Cristian Beşleagă

A Grammar of Modern Standard Albanian

The whole book available on amazon

Tirana, 2022
 Table of Contents
FOREWORD ......................................................................................................... 9
ALPHABET OF THE ALBANIAN LANGUAGE ........................................................... 11
ARTICLE ............................................................................................................. 15
Postpositional Definite Article ................................................................................ 15
Prepositive Article .................................................................................................. 17
NOUN ................................................................................................................ 22
Category of Gender ................................................................................................ 22
Category of Case ..................................................................................................... 25
Plural ....................................................................................................................... 30
Masculine Gender................................................................................................... 30
Feminine Gender .................................................................................................... 42
Noun Declension in Singular ................................................................................... 47
First Declension ...................................................................................................47
Second Declension...............................................................................................50
Third Declension ..................................................................................................51
Fourth Declension................................................................................................55
Declension of acronyms ......................................................................................55
Noun Declension in Plural ...................................................................................... 56
Definite form and indefinite form .......................................................................... 59
Topics of noun determiners ................................................................................... 61
ADJECTIVE ......................................................................................................... 62
Clasification of adjectives ....................................................................................... 62
Feminine and plural of articulated adjectives ........................................................ 63
Feminine and plural of unarticulated adjectives .................................................... 64
Declension of adjectives ......................................................................................... 66
Declension of unarticulated adjectives, postponed, placed immediately after
the noun or with interspersed elements between noun and adjective..............67
Declension of articulated adjectives, postponed, placed immediately after the
noun .....................................................................................................................68
Declension of articulated adjectives, postponed, with interspersed elements
between noun and adjective ...............................................................................69
Declension of adjectives that accompany neuter nouns ....................................71
Declension of anteposed adjectives ....................................................................72
Nominalization of adjectives .................................................................................. 75
Comparative Degrees of Adjectives ....................................................................... 77
NUMERAL .......................................................................................................... 80
Cardinal Numeral .................................................................................................... 80

5
 Ordinal Numeral ..................................................................................................... 83
Nominalized Numeral ............................................................................................. 84
Fractional Numeral ................................................................................................. 85
PRONOUN ......................................................................................................... 86
Personal Pronoun ................................................................................................... 86
Use of full and short forms of the personal pronoun..........................................87
Contracted forms of the personal pronoun ........................................................91
Position of short forms of the personal pronoun ................................................92
Use of short forms of the personal pronoun in combination with the subjunctive
particle të and the infinitival construction për të ................................................94
Use of short forms of the personal pronoun with non-active forms of the verb94
Reflexive Pronoun................................................................................................... 95
Demonstrative Pronoun ......................................................................................... 96
Possessive Pronoun ................................................................................................ 99
Reflexive Possessive Pronoun............................................................................... 108
Interrogative Pronoun .......................................................................................... 109
Relative Pronoun .................................................................................................. 111
Indefinite Pronoun................................................................................................ 112
VERB ................................................................................................................121
Person and Number.............................................................................................. 121
Voice ..................................................................................................................... 121
Mood .................................................................................................................... 123
Tenses ................................................................................................................... 123
Verb Conjugation .................................................................................................. 123
First conjugation ................................................................................................126
Second conjugation ...........................................................................................128
Irregular Verbs ...................................................................................................130
Indicative Mood .................................................................................................... 131
Present Tense ....................................................................................................131
Imperfect Tense .................................................................................................135
Past Simple Tense ..............................................................................................138
Present Perfect Tense........................................................................................144
Past Perfect Tense .............................................................................................145
Pluperfect Tense ................................................................................................146
Future Tense ......................................................................................................... 147
Future Perfect Tense .........................................................................................149
Future in the past Tense and Future Perfect in the past Tense ........................150
Subjunctive Mood................................................................................................. 151
Present Tense ....................................................................................................152
6
 Imperfect Tense .................................................................................................154
Present Perfect Tense........................................................................................154
Past Perfect Tense .............................................................................................155
Conditional Mood ................................................................................................. 157
Present Tense ....................................................................................................157
Perfect Tense .....................................................................................................158
Admirative Mood.................................................................................................. 159
Present Tense ....................................................................................................159
Imperfect Tense .................................................................................................161
Present Perfect Tense........................................................................................162
Past Perfect Tense .............................................................................................162
Optative Mood ..................................................................................................... 163
Present Tense ....................................................................................................163
Perfect Tense .....................................................................................................169
Imperative Mood .................................................................................................. 170
Participle ............................................................................................................... 177
Gerund .................................................................................................................. 181
ADVERB ............................................................................................................183
Determinative adverbs ......................................................................................... 183
Circumstantial adverbs ......................................................................................... 184
Interrogative adverbs ........................................................................................... 186
Comparative degrees of adverbs.......................................................................... 186
PREPOSITION ....................................................................................................190
Prepositions with the Nominative ........................................................................ 190
Prepositions with the Genitive ............................................................................. 191
Prepositions with the Accusative ......................................................................... 192
Prepositions with the Ablative ............................................................................. 195
CONJUNCTION ..................................................................................................201
Coordinating conjunctions ................................................................................... 201
• Copulative .....................................................................................................201
• Disjunctive ....................................................................................................202
• Adversative ...................................................................................................202
• Conclusive .....................................................................................................202
Subordinating conjunctions .................................................................................. 203
• Completive ....................................................................................................203
• Of Place .........................................................................................................203
• Of Time .........................................................................................................204
• Of Cause ........................................................................................................204
• Of Purpose ....................................................................................................205
7
 ▪ Comparative .................................................................................................205
• Conditional....................................................................................................206
• Consecutive...................................................................................................206
• Concessive ....................................................................................................206
• Adversative ...................................................................................................207
PARTICLE ..........................................................................................................208
INTERJECTION ...................................................................................................211
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................213

