English / Sinhala / Pronunciation

• ආයුබෝවන් / Ayubowan

• Goodbye / ගිහින් එන්නම් / Gihin ennang

• Thank you / ස්තුතියි / Stuthiyi

• Please / කරුණාකර / Karunākarā

• Yes / ඔව් / Ow

• No / නැහැ / Næhæ

• Excuse me / Sorry සමාවෙන්න / Samāwennā

• How are you? / කොහොමද ඔයාට? / Kohomada oyāta?

• I’m fine / මට හොඳයි / Matə hondai

• What’s your name? / ඔයාගේ නම මොකක්ද? / Oyāgē nama mokakda?

• My name is... / මගේ නම ... / Magē nama ...

• How much? / කොපමණද? / Kopamanada?

• Where is...? / කොහෙද ... තියෙන්නෙ? / Koheda ... thiyenne?

• I don’t understand / මට තේරෙන්නෙ නැහැ / Matə therennē næhæ

• Water / වතුර / Wathura

• Food / කෑම / Kæma

• Tea / තේ / Thē

• Beautiful / ලස්සන / Lassana

• Beach / මුහුදු වෙරළ / Muhudu werala

• Help! / උදව් කරන්න! / Udaw karannā!

• Hotel / හෝටලය / Hōtalaya

• Friend / යාළුවා / Yāluwā

• Thank you very much / බොහොම ස්තුතියි / Bohoma stuthiyi

Tamil (தமிழ்) (Coming soon)

A few local words can go a long way in Sri Lanka!

Sinhala and Tamil are the two official languages of the island, and even a simple “Ayubowan” or “Vanakkam” will earn you a warm smile from locals.

While English is widely spoken in most tourist areas, learning some basic phrases shows respect and helps you connect more meaningfully with people you meet. Here are a few handy Sinhala and Tamil words to get you started.

Sinhala (සිංහල)