އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގު
“އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގު” (ehkolhah dhuvvaa magu) — one-way traffic in Maldivian. Noun, level B1. Literally 'a road on which one drives in one direction': the participle rides in front of the noun, like every description in Dhivehi. Half the streets of Male are like this. In a live sentence: “މިއީ އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގެއް” — This street has one-way traffic. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters އ, ެ, އ, ް, ކ, ޮ, ޅ, ަ, ށ, ް, ދ, ު.
In short
| Written in Maldivian | އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގު |
| Read in Latin letters | ehkolhah dhuvvaa magu |
| Translation | one-way traffic |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގުehkolhah dhuvvaa maguone-way traffic
Why it looks that way
Literally 'a road on which one drives in one direction': the participle rides in front of the noun, like every description in Dhivehi. Half the streets of Male are like this.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- މިއީ އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގެއްmiee ehkolhah dhuvvaa magehThis street has one-way traffic
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one-way traffic” in Maldivian?
«އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގު», read “ehkolhah dhuvvaa magu”. In a live sentence: “މިއީ އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގެއް” — This street has one-way traffic. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1; written with the characters އ, ެ, އ, ް, ކ, ޮ, ޅ, ަ, ށ, ް, ދ, ު.
How is “އެއްކޮޅަށް ދުއްވާ މަގު” written in Latin letters?
ehkolhah dhuvvaa magu. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'a road on which one drives in one direction': the participle rides in front of the noun, like every description in Dhivehi. Half the streets of Male are like this. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.