8
 FOREWORD

This Grammar of Modern Standard Albanian supports those interested in

discovering or deepening their knowledge of the grammatical rules of
contemporary Albanian. Aspects of the modern standard language have been
treated in detail, but numerous references to the spoken language have also
been included.
I hope, therefore, that the presentation of various topics will help both those
who learn Albanian in an organised course and those who prefer individual
study, as well as motivate them and arouse their interest in increasing their
knowledge of Albanian grammar.
I express my gratitude to linguist Rami Memushaj, author of numerous books
and articles on Albanian linguistics, for the recommendations he gave me after
reading the theoretical part of the book. My thanks go to Eda Merepeza,
Luljeta Shtino and Maria Miho, to whom I am grateful for their suggestions.
The present English edition could not have seen the light of day without the
assistance of Shpëtim Madani, whom I thank for his valuable review of this
book. The knowledge I acquired while working on a master's degree in
contemporary Albanian linguistics, which I obtained from the University of
Tirana, was also useful for this work, and I thank all the professors at the
Department of Linguistics there.
With the wish that this Grammar of Modern Standard Albanian will prove its
practical usefulness, I thank in advance those who will use it. Their suggestions
and comments are always welcome.

Cristian Beșleagă

9
ALPHABET OF THE ALBANIAN LANGUAGE ‖ ALFABETI I GJUHËS
SHQIPE

Letter Pronunciation Example

A, a like a in “father”, “past” ashtụ “so”
B, b like b in “but”, “boy” bụrrë “man”
C, c like ts in “pants”, “facts” cigạre “cigarette”
Ç, ç like ch in “child”, “choose” çarçạf “bed sheet”
D, d like d in “day”, “doctor” dashurị “love”
Dh, dh like th in “this”, “that” dhëmb “tooth”
E, e like e in “chest”, mendọj “I think”
Ë, ë like a in “around”, “about”; see also vë “I put”
“Notes on pronunciation”
F, f like f in “fine”, “food” flụtur “butterfly”
G, g like g in “go”, “good” gërmë “letter”
Gj, gj See “Notes on pronunciation” gjak “blood”
H, h like h in “hot”, “hate” ha “I eat”
I, i like i “list” or ee in “see” idẹ “idea”
J, j like y in “yellow”, “yummy” jap “I give”
K, k like c in “scooter”, “scream” kịle “kilogram”
L, l like l in “light”, “less” lụle “flower”
Ll, ll like l in “ball”, “call” pllạkë “tile”
M, m like m in “many”, “much” marr “I take”
N, n like n in “nose”, “nothing” nuk “not”
Nj, nj like n in English in “canyon” or “new”, njoh “I know”
like “ñ” in Spanish, “gn” in Italian, “nh”
in Portuguese.
O, o similar to oo in “door”, but shorter ọrë “hour”
P, p like p in “spin”, “apple” parạ “money”
Q, q See “Notes on pronunciation” qaj “I cry”
R, r See “Notes on pronunciation” re “cloud”
Rr, rr similar to r in “through”, like rr in span. rrụgë “street”
“carro”

