Subtitle Translator
English → Natural Spoken Sinhala (කථික සිංහල)
See it in action
A real subtitle file translated into natural spoken Sinhala — the kind of colloquial language that actually sounds right when you watch a film. No stiff textbook phrases, just how people really talk.
| # | Timestamp | English | Spoken Sinhala |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 00:00:12,400 → 00:00:15,100 | Are you out of your mind? The cops are already outside! | උඹට පිස්සුද බං? පොලීසිය දැන් එළියෙම ඉන්නවා! |
| 2 | 00:00:15,500 → 00:00:18,200 | Relax, man. Everything is going according to plan. | කලබල වෙන්න එපා මචං. හැමදේම ප්ලෑන් එකටමයි වෙන්නෙ. |
| 3 | 00:00:18,600 → 00:00:21,800 | According to plan? Look at that vault door, it won't budge! | ප්ලෑන් එකට? අර සේප්පුවේ දොර බලපන්කො, හෙලවෙන්නෙවත් නෑ! |
| 4 | 00:00:22,100 → 00:00:25,300 | Give me ten seconds. Stop panicking and watch my back. | තත්පර දහයක් දියන්. බය නැතුව මගෙ පස්ස බලන් හිටපන්. |
| 5 | 00:00:25,700 → 00:00:28,900 | We don't have ten seconds! We gotta get out of here right now! | තත්පර දහයක් නෑ අපිට! දැන්ම මෙතනින් මාරු වෙන්න ඕනෙ! |
| 6 | 00:00:29,200 → 00:00:32,000 | Trust me just this once. I'm not leaving without that hard drive. | මේ එක පාරකට මාව විශ්වාස කරපන්. මම ඒ හාඩ් ඩ්‍රයිව් එක නැතුව යන්නෙ නෑ. |
| 7 | 00:01:05,120 → 00:01:08,450 | Why did you tell her I know how to speak French? | ඇයි එයාට කිව්වෙ මට ප්‍රංශ කතා කරන්න පුළුවන් කියලා? |
| 8 | 00:01:08,800 → 00:01:11,900 | Because she asked, and you looked like someone who would! | එයා ඇහුවනෙ, අනික ඔයා දැක්කමත් එහෙම පුළුවන් කෙනෙක් වගේනෙ පේන්නෙ! |
| 9 | 00:01:12,200 → 00:01:15,300 | I don't know a single word! What if she starts talking to me? | මට එක වචනයක්වත් බෑ! එයා මට කතා කරන්න ගත්තොත් මොකද කරන්නෙ? |
| 10 | 00:01:15,600 → 00:01:18,700 | Just nod, smile, and say 'Oui'. It works every single time. | ඔලුව වනලා, හිනාවෙලා, "Oui" කියන්න. හැමදාම ඕක හරි යනවා. |
| 11 | 00:00:02.000 → 00:00:05.500 | Hey guys, welcome back to another video! | හලෝ යාලුවනේ, අදත් අලුත් වීඩියෝ එකකට ඔයාලව සාදරයෙන් පිළිගන්නවා! |
| 12 | 00:00:06.000 → 00:00:09.800 | Today we are testing this new camera to see if it's worth your money. | අද අපි මේ අලුත් කැමරාව ටෙස්ට් කරලා බලනවා මේකට වියදම් කරන මුදලට වටිනවද කියලා. |
12 cues · Mixed genres · UTF-8 encoded .srt
Translate your own subtitles
Sign in once with Google to upload and translate your own .srt or .vtt files. Sign-in enforces per-user fair-use limits so the free shared tier stays available for everyone — no payment is ever required.
- Completely free — translate any subtitle file up to 2,000 cues with no subscription or credit card.
- Fair-use rate limit — the shared service allows 60 requests per minute per account, keeping the tool fast for all visitors.
- Optional personal Gemini key — add your own free Gemini API key in Settings to bypass the rate limit entirely and use your own quota.
- Your files stay private — subtitle text is processed in transit only; we never store your scripts or transcripts.
Google Sign-In · No password needed · Free forever
How to get the best translation
AI translation works best when your source file is clean and well-structured. Follow these six tips for results that need minimal manual correction.
- 1
Start with clean English
Fix OCR artefacts, typos, and garbled characters before uploading. Noisy input like "Wh@t d1d y0u say" confuses the model and produces inaccurate Sinhala.
- 2
Use proper punctuation
Periods, question marks, and commas tell the model where sentences end. Missing punctuation can cause two separate thoughts to be merged into one Sinhala clause.
- 3
Keep one speaker per cue
If a subtitle block has two characters speaking back-to-back (marked with dashes or brackets), split them into separate cues. Mixed-speaker cues often lose speaker attribution in translation.
- 4
Spell character names consistently
The model preserves proper nouns as-is, transliterating to Sinhala script only when appropriate. Inconsistent spelling — "Jon" vs "John" — can cause the same character to be handled differently across cues.
