhə?)
 * I need... : මට...ඕනැ. (matə...ōnA.)
 * ...toothpaste. : ...ටූත්පේස්ට්... (...tūthpēst...)
 * ...a toothbrush. : ...දත් බුරුසුවක්... (...dhath burusuvak...)
 * ...sanitary pads (sanitary towels, sanitary napkins). : ...සනීපාරක්ෂක තුවා... (...sanīpārakshəkə thuvā...)
 * ...soap. : ...සබන්... (...saban...)
 * ...shampoo. : ...ෂැම්පු... (shAmpu...)
 * ...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen) : ...කැක්කුම්වලට බේතක්... (...kAkkumvələtə bēthak...)
 * ...cold medicine. : ...හෙම්බිරිස්සාවට බේතක්... (...hembirissāvətə bēthak...)
 * ...stomach medicine. : ...බඩේ අමාරුවට බේතක්... (...badē amāruvətə bēthak...)
 * ...a razor. : ...රේසර් එකක්... (...rēsər ekak...)
 * ...an umbrella. : ...කුඩයක්... (...kudəyak...)
 * ...sunblock lotion. : ...අව්වෙන් ආරක්ෂාවට ක්‍රීම්... (...avuven ārakshāvətə krīm...)
 * ...a mosquito repellent. : ...මදුරුවො නොඑන්න යමක්... (...madhuruvo no-ennə yamak...)
 * ...a postcard. : ...පොස්ට්කාඩ් එකක්... (...pōstkād ekak...)
 * ...postage stamps. : ...මුද්දර... (...mudhdhərə...)
 * ...batteries. : ...බැට්රි... (...bAtri...)
 * ...a SIM card. : ...සිම් එකක්... (...sim ekak...)
 * ...a memory card. : ...මෙමරි කාඩ් එකක්... (...meməri kād ekak...)
 * ...writing paper. : ...ලියුම් ලියන කඩදාසි... (...liyum liyənə kadədhāsi...)
 * ...a pen. : ...පෑනක්... (...pĀnak...)
 * ...English-language books. : ...ඉංග්‍රීසි පොත්... (...iNGgrīsi poth...)
 * ...English-language magazines. : ...ඉංග්‍රීසි සඟරා... (...iNGgrīsi saNGərā...)
 * ...an English-language newspaper. : ...ඉංග්‍රීසි පත්තරයක්... (...iNGgrīsi paththərəyak...)
 * ...a Sinhala-English dictionary. : ...සිංහල-ඉංග්‍රීසි ශබ්දකෝෂයක්... (...siNGhələ-iNGgrīsi shabdhəkōshəyak...)

Driving

 * I want to rent a car. : මට කාර් එකක් කුළියට ගන්න ඕනැ. (matə kār ekak kuliyətə gannə ōnA.)
 * Can I get insurance? : මට රක්ෂණයක් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə rakshənəyak gannə puluvandhə?)
 * stop (on a street sign) : නවතිනු (navəthinu)
 * one way : එක් අතකට පමණයි (ek athəkətə pamənayi)
 * give way (yield) : මාර්ගය ඉඩ දෙන්න (mārgəyə idə dhennə)
 * no parking : වාහන නැවැත්වීම තහනම් (vāhanə nAvAthvīmə thahanam)
 * speed limit : වේග සීමාව (vēgə sīmāvə)
 * petrol station (gas station) : පිරවුම් හල (pirəvum halə)
 * petrol : පෙට්‍රල් (petrəl)
 * diesel : ඩීසල් (dīsəl)