11
 S, s like s in “silver”, “sound” sụpë “soup”
Sh, sh like sh in “shame”, or s in “sugar”; see shirịt “shoelace”
also “Notes on pronunciation”
T, t like t in “stone”, “step” telefọn “telephone”
Th, th like th in think, thought; see also “Notes them “I tell”
on pronunciation”
U, u like oo in “roof”, “cool” ụrë “bridge”
V, v like v in “vow”, “vote” vaj “oil”
X, x like ds in “ads” xixëllọnjë “firefly”
Xh, xh like j in “jar”, “joke” xhuxh “dwarf”
Y, y like uu in “vacuum”, or u in fr. une, ü in ylbẹr “rainbow”
germ. über
Z, z like z in “zone”, or s in “rose” zẹro “zero”
Zh, zh like s in “vision”, “casual” zhụrmë “noise”

Notes on pronunciation

gj – specific sound of to the Albanian language, slightly similar to engl. “jazz”,

“gentle”, scr. “đak”, pol. “dzień”.

q – specific sound of the Albanian language, slightly similar to engl. “Chinese”,

scr. “ćumur”, pol. “kochać”.

r – specific sound of the Albanian language, weaker than “r” in most of the
European languages, with one or two vibrations, at which the tip of the tongue
almost touches the alveoli, similar to engl. “robot”, “fire”.

sh – in compound nouns, where s is followed by h, the two consonants are

pronounced separately: i herëpashẹrshëm (herëpas‒hẹrshëm) “intermittent”.

th – in compound nouns or in some proper nouns where t is followed by h, the

two consonants are pronounced separately: shtathẹdhur (shtat‒hẹdhur) “tall”,
Mithạt (Mit-hạt), Ethẹm (Et‒hẹm).

12
Notes on the pronunciation of the vowel “ë”

The vowel “ë” is always pronounced in stressed syllables: mbrẹ̈mje , këtẹ̈ . In

unstressed syllables, it is pronounced in the following cases:

• in a closed syllable (consonant-terminated) before the stressed syllable:

dër-gọj, vër-tẹt.
• in an open syllable (ending in “ë”), when it is the first syllable in the
word: më-sịm, shë-tịt. In many cases, if followed by “rr”, the vowel “ë” can
be pronounced much softened, until completely omitted: ndë-rrọj, pë-
rrạllë.
• in a closed syllable after the stressed syllable: vẹgël, blẹrës.

The vowel “ë” is pronounced attenuated, until completely omitted, in the

following cases:

• in open syllable before the stressed syllable: kombë-tạr, gjuhë-sị.

• in final, open, unstressed syllable, it is not pronounced in everyday
speech: bọtë, shụmë.

Special attention must be paid to the correct pronunciation of the sounds,

otherwise confusion may occur.

r:rr var “to hang” - varr “grave”

rụaj “to guard” - rrụaj “to shave”
l:ll plạkë “old woman” - pllạkë “tile”
hạlë “fish bone” - hạllë “aunt”
ç:q çaj “to break; tea” - qaj “to cry”
fuçị “barrel” - fuqị “power”

Stress

In Albanian, the stress is mobile, meaning that it can fall on any syllable.
Usually, Albanian words are stressed on the penultimate syllable (e.g. makịna
“cars”) or on the last syllable (e.g. zilị “envy”). During the declension, the stress

13
usually remains on the same syllable (e.g. trẹgu i makịnave “the car fair”). In
some cases, it can shift (e.g. dhẹ̈ndër “son-in-law”, but dhëndụrë “sons-in-
law”).

Vowel quantity

Vowel quantity is the length of time a vowel is pronounced. Although it has no

phonological role in Albanian, e.g. it cannot cause confusion in case of incorrect
pronunciation, vowel quantity must nevertheless be taken into account for
correct pronunciation if we consider the standard version of Albanian.

When a word is stressed on the last syllable, the vowel is usually pronounced
short: byrẹk [e] “pie”, ndjẹk [e] “to follow”. Monosyllabic words with a key role
in a sentence may be pronounced slightly longer, e.g. Kur do vịsh? [u:] “When
will you come?”

When a word is stressed on the penultimate syllable, the vowel is usually

pronounced slightly longer: dorë [o:] “hand”, mirë [i:] “well”. In some cases,
the pronunciation may depend on the dialect. For example, kẹ̈mbë “leg”, prạpë
“again”, is pronounced long in the Geg dialect, while in standard pronunciation
the stressed vowel is medium or short in length.

