Maldivian grammar
Maldivian grammar explained in plain words. Simple grammar with no gender and no articles, short words. What is harder: right-to-left script and an almost total lack of textbooks in English.
Notes
- 📐The verb always comes lastDivehi builds a sentence as subject → object → verb. "I eat rice" comes out as "I rice eat": އަހަރެން ބަތް ކަނީ.
- 📐No gender, no articlesNouns are not split into genders, and there are no articles. އޭނާ means both "he" and "she" at once.
- 📐The question particles -ތަ and -ތޯTo turn a statement into a question, a particle is attached to a word: -ތަ (-tha) in ordinary speech and -ތޯ (-tho)…
- 📐Three levels of politenessIn Divehi the choice of the word for "you" is a social decision, not grammar.
- 📐Present tense in -ނީ (-nee)The form in -ނީ describes what is happening now or in general: ދަނީ (go), ކަނީ (eat), ބޮނީ (drink), އުޅެނީ (live).
- 📐Bigger, smaller and "than"A Divehi comparison is assembled back to front. You first name the thing you compare with, hang the ending -އަށްވުރެ…
- 📐Where, where to, where from: endings instead of prepositionsThere are no prepositions in Divehi. Instead of "in", "on", "from", an ending is glued to the word, and the question…
- 📐The plural that is usually not thereThe main news: the plural in Divehi is optional. If the conversation already makes it clear there are many things, the…
- 📐Yesterday: the past tenseThe familiar form in -ނީ is "now": ދަނީ (go), ވެހެނީ (pour). For the past, Divehi changes not the ending but the whole…
- 📐Request, command and the polite -ތޯAt a bank window and in a doctor's reception room Divehi sounds different than at the market, and the difference rests…
- 📐Tomorrow: the future tenseThe present in -ނީ (ދަނީ — go) is known since unit four, the past since unit eight. One tense is left, and it is…
- 📐"Give me": the addressee in -އަށްThe course has known the pronouns since unit one, but there they all stood as the subject: އަހަރެން, ކަލޭ, އޭނާ. To say…
- 📐Definiteness: what Divehi uses instead of an articleThere is no article in Divehi, but the language does express the difference between "that very one" and "just any one"…
- 📐Number: -ތައް, -ން and countingThe plural in Divehi is not always there, and that is the main thing to know about it. The endings are familiar from…
- 📐Must, may, must not"Have to" is assembled from the verb in -ން and the word ޖެހޭ ("it comes to"): ދާން ޖެހޭ — "have to go", ފުރަން ޖެހޭ…
- 📐This, that and here: the demonstratives މި, ތި, އެDivehi has not two demonstratives but three, and they are sorted not by distance but by whose hands the thing is in. މި…
- 📐Whose is it: the ending -ގެPossessive pronouns do not exist in Divehi at all. There is one ending, -ގެ, which clings to any name and any pronoun…
- 📐Very, too, a little: degree and judgmentDegree in Divehi is expressed by separate words in front of the adjective, not by endings. ވަރަށް ("very") is the most…
- 📐Without a subject: I am cold, it is raining, it can be heardA whole layer of Divehi gets along without an agent. "It is raining" is ވާރޭ ވެހެނީ, and the subject here is the rain…
- 📐Two thoughts in one sentence: ކަމަށް, ވީމާ, ނަމަ, އިރުThe sentences so far were short. Now they get stitched together — and in Divehi the seam always stands at the end of…
- 📐How much exactly: ގިނަ, މަދު, ހުރިހާ, ބައެއްQuantity stands in front of the noun and itself never changes, neither by number nor by anything else: ގިނަ ދަރިވަރުން…
- 📐The description in front: the participle instead of "which"There is no word for "which" in Divehi. The describing clause folds into a participle and stands in front of the noun…
- 📐Comparing whole descriptions: -އަށްވުރެ and -ހާThe adjective in Divehi does not change in a comparison — what changes is the thing you compare with. -އަށްވުރެ…