Authority

 * I haven't done anything wrong. : මම කිසි වැරැද්දක් කරල නෑ. (mamə kisi vArAdhdhak kərəla nĀ.)
 * It was a misunderstanding. : ඒක වැරදි වැටහීමක්. (ēkə vArədhi vAtəhīmak.)
 * Where are you taking me? : ඔයා මාව කොහෙද අරන් යන්නෙ? (oyā māvə kohedhə aran yanne?)
 * Am I under arrest? : මාව අත්අඩංගුවට අරගනද? (māvə ath-adaNGguvətə arəgənədhə? )
 * I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen. : මම ඇමරිකාවෙ/ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවෙ/බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය/කැනඩාවේ පුරවැසියෙක්. (mamə Amərikāve/kAnədāve/ōstrēliyāve/brithānyə purəvAsiyek.)
 * I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate. : මට ඇමරිකාවෙ/කැනඩාවෙ/ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවෙ/බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය තානාපති කාර්යාලයට කතා කරන්න ඕනැ. (matə Amərikāve/kAnədāve/ōstrēliyāve/brithānyə thānāpəthi kāryāləyətə kathā kərannə ōnA.)
 * I want to talk to a lawyer. : මට නීතිඥයෙකුට කතා කරන්න ඕනැ. (matə nīthiGNəyekutə kathā kərannə ōnA.)
 * Can I just pay a fine now? : මට දැන් දඩයක් ගෙවල දාන්න පුළුවන්ද? (matə dhAn dhadəyak gevəla dhānnə puluvandhə?)

title: Sinhala phrasebook


text:
Sinop

Sinop is a city in the Western Karadeniz region, on the Turkish Black Sea coast. In 2022 it had a population of 57,404.

Understand
The earliest known settlers were Hellenistic people from the 7th or 8th century BC. (The Hittites may have arrived sooner, but historians think not, and that their artefacts here indicate trade goods not settlement.) It was a port for coast-hugging small vessels but, backed by mountains, has poor inland access, so Samsun further east grew into the major port. Sinop was still worth ransacking or raiding, the last incursion being in 1853 when Russia made a surprise seaborne attack: the coast hereabouts has the shortest crossing north to Crimea.

Sinop is nowadays a beach resort for the townsfolk of Istanbul and Ankara, and accommodation gets very full June-September. Few westerners ever come this way.

Get in
Buses from Istanbul run six times a day and take 13 hours via Gebze, Izmit, Adapazari, Bolu, Karabuk, Safranbolu and Taskopru, for a fare in 2024 of 800 TL. From Samsun they run every hour or two and take 2 hours 30 min. One overnight bus from Ankara takes 7 hours. Bus lines include Metro Turizm and Flixbus.

the bus station is 6 km west of town centre. It's modern but filthy inside.

By road from Ankara is 413 km: take D765 north to Kastamonu, then D030 to Boyabat, then D785.

Get around
Sinop is easily navigable by foot. Parking is difficult in summer.

Dolmuşes and taxis ply to the out-of-town bus station and airport.