The vowel of the stressed syllable in words stressed on the last syllable is
pronounced slightly longer if they receive different endings during declension
or conjugation.

byrẹk [e] – byrekun [e:]

ndjẹk [e] – ndjekin [e:]
flạs [a] – të flasë [a:]
vëllạ [a] – vëllai [a:]
ndẹr [e] – Faleminderit [e:]
profesọr [o] – profesorin [o:]
anglịsht [i] – anglishtja [i:]
thjẹsht [e] – i/e thjeshtë [e:]
shpẹjt [e] – i/e shpejtë [e:]

14
 ARTICLE ‖ NYJA

In Albanian there are two types of articles: the postpositional definite article,
postposed, accompanying nouns, possessive pronouns or nounized adjectives,
and the prepositive article, anteposed, characteristic of adjectives, nouns in the
genitive case and some special noun constructions.

The Postpositional Definite Article ‖ Nyja e prapme has functions similar

to the article “the” in English and indicates an object known to the speaker or
individuated from a crowd of similar objects. It changes according to the
gender, number and case of the noun.

mịku, mịkun, mịkut
tavolịna, tavolịnës
vạjzat, vạjzave
shtëpịtë, shtëpịve
ngjỵra e frụtave
ịmi dhe ỵti
e ḅardha dhe e zẹza
“the friend, (on) the friend, (of/to) the friend”
“the table, of the table”
“girls, of/to the girls”
“the houses, of/to the houses”
“the colour of the fruits”
„mine and yours”
„the white and the black

Overview of the declension of the postpositional definite article

Singular Plural
1st declension 2nd declension 3rd declension 4th declension
indef. det. indef. def. indef. def. indef det. ind def.
. ef.
N - i - u - a/ja - t/të - t/të
G i it u ut e s/së i it ve ve
D i it u ut e s/së i it ve ve
A - in/në - un/në - n/në - t/të - t/të
Ab i it u ut e s/së i it sh ve

N. det.: Televizọri ẹ̈shtë tẹpër i madh. “The TV is too big.”

A. det.: Vendọse televizọrin në dhọmën “Put the TV in the other room.”
tjẹtër.
15
 G. det. Ngjỵrat e televizọrit jạnë pak të “The colors of the TV are slightly
zbẹhta. pale.”
D. det. Mạcja i hịpi televizọrit. “The cat climbed on the TV.”
Ab. det. Fëmịja rrịnte pạra televizọrit “The child sat in front of the TV
dhe shikọnte fịlmin vizatimọr. and watched cartoons.”

N. det.: Në konkụrs u paraqịtën vạjzat “The most beautiful girls in the

më të bụkura të qytẹtit. city entered the contest.”

G. det.: Fustạnet e vạjzave ịshin shụmë “The girls’ skirts were very
modẹrne. modern.”
N. det.: Vạjza ime ẹ̈shtë në plazh. “My daughter is at the beach.”
D. det.: I kam tregụar gjithçkạ vạjzës “I told my daughter all about it.”
sịme.
G. Jam babại i një vạjze të bụkur. “I’m the father of a beautiful
indet.: girl.”
N. det.: Hẹkuri përdọret në ndërtịme. “Iron is used in construction.”

G. det.: Vëllại i saj mẹrret me “Her brother deals with iron

përpunịmin e hekụrit. processing.”
Ab. Më pëlqẹn më shụmë ajọ “I like that iron table more.”
indet.: tavolịna prej hẹkuri.

The forms -në, -së, -të occur in nouns ending in a stressed syllable. They are
described in detail in the chapter on noun declension.

N. Në vjẹshtë barịnjtë zbrẹsin nga “In autumn shepherds come

det.: mạli. down from the mountains.”
G. E ndihmọn gjithmọnë në pụnët e “They always help him with the
det.: shtëpịsë. housework.”

Notes:

 Feminine nouns ending in -ge, -ne (e.g. karrịge “(the) chair”, spiụne
“(the) spy”) receive the definite article -ia (instead of -ja): (karrịgia “chair”,
spiụnia “spy”).
16
 NOUN ‖ EMRI

Category of Gender ‖ Gjinia

In Albanian there are three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The
majority of nouns are masculine or feminine, while the neuter gender is
represented by a very small number of nouns.