- 📐If and if only: -އިއްޔާ, ނަމަ, ނަމަވެސްThe condition in Divehi closes its part rather than opening it. A real condition is the ending -އިއްޔާ on the verb…
- 📐The most: one word, އެންމެThere is no superlative as a form in Divehi — there is the word އެންމެ in front of the adjective: އެންމެ ބޮޑު ކޮޓަރި…
- 📐Already, still and all this while: aspect and durationDivehi has three tenses, and aspect as a separate form does not exist: what English shows with the pair "was doing…
- 📐Someone else's words: ކަމަށް and the question without a question markReported speech is assembled in the mirror image of English. English says "he said" first and "that…" after; in Divehi…
- 📐Who did it is not said: the passive voiceOfficial Divehi almost never names the doer. Passivity is given by the insert -ެވު- in front of the ending: ހުށަހެޅުން…
- 📐Probably and hardly: the verb carries the probabilityEnglish grades certainty with adverbs: "definitely", "probably", "maybe", "hardly". Divehi cannot do that — the verb…
- 📐Cause, purpose, time, concession: where the link standsThe third wave showed four seams (ކަމަށް, ވީމާ, ނަމަ, އިރު). Now they are to be sorted by meaning — and one general…
- 📐A quality from a noun: -ވެރި, -ތެރި, -ގަދަ, -ކުޑަDivehi has few adjectives "from scratch": ބޮޑު, ކުޑަ, ދިގު, ކުރު, ރީތި — that is nearly the whole list. The other…
- 📐A noun from a verb: the endings -ުން and -ކަންDivehi verbs have no dictionary form, and where English uses the infinitive, Divehi takes the action noun in -ުން…
- 📐One thing after another: -ފައި and -ކޮށް in one sentenceA recipe, an instruction and a story of the day all rest on one device: in the sentence only the last verb is finite…
- 📐Do it for me: the tail -ދިނުންEnglish "buy me...", "bring me...", "explain to me" Divehi passes not with a pronoun but with a second verb in the…
- 📐It broke by itself: -ކުރުން against -ވުންEnglish tells "he broke it" from "it broke" with different words and word order; Divehi tells them apart with one pair…
- 📐Weather without a subject: ވެހުން, ޖެހުން, ދިނުންEnglish speaks of the weather with "it" — "it is raining", "the wind blows", "the sun shines" — and Divehi does the…
- 📐Where it is: place words and the ending -ގައިTo explain the way is to place one location relative to another, and here Divehi parts ways with English twice.
- 📐I can, it works out, I have toThree English thoughts — "I know how", "I managed", "I have to" — Divehi builds in three different ways, and in all…
- 📐It was and it will be: the tenses of the Divehi verbThe unit about life is the only place in the course where the past and the future stand side by side, and here it is…
- 📐Polite and soft: -ބަލަ, -ލަ-, -ތޯ and the honorific verbsA conversation in Divehi rests not on the words "please" and "sorry" but on four softening devices, and all four live…
- 📐Who does it: -ވެރިޔާ, -ތެރިޔާ and "ކުރާ މީހާ"Unit forty gives twenty professions, and half of them need not be memorized — they can be assembled. The note of unit…
- 📐With what and from where: the ending -ުންUnit two gave the ending -އަށް — "to whom, where to". Unit forty-one demands its pair: -ުން answers "with what, from…
- 📐Social, political, legal: the tail -ީUnit forty-two is entirely about society, and half of its words are Arabic names with the same little tail. This is no…
- 📐This and is: the link -އަކީ and -އީUnit one gave the phrase ނަމަކީ — "my name is". There the tail -އަކީ slipped by as part of the word; at B1 it becomes…
- 📐Three "no"s: ނު-, ނެތް and ނޫންThe course has been saying "no" since unit one, but with different words and without explaining the difference. Unit…
- 📐A measure from a quality: -މިން, -ދަން and multiplesUntil unit forty-five the course had exactly one measure — ކިލޯ. The reason is not poverty of the language but that a…