See

 * City walls are best preserved crossing the isthmus west of town centre, with bastions at each end, then along the harbour shore south.
 * Hacı Ömer Mosque just west of Otel 117 was built in 1903 for the harbour workers. The fountain between it and the hotel is a memorial to casualties of the 1853 Russian surprise attack.
 * Sinop Harbour is just south of the fortress. The 200 m east wharf is quieter and used for fishing, the 500 m west wharf is a busy commercial dock.
 * on Fatih Cd celebrates the smelly dingbat philosopher who preached Cynicism. Diogenes was a banker, born in Sinop in 412 or 404 BC, who had to flee because as mint-master he trashed the city currency. (This part of the legend is backed up by debased coins of that period, smashed to take them out of circulation.) It's said he was captured by pirates, anyhow he ended up in Corinth. There he cut a cantankerous squalid figure, raging against corruption all around, and rough-sleeping in a wine jar. His statue shows him holding a lantern, which he carried by day saying he was "looking for a man" - this is nowadays glossed as "looking for an honest man" but given his sexual habits it was maybe just as he said. He's accompanied by a dog as he thought they were nobler simpler creatures, crapping in public as he did, and κυνικός (kynikos, "dog-like") became the word "cynic". His name lives on in "Diogenes Syndrome" where someone lives in squalid conditions, seemingly through personal choice, as depicted in the 2015 film "The Lady in the Van".
 * on Fatih Cd celebrates the smelly dingbat philosopher who preached Cynicism. Diogenes was a banker, born in Sinop in 412 or 404 BC, who had to flee because as mint-master he trashed the city currency. (This part of the legend is backed up by debased coins of that period, smashed to take them out of circulation.) It's said he was captured by pirates, anyhow he ended up in Corinth. There he cut a cantankerous squalid figure, raging against corruption all around, and rough-sleeping in a wine jar. His statue shows him holding a lantern, which he carried by day saying he was "looking for a man" - this is nowadays glossed as "looking for an honest man" but given his sexual habits it was maybe just as he said. He's accompanied by a dog as he thought they were nobler simpler creatures, crapping in public as he did, and κυνικός (kynikos, "dog-like") became the word "cynic". His name lives on in "Diogenes Syndrome" where someone lives in squalid conditions, seemingly through personal choice, as depicted in the 2015 film "The Lady in the Van".
 * Pervane Medrese is across Görgün Sk just north of Alaaddin Mosque. It was a religious school founded in 1262, named for Mu'in al-Din Parwana who ousted Trebizond (a Byzantine rump state) from Sinop. It closed in 1923 when Turkish education was secularised, and became a depot for various archaeological and ethnographic items; it was a museum 1941 to 1970 when the city museum moved to its present site. It nowadays hosts souvenir and craft shops.
 * Kef Evi Mosque is on Derviş Sarabil Cd a block north of the ethnography museum. It was built in 1581 AD.
 * at Okullar Cd 99 is a small mosque and shrine built in 1297 AD. Bilal was the grandson of Huseyin, in turn the grandson of the Islamic prophet Mohammed; sufficient reason for the Byzantines to chop his head off when he strayed this way in the 7th century.
 * (Paşa Tabyası) is a half-moon artillery position. It was built to protect the town against sea-borne attack from Russia, too late as town and fleet were bombarded in 1853. This escalated into the Crimean War, as France, Britain and Sardinia-Piedmont (the proto-Italy) weighed in to prop up Turkey against Russian expansion. Enter from Yakamoz Sk on the north side. The area is neglected and overgrown, with only a few grazing beasts left on guard against further Russian advance.
 * at Okullar Cd 99 is a small mosque and shrine built in 1297 AD. Bilal was the grandson of Huseyin, in turn the grandson of the Islamic prophet Mohammed; sufficient reason for the Byzantines to chop his head off when he strayed this way in the 7th century.
 * (Paşa Tabyası) is a half-moon artillery position. It was built to protect the town against sea-borne attack from Russia, too late as town and fleet were bombarded in 1853. This escalated into the Crimean War, as France, Britain and Sardinia-Piedmont (the proto-Italy) weighed in to prop up Turkey against Russian expansion. Enter from Yakamoz Sk on the north side. The area is neglected and overgrown, with only a few grazing beasts left on guard against further Russian advance.
 * (Paşa Tabyası) is a half-moon artillery position. It was built to protect the town against sea-borne attack from Russia, too late as town and fleet were bombarded in 1853. This escalated into the Crimean War, as France, Britain and Sardinia-Piedmont (the proto-Italy) weighed in to prop up Turkey against Russian expansion. Enter from Yakamoz Sk on the north side. The area is neglected and overgrown, with only a few grazing beasts left on guard against further Russian advance.

Further out

 * (Hamsilos Tabiat Parkı) is 14 km northwest of town, off the road to İnceburun. It's a scenic bay surrounded by forest, with camping and picnic areas and rocky beach. In 2024 you pay 50 TL per car.
 * 23 km northwest of town is a breezy peninsula with an 1863-built lighthouse. It's nearly the northernmost point in Turkey but the area against the Bulgarian border edges it.
 * are a cascade of 28 waterfalls reached by hiking trails to the southwest.
 * is a Seljuk-era pilgrimage site in the hills above Gerze to the southeast.

Do

 * Beaches close to town are trash-strewn. Go to Karakum Plajı on the headland east, or to Akliman beach on the north shore beyond the airport.
 * Football: Sinopspor play soccer away down in the amateur leagues. Their home ground Sinop Şehir Stadyumu (capacity 5000) is 1 km west of town centre off Fatih Cd.

Buy
Lots of small stores, usually open daily to 21:00.

Eat
Eating places around the harbour and fortress are Cem's Kitchen, Mavi Ay, Poyraz, Saray, Hey Yavrum and Nihavent.

