Wine & Spirits

1. වයින් ලැයිස්තුව දෙන්නද?

   Va-yin læ-is-tu-va den-na-da?

   Can I have the wine list?

   Usage

   Used to request the wine list at a restaurant

   Grammar Note

   වයින් from English "wine". ලැයිස්තුව from English "list". දෙන්නද = will you give?

2. රතු හෝ සුදු වයින් නිර්දේශ කරනවාද?

   Ra-tu hō su-du va-yin nir-dē-sha ka-ra-na-vā-da?

   Do you recommend red or white wine?

   Usage

   Used to ask for wine recommendations

   Grammar Note

   හෝ = or (conjunction). නිර්දේශ කරනවා = to recommend

3. ග්ලාස් කීයද?

   Glās kee-ya-da?

   How much is a glass?

   Usage

   Used to ask the price of a glass of wine

   Grammar Note

   ග්ලාස් from English "glass". කීයද = how much is it?

4. බෝතලයක් ගන්න පුළුවන්ද?

   Bō-ta-la-yak gan-na pu-ḷu-van-da?

   Can I order a bottle?

   Usage

   Used to order a full bottle of wine

   Grammar Note

   බෝතලය from English "bottle" (-ක් = one). ගන්න පුළුවන්ද = can I take/get (buy)? ගෙවනවා means "to pay" and is not used for ordering

5. මෙය හරිම රසයි.

   Me-ya ha-ri-ma ra-sa-yi.

   This has a wonderful flavor.

   Usage

   Used to compliment the taste of a wine

   Grammar Note

   රස = taste/flavor (noun); රසයි is the predicative "is tasty". හරිම = very (colloquial intensifier). Note: ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ means "great/supreme" of people and sacred places, not of a flavour

6. මෙය අලුත් වයින්.

   Me-ya a-lut va-yin.

   This is a young wine.

   Usage

   Used to describe a young wine

   Grammar Note

   ළමා means child(-s) and ශෝභාව means beauty/splendour — neither refers to a wine's age. Sinhala has no set expression for the tasting term young wine, so this card uses අලුත් (new) with වයින් (wine).

7. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වදේශීය වයින් ඇත්ද?

   Shrī lan-kā-vē sva-dē-shī-ya va-yin æt-da?

   Is there a locally produced wine from Sri Lanka?

   Usage

   Used to ask about locally made wine

   Grammar Note

   ද්‍රාක්ෂා is the Sanskrit-derived form; the everyday word for grape is මිදි and for wine වයින්. The final ඇත්ද is an existential question form.

8. ශෙරී ග්ලාස් එකක් දෙන්නද?

   She-rī glās e-kak den-na-da?

   A glass of sherry, please.

   Usage

   Used to order a glass of sherry

   Grammar Note

   ශෙරී from English "sherry" and ග්ලාස් from English "glass". එකක් = one, දෙන්නද = will you give?

9. ස්පාකලිං වයින් ඇත්ද?

   Spā-ka-ling va-yin æt-da?

   Do you have sparkling wine?

   Usage

   Used to ask for sparkling wine

   Grammar Note

   ස්පාකලිං from English "sparkling". ඇත්ද = is there? (existential question)

10. ජය!

    Ja-ya!

    Cheers! (Victory)

    Usage

    Used as the common Sinhala toast

    Grammar Note

    ජය = victory (from Sanskrit jaya). The standard Sinhala toast/cheer

11. මේ වයින් සාදන්නේ කෙසේද?

    Mē va-yin sā-dan-nē ke-sē-da?

    How is this wine made?

    Usage

    Used to ask how a particular wine is made

    Grammar Note

    කෙසේද = how (manner question). සාදන්නේ (from සාදනවා, to make) is the focus form: how is (this wine) made? මේ = this

12. මේ වයින් සමඟ මොන කෑමක් නිර්දේශ කළ හැකිද?

    Mē va-yin sa-maṅ-ga mo-na kǣ-mak nir-dē-sha ka-la hæ-ki-da?

    What food pairs well with this wine?

    Usage

    Used to ask about food pairing for a wine

    Grammar Note

    සමඟ = with. මොන = which. නිර්දේශ කළ හැකිද = can you recommend?

13. මෙය ඇඹුල් රසය.

    Me-ya æm-bul ra-sa-ya.

    This wine is sour.

    Usage

    Used to describe a wine as too sour or acidic

    Grammar Note

    ඇඹුල් රස = sour taste, one of the four basic tastes alongside පැණි රස (sweet), ලුණු රස (salty) and තිත්ත රස (bitter). ශෝකය means grief, not sourness

14. මේ මිදි පැණි රසය.

    Mē mi-di pæ-ni ra-sa-ya.

    These grapes are sweet.

    Usage

    Used to describe the sweetness of grapes or wine

    Grammar Note

    මිදි is the everyday Sinhala word for grapes; the Sanskrit-derived ද්‍රාක්ෂා is barely used in modern Sinhala. පැණි රස = sweet taste

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