Masculine Gender ‖ Gjinia mashkullore

Nouns of the masculine gender usually end in a consonant (laps “pencil”) or in

the stressed vowel -ạ, -ẹ, -ị (vëllạ “brother”, atdhẹ “homeland”, shalqị
“watermelon”). A small number of nouns ends in -ụa (ftụa “quince”) or
unstressed -ë (bạllë “forehead, front (line)”, brụmë “dough”, bụrrë “man”,
djạlë “boy”, djạthë “cheese”, dỵllë “wax”, dhạllë “buttermilk”, dhjạmë “fat”,
grụrë “wheat”, gjạlpë “butter”, gjụmë “sleep”, kạlë “horse”, lụmë “river”,
mjạltë “honey”, ụjë “water”). Nouns ending in other stressed vowels, which
during the declension receive a broadened stem (e.g. zë, zẹ̈ri “voice, the voice”,
hu, hụri “stake, the stake”) are also masculine.
A small number of masculine nouns, e.g. fëmịjë “child”, dạjë “mother’s
brother”, zotërị “master; lord” are declined as feminine nouns, but always
receive masculine determiners: fëmịjë i ụrtë “good child”, dạja im “my uncle”,
I nderụar Zotërị “Dear Sir”. Proper masculine nouns with specific feminine
endings are also declined as feminine nouns (e.g. Gạqo, Lẹka, etc.), but are
accompanied by masculine determiners: Lẹka i Madh “Alexander the Great”.
On the other hand, the noun mạmi “mother”, which is widely used in spoken
language, behaves like a masculine noun, receiving masculine gender
determiners when it is immediately after the noun (mạmi im “my mother”, but
mạmi im e mịrë “my good mother”, Mạmi im ẹ̈shtë e shkụrtër. “My mother is
short.”).

22
Feminine Gender ‖ Gjinia femërore

Most feminine nouns end in unstressed -ë or -e (fjạlë “word”, gjẹthe “leaf”,

bẹbe “baby”). Many nouns ending in -a, -e, -i, -o (kalạ “fortress”, re “cloud”,
shtëpị “house”, pạllto “coat”) are also feminine, as well as some of the nouns
ending in -ër, -ël, -ërr, -ur, -ull (mọtër “sister”, vẹgël “tool”, ẹ̈ndërr “dream”,
flụtur “butterfly”, pẹtull “doughnut”) and the nouns grụa “woman” and hụa
“loan”. Proper feminine nouns with masculine endings are declined as
masculine nouns (e.g. Nermịn, Lụli, Klẹdi, etc., in the genitive Nermịnit, Lụlit,
Klẹdit).

Neuter Gender ‖ Gjinia asnjanëse

The number of neuter nouns is extremely low in Albanian. In the modern

language, there are still five proper neuter nouns (dhjạmët “the inguinal
hernia”, ụjët “the water”, lẹshtë “the hair”, mịshtë “flesh”, krỵet2 “the head”).
To these are added those derived from noun participles (të qẹshurit “the
laugh”, të ẹcurit “the walk”) or from noun adjectives (të ftọhtët “the cold”, të
nxẹhtët “the heat”, të rịtë the “youth”).
Neutral nouns occur in expressions (në të hỵrë të vjẹshtës “at the coming of
autumn”, në të dạlë të Tirạnës “outside of Tirana”, si ụjët e pạkët “like a
treasure”, ụjët e họllë “number one”, la lẹshtë e kọkës “he run out (of money)”,
m’u ngrịtën lẹshtë e kọkës përpjẹtë “my hair went limp”, m’u ngjeth mịshtë
“the flesh curled on me”, na çạu krỵet “it drove us crazy”, me krỵet lart “with
my head up”, më dhemb krỵet “my head hurts”), but can also occur
independently (të fịkët “(the) fainting”, të vẹrdhët “(the) egg yolk; jaundice”).
Neutral nouns or noun adjectives also appear in adverbial locutions, formed
with the prepositions me, në or për (marr me të mịrë “to take with the breeze”,
me të shpẹjtë “in haste”, me të bụtë “with gentleness”, me të qẹshur “in
laughter”, me të pabẹsë “in bad faith”; në të lạrtë “on high”; për së ạfërmi
“closely”, për së gjạlli “(a)live”, për së gjạti “along”, për së gjẹri “across”, për së
lạrgu “by far”, për së tẹpërmi “beyond”.