Drink

 * Mavi Esinti is a tearoom on the seafront 200 m east of the fortress.
 * Others nearby are Chillin Cafe, Vento del Nord and Vitrin Club.
 * Others nearby are Chillin Cafe, Vento del Nord and Vitrin Club.

Connect
Sinop and its approach highways have 4G from all Turkish carriers. As of Feb 2024, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

Go next

 * Samsun is a large resort and harbour town, where Atatürk launched the fightback of the Turkish War of Independence.
 * Boyabat inland has an extensive hilltop citadel.
 * Amasra is another resort on the coast to the west.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Sinop


text:
Sinquerim

Sinquerim is in Goa, located some 13 km away from Panaji.

Understand
The Sinquerim Beach is stunningly beautiful and quieter than the other beaches of Goa. This long, extended sandy terrain that runs incessantly along the coast is ideal for taking a walk. The feel of the glistening sands and the cool water caressing the feet gives you out of the feeling. The beach is one of a series of tranquil and spectacular stretch of sand and an ideal place for swimming. The tourists come down to this beach and prefer it for its pristine and serene setting.

See
The lovely beach of Sinquerim is one of the oldest preserved beaches in Goa. The famous fort Aguada is located near the beach. Fort Aguada was built by the Portuguese in the early 17th century to defend themselves against any foreign attack and to stop the entry of intruders through the River Mandovi.

Do
Sinquerim beach Goa is one of the finest beaches in Goa that offers world-class water sports facilities to tourists. Beach activities here involve swimming, as sea is relatively calmer here. Other activities on the beach are the regular activities like strolling along the crystal-clear azure waters, chilling out lazying about on the beach. People love indulging in aqua sports likesurfing, water skiing, fishing, scuba diving and para sailing. Playing beach volleyball and sand castle making is equally great fun. Sinquerim beach stretches up to Candolim beach, which continues all the way north to Baga.

Sleep
Being a major tourist destination there are a large number of hotels in the close environs of Sinquerim Beach. The numerous hotels and resorts near Sinquerim Beach provide the best kind of services and facilities. Moreover, there are a number of budget hotels.

title: Sinquerim


text:
Sinsheim

Sinsheim is a city in Baden-Württemberg, a state of Germany.

Understand
The town would probably be of little note if it weren't for the Auto&Technik Museum, which houses two of the few surviving passenger supersonic planes, and TSG Hoffenheim, a soccer club that mostly rose to the top in the 21st century on the strength of sponsorship money. Sinsheim is also birth place of '48er and American Civil War major general (for the Union) Franz Sigel, the highest ranking German American during the conflict.

By car
Sinsheim is about an hour by car south of Frankfurt. Take exit 33 or 34 from the A6 Autobahn.

Get around
Sinsheim is part of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein Neckar who run buses and trains and set schedules and prices.

Do

 * Football:

title: Sinsheim


text:
Sint Eustatius

Sint Eustatius, locally known as Statia, is a small Dutch island in the Caribbean.

Statia is a very small island, and it's very laid back and quiet. Do not come to Statia expecting nightlife, shopping, etc, or you will be disappointed. Nonetheless the island has considerable charm of its own, assuming you can slow down and appreciate what surrounds you. Although it is a Dutch island, everyone speaks English.

Swimming is possible at the north end of Oranjestad Bay (the more sheltered Caribbean coast) where there is still a decent amount of sand. There is a spectacular long sandy beach on the Atlantic coast which is good to walk along, but the waves and currents are so strong that it is not safe to swim there.

Understand
Politically, Sint Eustatius is a "special municipality", fully integrated in the Netherlands proper. The capital, Oranjestad (Dutch for Orange Town) is divided into Lower Town, a single street by the water front, and Upper Town, which is the main part of town. The largest and longest running industries on the island are tourism (mostly dive tourism) and an oil depot for tankers from Venezuela.

Statia is on Atlantic time (GMT-4): same as US Eastern Daylight Time, one hour ahead of US Eastern Standard Time.

Tourist information

 * Sint Eustatius Tourism website

Get in
Countries eligible for a visa-free entry are shown in cyan on image to the right.