- 📐It aches not "with me" but "in the back": three frames of feeling unwellUnit twenty-one showed the impersonal frame with the addressee in -އަށް: އަހަންނަށް ފިނިވަނީ — "I am cold". Unit…
- 📐A wish and a plea to heaven: ...އަށް އެދެން and the tail -ށިUnit forty-seven consists entirely of cases where one has to WISH something: a wedding, a housewarming, a graduation, a…
- 📐Who is admired and who is resented: the postposition ދެކެIn unit forty-eight half the verbs are about one's attitude to a person: admire, value, condemn, fear, love. English…
- 📐Except, instead of and without: three postpositions instead of three prepositionsUnit forty-nine gathers the supports for a complex sentence, and three of them English counts as prepositions. Divehi…
- 📐A quality and a noun of quality: -ކަން, -ކޮށް, -ވުން, -ކުރުންUnit fifty gives twenty qualities of a thing, and half of them need not be learned separately — they can be assembled.…
- 📐Where, where to, where from: -ގައި, -އަށް, -ުން and the place nounsUnit fifty-one looks like a list of prepositions, but there is not a single one in it. Divehi puts place into a case…
- 📐Fractions, multiples and comparison: ބައިކުޅަ, ގުނަ, ވުރެUnit fifty-two demands three things: to say a fraction, to say "so many times over" and to compare two quantities. Each…
- 📐Began, kept on, gave up: the second verb beside the main oneEnglish shows the phase with a prefix or an adverb: "started", "kept on", "stopped". Divehi has no prefixes, and the…
- 📐Not "I found out" but "it became clear to me": the doer in the dativeThis is the main note of the wave, and it is about where English and Divehi part ways the most. A whole class of Divehi…
- 📐Time without prepositions: އިރު, -ނަމަ and the cases on timeUnit fifty-five looks like a list of time adverbs, but there are almost no adverbs in it. Divehi puts time with the…
- 📐A word out of two words: ގަނޑު, ކޮޅު, ކޮށި and the genitiveUnits fifty-six and fifty-seven are packed with words Divehi does not have in one piece: "glacier", "deposit", "work…
- 📐A verb instead of an adjective: -ާ, -ޭ, -ފައި and -ެވޭDivehi has few adjectives and many verbs, and where English puts a quality, Divehi more often puts a participle. Units…
- 📐Someone else's words: the particle -ޯ, ކަމަށް and ގޮތުންEnglish passes someone else's speech with the conjunction "that" and quotation marks. Divehi has neither: the reporting…
- 📐What a person is like: -ތެރި, -ވެރި, -ކަން and turns instead of wordsUnit fifty-nine is the last in the course, and it is assembled from the same bricks as unit forty. The difference is…
- 📐އާދެ and އާން: the two "yes"es of DhivehiBoth words mean "yes", and choosing between them is not grammar but politeness. އާދެ is the polite one: it answers…
- 📐ރަނގަޅު and ބަރާބަރު: answering ކިހިނެއް؟Both words are answers to ކިހިނެއް؟. ރަނގަޅު means "fine, all right" and fits almost any situation. ބަރާބަރު is…
What is hard about Maldivian and what comes for free
Hard: right-to-left script and an almost total lack of textbooks in English.
Easy: simple grammar with no gender and no articles, short words.
This is not a verdict on the language but a hint on where to spend effort. The hard parts are best taken a little at a time and often; the easy parts — left alone while they work by themselves.
Frequently asked
Is the grammar of Maldivian complicated?
Right-to-left script and an almost total lack of textbooks in English is the main difficulty. In return, simple grammar with no gender and no articles, short words.
Should grammar be learned separately?
Not as a separate course. A rule learned before you need it is forgotten before you meet it. It is more useful to work it out at the moment you stumble over it.