2
These nouns also exist as masculine nouns, with meanings sometimes different from the
neuter form: dhjamë, det. dhjami “fat", ujë, det. uji, “water”, lesh, det. leshi “fur, bodyhair”,
mish, det. mishi “flesh”, krye, det. kreu “head; chapter; chief, chieftain”.
23
Plural ‖ Shumësi

Masculine Gender ‖ Gjinia mashkullore

Nouns with identical form in singular and plural nominative

Masculine nouns ending in -(ë)s, -ụes, -ỵes, -as:

(një) nxẹ̈nës → (disạ) nxẹ̈nës

“(a) pupil” “(some) pupils”
(një) përkthỵes → (disạ) përkthỵes
“(a) translator” “(some) translators”
(një) mësụes → (disạ) mësụes
“(a) teacher” “(some) teachers”
(një) maqedọnas → (disạ) maqedọnas
“(a) Macedonian” “(some) Macedonians”

Exception (një) çẹlës → (disạ) çẹlësa

“(a) key” “(some) keys”

The nouns bạllë “degree” (unit of measure for earthquake), dorëzạnë “tiller,
guarantor”, dụkë “duke”, lot “tear”, mụaj “month”, muzẹ “museum”, palạço
“clown”, qen “dog”, sy “eye”, tru “brain” have identical singular and plural
forms.
The plural indefinite form, nominative and accusative, is the same for nouns
that designate units of measurement and come from proper nouns (ampẹr,
man, herc, vat, volt). In the other cases, the vowel ë is written after the stem:
10 ampẹr, but 10 ampẹrët; 60 vat, but 60 vạtëve, 220 volt, but 220 vọltësh.

30
Nouns with different singular and plural nominative forms

Most Albanian nouns use suffixes to form the plural. In plural forms, other
phonetic changes may occur within the subject. For this reason, the plural is
one of the most difficult grammatical categories in Albanian grammar.

Nouns forming the plural with suffixes

→ -e

It is used to form the plural of nouns ending in -ạm4, -ạzh, -ẹzh, -ël, -ëm (in both
cases with the vowel drop -ë-), -ịm, -iọn, -(i)ụm, -ọzh, -ụs, as well as many
inanimate nouns ending in various consonants.

mal → mạle leksiọn → leksiọne

“mountain” “mountains” “lesson” “lessons”
qytẹt → qytẹte lloj → llọje
“city” “cities” “kind” “kinds”
cịkël → cịkle diagrạm → diagrạme
“cycle” “cycles” “diagram” “diagrams”

Exceptions një miliọn → dy, tre miliọnë

“one million” “two, tree millions”
→ miliọna njẹrëz
“millions of people”
me miliọna “by the millions”
një kamiọn → disạ kamiọnë
“one truck” “some trucks”
një kampiọn → shụmë kampiọnë
“one champion” “many champions”

Nouns whose subject ends in -k or -g and which form the plural in -e undergo
the phenomenon of palatalization: k → q and g → gj.

4
The noun gram and its compounds form the plural in -ë.
31
 rrezịk “danger” → rrezịqe
burg “prison” → bụrgje

In some cases, vocal alternations occur:

breg “shore” → brịgje

lak “snare” → lẹqe
shteg “path” → shtịgje

Similarly, nouns of Turkish origin ending in -llẹ̈k also form the plural:

budallallẹ̈k “nonsense” → budallallẹ̈qe

Nouns ending in -ẹk, -ỵk, -ịk, -ẹ̈k form the plural in -qe, which coexists with the
plural in -ë: byrẹk “pie”, dyshẹk “mattress”, hendẹk “ditch”, ibrịk “kettle”,
jastẹ̈k “pillow”, oxhạk “fireplace”.

ibrịk → ibrịqe/ibrịkë
“kettle” “kettles”
çek → çẹqe
“cheque; Czech” “cheques”
→ çẹkë
“Czechs”

Masculine plural nouns with the suffix -e are accompanied by determiners

(adjectives, pronouns) in the feminine gender.

mal i lạrtë → mạle të lạrta

“high mountain” “high mountains”
ky qytẹt → këtọ qytẹte
“this city” “these cities”

32
 → -a

The suffix -a is used as a plural mark for many animate nouns or objects, many
of them monosyllabic. These include nouns ending in -ër (with dropping of the
vowel -ë-), -ësh, -fọn, as well as nouns ending in -ịl, -ọl and -ọz, which do not
name beings.

bụrrë “man” → bụrra

derr “pig” → dẹrra
teạtër “theatre” → teạtra
trekẹ̈ndësh “triangle” → trekẹ̈ndësha
telefọn “telephone” → telefọna
trëndafịl “rose” → trëndafịla
kavanọz “jar” → kavanọza
gisht “finger” → gịshta5

The noun mẹtër “meter” and its compounds, as well as the following nouns
belonging to another plural category, exceptionally form the plural in -a.