Other countries required obtaining a visa, which is valid for Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands and allows multiple entry for a maximum period of 90 days within 180 days. The maximum uninterrupted stay in one of the individual countries is 30 days. The visa is not valid for the European part of the Netherlands.

Makana Ferry offers crossings to Sint Maarten (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), Saba (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday) and St. Kitts (Monday and Friday)

Get around

The island is small enough that, assuming you are fit, you could walk or ride a bike just about anywhere you might want to go, but it usually gets hot in the middle of the day, making walking less pleasant. There are a couple of people who run taxi services, but book in advance.

See
The St. Eustatius Historical Foundation published a very nice little book, available almost everywhere, that outlines a 1-mile walking tour of the capital, Oranjestad. The tour route starts at the port and winds through all the key historical sites. The central district of the capital has a number of very attractive restored buildings of historical interest, including a museum run by the St Eustatius Historical Foundation. You could pick the book up at the headquarters of STENAPA, which is only a few yards from the port in Lower Town.

You can hike The Quill, the island's dormant volcano. You can visit the botanical gardens. Or you can go diving or snorkelling; the island is famous for its underwater life.

On land, the animal life includes some large iguanas. An abundance of goats, cows and chickens roam freely. Most of them no longer belong to anyone in particular, but are instead remnants of the custom that those who own more animals have more wealth. A concerted effort is being made to round these animals up and perhaps fence them in, because of their environmental impact. Some maybe/maybe not feral cats and dogs also wander about. Do not expect one to curl up in your lap while you read a book, but you might be able to lure an occasional visitor to adopt you by putting some food outside.

In terms of history and archeology, Statia was at one point the most important port in the New World. During the 18th century it rose to prominence through a combination of lax Dutch trading controls and the American Revolution. Successive transfers between Dutch, British and French control compelled the once-prosperous merchant community to seek better profits elsewhere, but the archaeological record records their presence. Hence Statia's current motto, "The Historic Gem." Nowadays, the only visible record of its once-proud presence are the fragments of pottery incorporated into local driveways and a fair amount of mostly crumbling) 18th century Caribbean architecture. An archaeological field station run by the Sint Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR) is an effort to restore the heritage of Statia for American history.

People who are interested in nature should definitely visit the headquarters of STENAPA (the island's national parks foundation) in Lower Town a short walk from the harbor, and talk to the staff there who will be able to suggest the most interesting areas for you to go to.

Do
Wave and say, “Good Morning” and “Good Afternoon” as the locals are very friendly and it is a known custom on the island.

Money
Statia uses the U.S. dollar, denoted by the symbol "$" (ISO currency code: USD). It is divided into 100 cents.

The majority of the island businesses do not accept credit cards. Bring plenty of US dollars. There are only two ATMs on the island, one at the bank and one at the airport. These ATMs run out of money frequently and then are sometimes not refilled for a couple of days.

Shopping
As is the case for almost any beach destination in Florida or the Caribbean, bring insect repellent. Statia has one pretty good supermarket, which stocks almost all necessities.

Eat
Try the "Fruit Tree" for local Dutch cuisine. "Smoke Alley" is where most of the US contractors eat; they serve large portions and an abundance of American staples (cheese steaks, burgers, etc.) There are five different Chinese food restaurants on the island; "Sonny's" is the best.

Drink
There are only a few places to drink, after all, the island is less than 8 square miles in area. The longest running, owner-operated bar is "Chuckie's". The expatriate community typically restricts itself to this bar as the owner will frequently drink with patrons and keep the bar open until the last customer leaves.

Sleep
"The Old Gin House" may be considered the most upscale hotel on the island. Their rates begin at $145 per night. They serve breakfast only, which is included in the room fee, 7:00-10:30. WiFi access is in the lobby and the outdoor patio restaurant/bar.

"Kings' Well" is a cute resort out by the curve from Upper Town to Lower Town. Very pleasant hosts, and the island macaws visit for the complimentary breakfast. You could eat every meal there if you desired. WiFi on premise. Not much nearby, but short walks get you to the dive centers or the main part of Upper Town.

Stay healthy
Don't drink the tap water without boiling it first.

