LingoflyAt a café and a restaurant in Maldivian
13 words in Maldivian on the topic “at a café and a restaurant”: ކޮފީ (kofee) — coffee, ސައި (sai) — tea, ބޭނުން (beynun) — want, need, ބިލު (bilu) — bill. 13 words can be played from recordings.
13 words on the topic
- ކޮފީkofeecoffeeAn English loanword written in Thaana. There are many like it — listen for the familiar
- ސައިsaiteaSai means both tea and a light meal in general: the morning sai is breakfast
- ބޭނުންbeynunwant, needOne word for 'want' and 'need': fen beynun, 'water is needed'
- ބިލުbilubillEnglish bill — the check in a cafe or for a service. A bank account is a different word, account
- ކެފޭkefeycafeA city word — a place with coffee, air conditioning and wifi. The island hotaa opens at dawn and serves coffee in a glass, not a cup
- ކްރޮސާންkroasaancroissantDhivehi writes the loan by sound: k with a sukun is a bare consonant — hence the kr- cluster no native word ever has
- ކިރު ކޮފީkiru kofeecoffee with milkThe description first, no preposition: kiru plus kofee — the same order as hunu fen, 'hot water'
- ބިލު ދެއްވާbilu dhevvaathe bill, pleaseThere is no word for 'please' here: all the politeness sits in the verb form — dhevvaa instead of the plain dhee
- ކޮފީ ޖޯޑެއްkofee joadeha cup of coffeeIndefiniteness is an ending, not an article: joadu, 'a cup', takes -eh and becomes joadeh, 'one cup'
- ހަކުރު އަޅާhakuru alhaawith sugarThe partner of hakuru naalhaa, 'without sugar': take the negation off the verb and what is left is 'put sugar'
- އިތުރު އެއްޗެއް ބޭނުންތޯ؟ithuru echcheh beynuntho?anything else?The polite question is assembled by the particle -tho on the end: beynun, 'needed', becomes beynuntho, 'do you need'
- ކްރޮސާނާއި ކޮފީkroasaanaai kofeea croissant and a coffee'And' is no separate word: -aai glues onto the first name, and kroasaan plus -aai turns into kroasaanaai
- ހޮޓާhotaacafe, tea shopThe island cafe and tea shop is hotaa, in full sai hotaa; a city cafe with air conditioning is kefey. The hotaa opens at dawn and pours coffee in a glass, not a cup. You go hotaa-ah — the -ah ending answers 'to where?', as everywhere
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
ކޮފީ (kofee) — coffee. An English loanword written in Thaana. There are many like it — listen for the familiar.
ސައި (sai) — tea. Sai means both tea and a light meal in general: the morning sai is breakfast.
ބޭނުން (beynun) — want, need. One word for 'want' and 'need': fen beynun, 'water is needed'.
ބިލު (bilu) — bill. English bill — the check in a cafe or for a service. A bank account is a different word, account.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is ކޮފީ (kofee) — coffee.
- What is this word?
It is ބިލު ދެއްވާ (bilu dhevvaa) — the bill, please.
- What is this word?
It is ސައި (sai) — tea.
- What is this word?
It is ކޮފީ ޖޯޑެއް (kofee joadeh) — a cup of coffee.
- What is this word?
It is ބޭނުން (beynun) — want, need.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “coffee” in Maldivian?
An English loanword written in Thaana. There are many like it — listen for the familiar
- How do you say “the bill, please” in Maldivian?
There is no word for 'please' here: all the politeness sits in the verb form — dhevvaa instead of the plain dhee
- How do you say “tea” in Maldivian?
Sai means both tea and a light meal in general: the morning sai is breakfast
- How do you say “a cup of coffee” in Maldivian?
Indefiniteness is an ending, not an article: joadu, 'a cup', takes -eh and becomes joadeh, 'one cup'
- How do you say “want, need” in Maldivian?
One word for 'want' and 'need': fen beynun, 'water is needed'
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Order, ask the price, ask for the bill. A short and entirely predictable conversation — a convenient place to test yourself for the first time.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “coffee” in Maldivian?
«ކޮފީ» (kofee), read “kofee”. An English loanword written in Thaana. There are many like it — listen for the familiar. It is one of 13 words in the set “at a café and a restaurant” — the rest are in the table above.
How many café phrases do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 13 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
Is there audio?
Yes, 13 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.