Singular Plural
bel “hoe” bẹla
bilbịl “nightingale” bilbịla
brẹz “girdle; generation” brẹza
çengẹl “hook” çengẹla
kosh “basket” kọsha
shirịt “shoestring” shirịta
tegẹl “stich” tegela
tel “wire” tẹla
një (kilo)mẹtër “a (kilo)metre” dy (kilo)mẹtra

The usage has imposed the plural use of the feminine form of the determiners
of nouns ending in -zëm: paralelịzma leksikọre “lexical parallelisms”, turqịzma
të shụmta “numerous turcisms”. This usage also applies to other nouns

5
There is also the plural form gishtërịnj.
33
forming the plural in -a, examples of which appear in some established
lexicographical works (e.g. interẹsa jetësọre “vital interests”, interẹsa të
përbạshkëta “common interests”6). The same occurs with the noun metër and
its compounds dy centimẹtra katrọrë7/katrọre8 “two sqare centimeters”, dy-tri
kilomẹtra të tjẹra9 “another two or three kilometers”.

→ -ë

The suffix -ë is used to form the plural of plurisyllabic nouns, stressed on the
last syllable. They are mostly nouns ending in -ạc, -ạç10, -af, -ạk, -ạq, -ạsh, -ẹç,
-ẹk, -ẹn, -ịk, -ịn, -ịst, -ọk, -ọr11, -ọsh, -ọt, -tạr, -tọr, -ụk. This category also includes
nouns ending in -ịl and -ọz, when they indicate beings.

binjạk “twin” → binjạkë

kolltụk “armchair” → kolltụkë
fishẹk “cartridge” → fishẹkë
civịl “civilian” → civịlë
marangọz “carpenter” → marangọzë

Nouns ending in -(i)ạn, -ạr, -ẹc, -ẹr, -ịr, -ọl, -ọn, -ụn generally form the plural in
-ë.

aeroplạn “plane” → aeroplạnë

gomar “donkey” → gomarë

Exceptionally, the following nouns belong to this plural group.

6
Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Gjuhësise dhe i Letërsisë, Fjalor i
shqipes së sotme, Tiranë, 1984.
7
Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Gjuhësise dhe i Letërsisë, Fjalor i
shqipes së sotme, Tiranë, 1980, p. 801.
8
fjalë.al (katror)
9
Ismail Kadare, Gjenerali i ushtrisë së vdekur, Editura Naim Frashëri, Tiranë, 1963.
10
but ilaç “medicine”→ ilạçe
11
but kor “choir”→ kọre, korridọr “corridor”→ korridọre
34
Nouns forming the plural by phonetic changes

Phonetic modifications to the plural are a feature of masculine nouns. The

most common phenomenon is the palatalization of consonants k → q and g →
gj.
armịk “enemy” → armịq
zog “bird” → zogj

The nouns bujk “farmer”, fik “fig tree”, krushk “cousin”, mik “friend”, peshk
“fish”, turk “Turk”, ujk “wolf”, murg “monk”, jevg “gypsy” form the plural in a
similar way.

Nouns with irregular plural forms or other phonetic changes

Singular Plural
bir “son” bij
cjap “goat” cjep
çakạll “jackal” çakẹj
dash “ram” desh
djạlë “boy” djem
djalọsh “kid” djelmọsha
dhẹ̈ndër “son-in-law” dhëndụrë
fill “thread” fịje
flạmur “flag” flạmuj13
gardh “fence” gjẹrdhe
gju “knee” gjụnjë
hell “skewer” hẹje
hụall “honeycomb” họje
ka “ox” qe
kạlë “horse” kụaj
krỵe “head; end; chapter” krẹrë
kulạç “round unleavened bread” kulẹç

13
There is also the parallel form flamụr → flamụrë: valëvịten flạmujt “flags wave”, but i ka ụlur
flamụrët “has lowered his nose”; ẹ̈shtë njerị me dyzẹt flamụrë “it blows with the wind”.
40
46
Noun Declension in Singular ‖ Lakimi në njëjës

First Declension ‖ Lakimi i parë

Indefinite form Definite form

N - -i
G -i -it
D -i -it
A - -in
Ab -i -it

Most masculine nouns belong to the first declension, with the exception of
nouns ending in the consonants -g, -k, -h and a few nouns ending in a stressed
vowel.

Indefinite form Definite form

N (një) mësụes “(a) teacher” mësụesi “the teacher”
G i/e (një) mësụesi i/e mësụesit
D (një) mësụesi mësụesit
A (një) mësụes mësụesin
Ab prej (një) mësụesi prej mësụesit

▪ Nouns ending in -ë, e.g. brụmë “dough”, bụrrë “man”, djạthë “cheese”,
kalë “horse”, lụmë “river”, lose this vowel in the genitive, dative, ablative, the
unstressed form, and in all cases of the decided form.

