Greetings

Welcome to your first Sinhala greeting lesson!

In this part, you’ll learn the most useful greetings and phrases you’ll hear every day in Sri Lanka.

👉 Tip: If you don’t know how to read Sinhala script yet, please refer to the Lingo Crown Romanization Guide (available in the Resources section).

If you feel too lazy to read all the descriptions, no worries—just practice the phrases and listen to the recordings. But reading the explanations will help you understand the culture and avoid awkward situations.

✨ Essential Greetings

Let’s start by practicing these core phrases.

✅ Practice Tip: Repeat each phrase out loud 3 times.

✅ Practice Activities:
Use the Flashcards and Audio Practice by clicking the resources below this lesson.

🎯 Formal Greetings

Here are some more formal greetings you may hear or use in official situations.

✅ Note: These Sinhala phrase below are not common in casual daily life. Sinhala people use these greetings in English!

🌼 How to Use These Greetings

Even though Sinhala has a very formal greeting (Aayuboowan), people almost never use it casually.

✅ When to use Aayuboowan:

• Customer service situations (airport, hotel). But it’s mainly used by them and not the customer. 

• Giving a speech or talking in front of an audience

• Special events

✅ Most common everyday greeting:
කොහොමද?
(Kohomadha?)
How are you?

Although “Kohomadha?” literally means “How?” it can also mean ‘how are you’ because in Sinhala, there is no ‘am/is/are’ and you can omit the noun when it’s obvious. So we end up with just ‘kohomadha’.
It’s also not just ‘how are you’ but the most common greeting!! Because it’s a question, you usually reply with ‘hondhai’ and greeting back.

✅ Common answer:
හොඳයි
(Hondhai)
Good

👉 Important:
Never say mama hondhai. That changes the meaning and sounds unnatural.
Just say Hondhai or mama hondhin if you want to sound more specific.

📝 No Direct Translation for “Hello” or “Goodbye”

In Sinhala, there is no exact word for “hello” or “hi” and no true equivalent for “goodbye.”

✅ Common ways to say goodbye:

• Bye (yes, the English word!)

• ගිහින් එන්නං (Gihin ennan) – I’ll go and come

• මම යනවා (Mama yanawa) – I’m going

• අපි යනවා (Api yanawa) – We are going

✨ A Note About Politeness in Sinhala Culture

✅ In Sinhala, you will rarely hear people say “please,”. Even in formal situations.

✅ Why?

Because Sinhala people see politeness differently.
Being friendly and warm is more important than using many polite words.

✅ Important Cultural Tip:

• Using karunaakarala (please) can sound dramatic or even rude, especially if you’re upset.

• If you really want to say “please,” just use the English word please instead.

• Don’t worry—you won’t sound less polite as long as you sound friendly. You’ll actually avoid misunderstandings.

✅ Use of English:

• English is very commonly used in Sri Lanka, therefore, most people actually understand English, and can manage to have a conversation in English

• Use of English words in day today life is also very common, in fact, some words are almost always use in English, specially the younger generation. 

• You will often hear words like ‘thank you’, ‘sorry’ and other greetings like ‘good morning’, good night’ are used in English. 

🎧 Pronunciation Practice

Listen to the audio clips for each greeting and repeat.
✅ Try to focus on:

• Double consonants (e.g., Gihin ennan)

• Long vowels (e.g., sthuuthii)

• The e sounds (e.g., Passe hamba wemu)

💬 Discussion Prompt

Which greeting feels the most natural to you?
Which one sounds the most different from your language?

Post your thoughts in the comments!