Go next
Everyone leaving Statia has to pay a departure fee in US dollars.

title: Sint Eustatius


text:
Sint-Niklaas

Sint-Niklaas is a medium-sized city (by Belgian standards) of around 82,000 people (2023), in East Flanders, between the bigger cities of Antwerp and Ghent. It is the capital city of the Waas region (Waasland), which is surrounded by the river Schelde (Scheldt) on three sides.

Sint-Niklaas is the gateway to the scenic landscapes around the river Schelde. Just 10 km from the Dutch border, it is also a useful starting point to explore places in the province of Zeeland, especially Hulst right across the border.

Understand
As a historic resting spot for traders between Antwerp and Ghent, Sint-Niklaas boasts one of the largest market squares in Europe (originally the lawn where traders halted). It was given its title of city by Napoleon and had a second big spurt of growth during the Industrial Revolution, when it was an important industrial town for textile and bricks. In the late 19th century this resulted, in the northern part of the city centre, in a geometric street pattern where you can still see many examples of the historic Art Nouveau and Art Deco houses built for the new bourgeoisie.

By car
The E17 motorway passes by the city.

By train
Sint-Niklaas is on the main railway line between Antwerp and Ghent. Trains from Antwerp and Ghent run three to four times every hour, taking 20-30 minutes. Trains from Mechelen/Leuven run once an hour, taking 35 minutes/over 1 hour respectively. From Brussels there is an hourly direct train, but it is rather slow and takes well over 1 hour; it's usually faster to travel via Antwerp-Berchem or Mechelen, changing trains there. From Brussels Airport-Zaventem, take a train to Antwerp-Berchem and change there. Finally, there are also direct trains to Sint-Niklaas from the coast (Oostende) via Bruges (once an hour, takes over 1 hour), and Lille Flandres in France (once an hour, takes almost 2 hours).

By bicycle
A brand-new cycling superhighway (Fietssnelweg), the F4, connects Antwerp and Ghent via Sint-Niklaas. Most of the bike lane is very comfortable (good asphalt) and wide, and runs parallel right next to the Antwerp-Ghent railway. It is very well signposted with F4-signs. Distance from Ghent is 34 km; it starts/terminates at Gent-Dampoort railway station, although the first part exiting Ghent is not yet finished and follows normal roads. From Antwerp (20 km from Sint-Niklaas), the F4 starts/terminates at the railway station in the nearby village of Zwijndrecht, just a few kilometres west of Antwerp. The final approach into Antwerp with a new bicycle bridge across the river Scheldt has not been completed. Zwijndrecht can easily be reached from Antwerp by ordinary road after crossing the river through the Kennedy-bicycle tunnel or the Sint-Anna pedestrian tunnel with its quaint antique wooden escalators.

On foot
Sint-Niklaas is easily explored on foot. After a major overhaul of Market Square and the main streets leading through the city, Sint-Niklaas was awarded the title of Most Pedestrian Friendly City in Belgium. The distance from the railway station to Market Square is.

By bicycle
The city also has excellent new bicycle lanes, with right of way for cyclists on most intersections.

By bus
Local buses run through the main streets on designated bus lanes. The main bus terminal is next to the railway station.

Do

 * Sint-Niklaas is famous for its yearly hot air balloon festival held the first weekend of September. This festival, called 'Vredesfeesten', commemorates the liberation of the city by British troops from German occupation on September 9th, 1944. It is a truly spectacular sight to see dozens of hot air balloons take off simultaneously from Market Square, right in the middle of the city and surrounded by buildings. Next to the 50 hot air balloons competing in a race, you can also admire the take-off of helium gas balloons with sand ballast bags and of the 'special shapes' - huge hot air balloons in the shape of a beer glass, castle, motor cycle, dinosaur etc. In the evening, concerts are held throughout the entire city centre. This part of the "Vredesfeesten" is named "Villa Pace".
 * Bicycle trips in the area: Sint-Niklaas is a convenient starting point for many interesting cycling trips in the Waasland, along the river Scheldt, to fascinating places like Doel, to the Dutch fortified city Hulst and further into the Netherlands (Zeeland), offering a nice respite from city life in the otherwise densely populated area between Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven. For some itineraries, see below in the 'Go next' section. Especially the former railway bicycle trail to Hulst is highly recommended.
 * Recreatiedomein De Ster - About 4 km southeast of the centre, this recreation area comprises an artificial lake suitable for swimming and sailing. There is a sandy beach, a playground for children, a swimming pool, several outdoor sports courts, and a little tourist train running around the lake to connect all these places.

