Pharmacy & Health

1. ඔබ සතුව හිසරදය සඳහා ඖෂධ තිබේද?

   Oba sathuwa hisaradaya sandaha aushadha tibeda?

   Do you have headache medicine?

   Usage

   Ask for headache medicine at a pharmacy in Sri Lanka

   Grammar Note

   "Tibeda?" = "Is there?" Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language with SOV word order

2. මට බඩේ රෝගය සඳහා ඖෂධ අවශ්‍යයි

   Mata bade rogaya sandaha aushadha awashyai

   I need stomach medicine

   Usage

   Use when you need stomach medicine

   Grammar Note

   "Mata...awashyai" = "I need..." in Sinhala

3. මට අතීසාරය සඳහා ඖෂධ අවශ්‍යයි

   Mata atisaraya sandaha aushadha awashyai

   I need anti-diarrhea medicine

   Usage

   Ask for anti-diarrhea medicine

   Grammar Note

   "Atisaraya" is a Sanskrit-derived medical term for diarrhea

4. මට උණ තිබේ

   Mata una tibe

   I have a fever

   Usage

   Tell the pharmacist you have a fever

   Grammar Note

   "Una" is the native Sinhala word for fever

5. මට ඇලර්ජියක් ඇත

   Mata aleraji-yak ata

   I have an allergy

   Usage

   Inform the pharmacist about your allergy

   Grammar Note

   "Allergy" is borrowed from English in Sinhala

6. මට ප්ලාස්ටර් අවශ්‍යයි

   Mata plastar awashyai

   I need bandages/plasters

   Usage

   Ask for bandages or plasters at a pharmacy

   Grammar Note

   "Plastar" is borrowed from English "plaster"

7. මට මදුරු විකර්ෂකය අවශ්‍යයි

   Mata maduru vikarshakaya awashyai

   I need insect repellent

   Usage

   Ask for insect repellent at a pharmacy

   Grammar Note

   "Vikarshakaya" is Sanskrit-derived meaning "repellent/deterrent"

8. මට සන්ස්ක්‍රීන් අවශ්‍යයි

   Mata sanskrīn awashyai

   I need sunscreen

   Usage

   Ask for sunscreen at a pharmacy

   Grammar Note

   "Sunscreen" is used directly from English in Sri Lanka

9. මෙම ඖෂධය කෙසේ ගත යුතුද?

   Mema aushadhaya kese gata yutuda?

   How do I take this medicine?

   Usage

   Ask the pharmacist how to take the medicine

   Grammar Note

   "Gata yutu" means "should take". "Gata" is the stem form of the verb "gannawa" (take), used for taking medicine

10. බෙහෙත් වට්ටෝරුවක් අවශ්‍යද?

    Behet vaṭṭōruvak awashyada?

    Do I need a prescription?

    Usage

    Check if a prescription is needed

    Grammar Note

    "Behet" (medicine) + "vaṭṭōruva" (recipe/prescription) = prescription. The suffix "-k" marks the indefinite.

11. ෆාමසිය

    phāmasiya

    Pharmacy

    Usage

    Show this to a passer-by when hunting for a pharmacy; more everyday than බෙහෙත් සාප්පුව, and the English "pharmacy" also works

12. බෙහෙත් වට්ටෝරුව

    behet vaṭṭōruva

    Prescription

    Usage

    The word for a doctor's prescription; also useful for checking whether the pharmacy needs one

13. තර්මෝමීටරය

    tharmōmīṭaraya

    Thermometer

    Usage

    Point at this to buy a thermometer; the English word works too

14. බෑන්ඩේජ්

    bǣnḍēj

    Bandage

    Usage

    For buying a bandage — an English loanword; the literary term is වෙළුම් පටිය (veḷum paṭiya)

15. විෂබීජ නාශකය

    viṣabīja nāśakaya

    Antiseptic

    Usage

    For antiseptic to clean a wound; over the counter, the brand name ඩෙටෝල් (Dettol) is what everyone actually says

16. මාස්ක් එක

    māsk eka

    Face mask

    Usage

    Spoken wording for buying a disposable mask; the literary මුඛ ආවරණය is not used over the counter

17. සනීපාරක්ෂක තුවා

    sanīpārakṣaka thuvā

    Sanitary pads

    Usage

    For sanitary napkins; shops understand the English "pads". Tampons are rarely stocked in Sri Lanka

18. කොන්ඩම්

    konḍam

    Condoms

    Usage

    Point at this at the pharmacy counter — the whole point of a word card is not having to say it out loud

19. ඇස් බෙහෙත්

    æs behet

    Eye drops

    Usage

    For asking for eye drops; literally "eye medicine"

20. උණට බෙහෙත්

    uṇaṭa behet

    Fever medicine

    Usage

    Asks for something to bring a fever down; in Sri Lanka the household word is the brand පැනඩෝල් (Panadol, paracetamol)

21. වේදනා නාශක බාම්

    vēdanā nāśaka bām

    Pain-relief balm

    Usage

    Japanese-style adhesive compresses are essentially unavailable in Sri Lanka; the local equivalent is a rub-on pain balm, the classic brand being සිද්ධාලේප (Siddhalepa)

22. මට විරේචන ඖෂධයක් දෙන්න

    Mata virechana aushadhayak denna

    A laxative, please

    Usage

    Ask for a laxative at a pharmacy. To describe the constipation itself, use it together with "බඩ යන්නේ නෑ"

    Grammar Note

    "විරේචන ඖෂධය" means a laxative. It empties the bowels, so do not ask for it when you have diarrhea. "දෙන්න" is the request form of the verb "give" seen in "දෙන්න පුළුවන්ද?"

Browse all TravelPhrases languages