LingoflyBigger, smaller and "than"
To say "more expensive", first name the thing you compare with. It takes the ending -އަށްވުރެ ("than"), and the quality comes last. For example: “މި ފިހާރަ (fihaara) އެ ފިހާރައަށްވުރެ އަގުބޮޑު” (agubodu) — This shop is more expensive than that one. A rule from the Maldivian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
To say "more expensive", first name the thing you compare with. It takes the ending -އަށްވުރެ ("than"), and the quality comes last.
So it runs back to front: މި ފިހާރަ (fihaara) އެ ފިހާރައަށްވުރެ އަގުބޮޑު (agubodu) (mi fihaara e fihaaraahvure agubodu) — literally "this shop, than that shop, expensive".
English keeps "than" as a separate word in front of the second thing. In Divehi it is an ending, welded to what you compare with.
The quality itself never changes: އަގުބޮޑު (agubodu) is both "expensive" and "more expensive". The highest degree comes from the separate word އެންމެ (enme) ("most") in front of it.
Table
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Bigger, smaller and "than": how does it work in Maldivian?
To say "more expensive", first name the thing you compare with. It takes the ending -އަށްވުރެ ("than"), and the quality comes last.
What does it look like in a Maldivian example sentence?
“މި ފިހާރަ (fihaara) އެ ފިހާރައަށްވުރެ އަގުބޮޑު” (agubodu) (mi fihaara e fihaaraahvure agubodu) — This shop is more expensive than that one. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.