Buy
The main shopping street in the city centre is the Stationstraat, the street between the railway station and the Grote Markt.

 * Supermarkets: Inside the Waasland Shopping Center, there is a Delhaize. Nearby, there is an Albert Heijn. Inside the city centre, there is a Carrefour. North of the railway station, there is another Carrefour and a Colruyt.
 * Night shops: There are several night shops scattered all over the city.
 * Night shops: There are several night shops scattered all over the city.

Eat

 * Amadeus (Houtbriel). Spareribs à volonté.
 * Burger King (Waasland Shopping Center). Open until 20:00.
 * McDonald's (on the old highway to Antwerp, very near Recreatiedomein De Ster).
 * Burger King (Waasland Shopping Center). Open until 20:00.
 * McDonald's (on the old highway to Antwerp, very near Recreatiedomein De Ster).
 * Burger King (Waasland Shopping Center). Open until 20:00.
 * McDonald's (on the old highway to Antwerp, very near Recreatiedomein De Ster).

Drink
On the square behind the Old Church there are a couple of nice bars, like Het Elfde Genot (The Elenth Pleasure) and, nearby on Market Square, Het Hemelrijck (Heaven's Empire)

Sleep
There are only a few hotels in Sint-Niklaas, mainly around Market Square, near the railway station and on the southern end of the city, on the approach to the E17 motorway. Most people staying in Sint-Niklaas are business travellers so the amount of cozy hotels are rather limited. For better budget accommodation and youth hostels, it is advisable to stay in nearby Ghent or Antwerp and come for the day.

 * Hotel New Flanders, on Stationsplein, a few hundred metres from the railway station.
 * Hotel De Spiegel, on the Grote Markt at the corner of Station Street.
 * Hotel New Flanders, on Stationsplein, a few hundred metres from the railway station.
 * Hotel De Spiegel, on the Grote Markt at the corner of Station Street.

Stay safe
Sint-Niklaas is safe. The usual precautions will suffice.

