ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ
“ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ” (thiya beyfulhaa) — you (polite) in Maldivian. Pronoun, level A0, topic — pronouns. The polite you for one person: beyfulhaa is a respectful 'person'. The safe choice with any stranger. In a live sentence: “ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ ދިވެހިތޯ؟” — Are you Maldivian? You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ތ, ި, ޔ, ަ, ބ, ޭ, ފ, ު, ޅ, ާ. One of 25 words in the set “pronouns” in the Maldivian course.
In short
| Written in Maldivian | ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ |
| Read in Latin letters | thiya beyfulhaa |
| Translation | you (polite) |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A0 |
- ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާthiya beyfulhaayou (polite)
Why it looks that way
The polite you for one person: beyfulhaa is a respectful 'person'. The safe choice with any stranger
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.
- ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ ދިވެހިތޯ؟thiya beyfulhaa dhivehithoa?Are you Maldivian?
Nearby words: pronouns
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
- އަހަރެންaharenIAdd the tail -ge and it turns possessive: aharenge, 'my'
- ކަލޭkaleyyou (informal)The informal you, for close friends and equals only. To a stranger it sounds rude — there you use thiya beyfulhaa
- އޭނާeynaaheDhivehi has no grammatical gender: eynaa means both he and she. Only the situation tells them apart
- އަހަރެމެންaharemenweThe plural of aharen: the ending -men turns 'I' into 'we'. There is no dual number in Dhivehi
- އެމީހުންemeehuntheyLiterally 'those people': e, 'that', plus meehun, 'people'. About things you don't say it that way
- އަހަރެންގެaharengemyFrom aharen, 'I', plus the genitive tail -ge. All possessives are built this way
- ކަލޭގެkaleygeyour (informal)The step for an equal. For an elder it's thiya beyfulhaage — the register gap is wider than in English
- އަހަރެމެންގެaharemengeourFrom aharemen, 'we': the plural is built with the tail -men, not a different root
- ތިޔަބޭފުޅުންގެthiyabeyfulhungeyour (polite)The polite form, and one of the longest everyday words in the language. In writing it gets shortened
- އޭނާގެeynaagehis, her, theirNo gender again: eynaage works for a man or a woman alike. 'Their' is emeehunge
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “pronouns”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “you (polite)” in Maldivian?
The polite you for one person: beyfulhaa is a respectful 'person'. The safe choice with any stranger
- How do you say “your (informal)” in Maldivian?
The step for an equal. For an elder it's thiya beyfulhaage — the register gap is wider than in English
- How do you say “he” in Maldivian?
Dhivehi has no grammatical gender: eynaa means both he and she. Only the situation tells them apart
- How do you say “his, her, their” in Maldivian?
No gender again: eynaage works for a man or a woman alike. 'Their' is emeehunge
- How do you say “my” in Maldivian?
From aharen, 'I', plus the genitive tail -ge. All possessives are built this way
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 “you (polite)” in Maldivian?
«ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ», read “thiya beyfulhaa”. In a live sentence: “ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ ދިވެހިތޯ؟” — Are you Maldivian? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Pronoun, level A0, from the set “pronouns”; written with the characters ތ, ި, ޔ, ަ, ބ, ޭ, ފ, ު, ޅ, ާ.
How is “ތިޔަ ބޭފުޅާ” written in Latin letters?
thiya beyfulhaa. 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?
The polite you for one person: beyfulhaa is a respectful 'person'. The safe choice with any stranger. 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.