- 5
Review before publishing
AI can misread ambiguous context — "bank" might be translated as a financial institution when the scene is about a river bank. Always read through the Sinhala output before sharing or uploading to a video.
- 6
Keep the UTF-8 file as downloaded
SriSubs exports every file with a UTF-8 BOM so media players display Sinhala Unicode characters correctly. Avoid re-saving the file in a text editor that changes encoding (e.g. Windows Notepad in ANSI mode).
Supported files and limits
All limits listed below apply per translation session on the shared free tier.
- Accepted formats
- .srt (SubRip), .vtt (WebVTT)
- Max file size
- 2 MB
- Max cues per session
- 2,000 cues
- Translation batch size
- 12 cues per request
- Shared tier rate limit
- 60 requests / minute
- Personal key rate limit
- Unlimited
Both formats supported for input and output
Files larger than this are rejected before processing
Enough for any feature-length film subtitle file
Cues are grouped and sent in parallel batches for speed
≈ 720 cues per minute on the free tier
Add your own Gemini API key in Settings to bypass the shared limit entirely.
Supported Subtitle Formats & Encoding Requirements
SriSubs is built specifically for video lovers and subtitlers who want clean, readable Sinhala subtitles on their devices. Before uploading, here is what you need to know about compatible subtitle formats and encoding.
The Standard for Movies & TV Players
SubRip is the most widely compatible subtitle format in existence. It works out of the box with VLC, MX Player, MPV, Media Player Classic, and nearly every modern Smart TV brand (Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL). SRT files store sequential dialogue numbers, start and end timestamps, and plain text cues.
Modern HTML5 Video & Streaming
WebVTT is the standard format used by web browsers, YouTube, and mobile streaming applications. It looks similar to SRT but begins with a WEBVTT header and uses dot-separated millisecond timestamps. SriSubs allows you to upload either format and convert seamlessly during export.
The Sinhala script relies on complex Unicode characters (vowel signs, hal-kirima, and combative ligatures). If a subtitle file is saved using older legacy encodings like ANSI or Windows-1252, media players cannot recognize the letters and will show strange symbols, question marks, or blank squares (“mojibake”).
SriSubs parses and exports every subtitle file in strict UTF-8 Unicode encoding automatically. When you download your finished subtitle file from SriSubs, it is pre-formatted with valid UTF-8 characters ready to display clearly on any screen.
How SriSubs Translates Your Subtitles
Translating dialogue is very different from translating a document. Conversational speech requires natural timing, realistic slang, and everyday vocabulary. Here is how our four-step translation process works:
Upload & Parse
Drop your original English .srt or .vtt file into the translator. Your browser instantly parses the cue indices, timestamps, and text blocks into structured data.
Natural Spoken AI
Our translation engine translates lines into natural spoken Sri Lankan Sinhala (කථික සිංහල) instead of stiff bookish prose, maintaining character emotion and conversational pace.
Inline Review & Edit
Inspect translations line by line in an interactive side-by-side view. You can adjust wording, fix character names, or type changes using our built-in Singlish phonetic helper.
One-Click Export
Export your finished subtitle as an UTF-8 encoded .srt or .vtt file. The exported file preserves original timecodes down to the millisecond.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about translating, editing, and playing Sinhala subtitles.
How long does translation take?
Most full-length movie subtitle files contain between 900 and 1,500 dialogue cues. Because SriSubs processes cues in rapid parallel batches, a standard feature film is typically translated in 1 to 2 minutes. Short TV episodes (300 to 500 cues) often finish in under 45 seconds.
Is my subtitle file uploaded to a server or processed locally?
Your subtitle file is read and parsed locally inside your web browser. During translation, text cues are transmitted over an encrypted secure connection to be translated in transient memory and immediately returned to your browser. We never store your subtitle files, scripts, or transcripts in any persistent database.
How do I load the translated file in VLC, MX Player, or on my TV?
Place the downloaded subtitle file in the same folder as your video file and give them the exact same name (for example, Inception.2010.mp4 and Inception.2010.si.srt). Most media players like VLC and MX Player will load the subtitle automatically. On smart TVs, make sure the subtitle encoding in your TV player settings is set to Unicode / UTF-8. You can also view our detailed Player Setup Guides for step-by-step instructions.
What if some lines need manual correction?
You have complete creative control. Once translation finishes, you can review the cues side-by-side. Click the “Edit” button on any cue row to modify the Sinhala text directly. If you don’t have a Sinhala keyboard installed, click the “Singlish Helper” button on the toolbar to type phonetically in English characters (e.g. typing “kohomada” generates “කොහොමද”).
Is SriSubs really free to use?
Yes, SriSubs is 100% free for personal use. We provide free translation credits powered by our shared service tier. For power users and professional subtitlers who want unlimited daily volume without rate limits, you can easily add your own free personal Gemini API key in Settings.