ފައިވާން ބޭލުން
“ފައިވާން ބޭލުން” (faivaan beylun) — to take off your shoes in Maldivian. Phrase, level A2. 'Footwear' plus 'takes off'. In the Maldives this is done before every house and mosque, and the shoes stay at the threshold. In a live sentence: “ގެއަށް ވަނުމުގެ ކުރިން ފައިވާން ބޭލުން” — Take off your shoes before entering the house. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ފ, ަ, އ, ި, ވ, ާ, ނ, ް, ބ, ޭ, ލ, ު.
In short
| Written in Maldivian | ފައިވާން ބޭލުން |
| Read in Latin letters | faivaan beylun |
| Translation | to take off your shoes |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
- ފައިވާން ބޭލުންfaivaan beylunto take off your shoes
Why it looks that way
'Footwear' plus 'takes off'. In the Maldives this is done before every house and mosque, and the shoes stay at the threshold.
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.
- ގެއަށް ވަނުމުގެ ކުރިން ފައިވާން ބޭލުންgeah vanumuge kurin faivaan beylunTake off your shoes before entering the house
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 “to take off your shoes” in Maldivian?
«ފައިވާން ބޭލުން», read “faivaan beylun”. In a live sentence: “ގެއަށް ވަނުމުގެ ކުރިން ފައިވާން ބޭލުން” — Take off your shoes before entering the house. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A2; written with the characters ފ, ަ, އ, ި, ވ, ާ, ނ, ް, ބ, ޭ, ލ, ު.
How is “ފައިވާން ބޭލުން” written in Latin letters?
faivaan beylun. 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?
'Footwear' plus 'takes off'. In the Maldives this is done before every house and mosque, and the shoes stay at the threshold. 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.