Go next

 * Hulst – The most interesting nearby city to visit (besides Antwerp and Ghent of course) is Hulst in the Netherlands, just across the border, 15 km to the north of Sint-Niklaas. Hulst can be reached by car or bus from Sint-Niklaas. However, the nicest way to go there is by bicycle: the track bed of the former railway line to Hulst was transformed into a flat asphalt bike path cutting 13.5 km straight north through the landscape, without road besides it. The railway bike trail starts, unsurprisingly, near Sint-Niklaas railway station, at the Driekoningen Roundabout to be more precise. Soon after exiting the city, it passes through beautiful countryside and several forests along the way. The complete absence of any hills, turns or motorised traffic make this a true cycling highway. After 10 km, the bike path crosses the NL border at De Klinge, a village divided by the border. Right before the border and next to De Klinge's disused railway station (there is an old steam engine on a stretch of track still remaining), there is a pub called 'De Oude Statie' where one can refresh with a delicious draught Bolleke Koninck, Antwerp's most famous beer. Next to the border marker 100 m ahead, there is a replica of the Dodendraad (Wire of Death), the lethal electric fence erected by the German military to control the Dutch–Belgian frontier after the occupation of Belgium during the First World War. The bike trail terminates 3.5 km further, right in front of the city moat around Hulst.
 * Doel – A village on the river Scheldt in the Antwerp harbour area, 25 km to the northeast of Sint-Niklaas. The panorama of the river, 1 km wide at this point, is very scenic. There is the 17th-century windmill against the backdrop of the two 176-m-high cooling towers of Doel nuclear power plant, Belgium's largest, a few km further north on the Dutch border. The village is threatened with demolition and removal from the map as the Antwerp harbour authority has plans to build docks here. However, these plans have been shelved for the time being and a small number of inhabitants has persisted in staying here, despite efforts by the harbour authority to make everyone leave. As a consequence, the village has something of a ghost town, with most houses deserted and some already in ruins. The depopulation of the village has attracted street artists squatting the houses and spraypainting often political-ecologically inspired graffiti on the walls throughout the village. On sunny summer afternoons, it has become a bit of an alternative day trip destination, with people from the cities coming to see the river panorama and soaking up the surrealistic, slightly eerie atmosphere. On the river dyke, the old windmill still has a pub where you can have a beer while looking over the village and the river. Doel can be reached from Sint-Niklaas by car or bicycle (24 km along the road). The shortest route from Sint-Niklaas to Doel is to follow the N451 highway, which has bike lanes for most part. However, the highway is boring and you will be cycling right next to heavy traffic racing by. A slightly longer, but much more interesting, scenic and largely traffic-free route is to head north on the former railway bicycle trail towards Hulst (see above). Once you reach the NL border at De Klinge, leave the bike trail and turn right towards the east. After a few kilometres of following the Dutch border through the village streets, you will reach the Koningsdijk (King's Dyke), a 6-km long straight dyke through the polders running right on the border. It has a bicycle path on top of it, lined with trees and offering great views over the surrounding landscape, with the Netherlands on your left and Belgium on your right-hand side. Once you reach Kieldrecht, you can pick up the road to Doel which, during these last 8 km, cuts straight through windswept empty polders.
 * In the other direction, to the south of Sint-Niklaas, there are nice and scenic bike paths along the river Scheldt connecting villages like Rupelmonde, Temse (with its massive iron bridge crossing the river, the longest river bridge in Belgium), Bornem, Hamme (cross by free ferry), Mariekerke, Sint-Amands, etc. To get there from Sint-Niklaas, first cycle down to Temse or Hamme (both around 9 km). Although still far from the North Sea, the Scheldt is already tidal at this point, which makes the views from the green river banks change by the hour as the water goes up and down. At several places, it is possible to cross the river by free ferry with your bicycle. There are several pubs along the riverside serving drinks and local specialities.

title: Sint-Niklaas


text:
Sint-Pieters-Leeuw

Sint-Pieters-Leeuw is a fairly rural town in the central part of Flanders, close to Brussels.

By bus
Take the bus number 170, which terminates at Pastorijstreet in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw and run by De Lijn from Brussels-South railway station.

See

 * Zuunvallei - Oude Zuun —Discover the restored orchard and one of the botanically most valuable wet meadow and pasture of the Pajottenland area. A lot of flowers in spring of course. It is protected by the RD 30/7/96 with a surface of around 5 ha. Also it is a spot where you can here in the evening the little owl and with some chance see him. There are several nest boxes where he lives. It is near the C. Leunenstraat (street) upstream at both sides of the brook Zuunbeek. You have to follow the red gravel path along the brook.
 * Typical old town (landscape protected by RD) with the houses in a circle around the church, which dates back to 16th century.
 * Typical old town (landscape protected by RD) with the houses in a circle around the church, which dates back to 16th century.
 * Typical old town (landscape protected by RD) with the houses in a circle around the church, which dates back to 16th century.

Do
Take a bicycle tour. As in most parts of Flanders, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw also has signposts with numbers guiding along routes that are very suitable for cycling.

The following tour is 18 km and goes along not far from the nature reserves and the most beautiful routes of the town. You start at the church in the centre and look for the signpost with direction number 70. Once you arrive at the point number 70, you go further with the numbers as follows: 72 -71 - 23 - 22 - 21 - 20 - 68 - 69 - 70.

On this website, you can visualize the tour on a map. First you have to search for the town Sint-Pieters-Leeuw. Then you have to click on the red bullet with the numbers.

Connect
Free internet at the local library.

Go next
From Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, you can visit the following sites, all within 10 km drive or bus from town.
 * Halle (not to be confused with Halle, Germany) — with a beautiful church and a grand place.
 * Lennik — best known for its beautiful castle and the park of Gaasbeek.
 * Beersel — with its beautiful castle and old paper mill Herisem in Alsemberg.

title: Sint-Pieters-Leeuw