Indefinite form Definite form

N (një) bụrrë “(a) man” bụrri “the man”
G i/e (një) bụrri i/e bụrrit
D (një) bụrri bụrrit
A (një) bụrrë bụrrin
Ab prej (një) bụrri prej bụrrit

▪ Nouns ending in the stressed -ạ, such as vëllạ “brother”, babạ “father”,

47
xhaxhạ “uncle” (father’s brother), receive the singular accusative ending -in/-
në. In the spoken language, the most common form is -in. The nouns kalamạ
“kid, boy” and dry “padlock” have the articulated forms kalamạni and drỵni
respectively.

Indefinite form Definite form

N (një) vëllạ “(a) brother” vëllại “the brother”
G i/e (një) vëllại i/e vëllạit
D (një) vëllại vëllạit
A (një) vëllạ vëllạin / vëllạnë
Ab prej (një) vëllại prej vëllạit

▪ Some nouns insert the consonant -r- between the root and the case
ending. Exceptions are the nominative and accusative cases, indefinite form.
These nouns include bli18 “linden tree”, bri “horn”, dre “deer”, dru “tree”, fre
“rein”, hu “pear”, kallị “herringbone”, tra “beam”, florị “yellow”, gji “breast”,
gju “knee”, kërcị “calf”, kushërị “cousin”, kufị “border”, li “flax”, mullị “mill”, pe
“thread”, qirị “candle”, shalqị “watermelon”, turị “snout”, ullị “olive”, sy “eye”,
zë “voice”.

Indefinite form Definite form

N (një) zë “(a) voice” zẹ̈ri “the voice”
G i/e (një) zẹ̈ri i/e zẹ̈rit
D (një) zẹ̈ri zẹ̈rit
A (një) zë zẹ̈rin
Ab prej (një) zẹ̈ri prej zẹ̈rit

▪ Nouns ending in -ụa, e.g. dragụa “dragon”, fajkụa “falcon”, ftụa

“quince”, katụa “henhouse”, langụa “greyhound”, pallụa “peacock”, potkụa
“horseshoe”, thụa “nail”, virụa “stream”, zgjụa “hive” undergoes the
transformation -ụa → -ọ in all cases except the singular accusative, indefinite
form.

18
but bli, -ni “sturgeon”
48
 ADJECTIVE ‖ MBIEMRI

Clasification of adjectives ‖ Klasifikimi i mbiemrave

From a morphological point of view, the adjectives of the Albanian language

are classified into articulated adjectives, preceded by the prepositive article i/e
in the corresponding case forms, and non-articulated adjectives.

Articulated adjectives ‖ Mbiemrat e nyjshëm represent the most of the

adjectives of the Albanian language. Among the most common endings are -ë
(i mịrë “good”, i vẹrdhë “yellow”, etc. ), -ël (i vọgël “small”, i ẹ̈mbël “sweet”), -
(ë)r (i vẹrbër “blind”, i vjẹtër “old”), -(ë)m(ë) (i vẹtëm “alone”, i rrẹmë “false”,
etc.), -shëm (i vlẹfshëm “valid”, i ndryshỵeshëm “changeable”, etc.), -(ë)t(ë) (i
ftọhtë “cold”, i ạkullt “frozen”, etc.). To these may be added adjectives formed
from participles (i shkrụar “written”, i lỵer “painted”, etc.), from nouns or
adjectives with the prefix pa- (i pafuqị “powerless, helpless”, i pagjụmë
“sleepless”, i pacịpë “shameless”, etc.), as well as some monosyllabic
adjectives (i kuq “red”, i keq “bad”, i lig “bad”, i zi “black”, i ri “young, new”, i
madh “big”, i ve “widower”, etc.).

The unarticulated adjectives ‖ Mbiemrat e panyjshëm usually end in -(t)ạr

(amtạr “maternal”, bankạr “banking” etc.), -ịk (historịk “historical”, alkoolịk
“alcoholic” etc.), -ịst (komunịst “communist”, stalinịst “Stalinist” etc.), -ịv
(objektịv “objective”, edukatịv “educational” etc.), -(t)ọr (dimërọr “wintry”,
punëtọr “worker” etc.), -ụes (ngushëllụes “comforting”, qortụes “reproving”
etc.), -(ë)s (vrạsës “killer” etc.). To these are added a number of adjectives
derived from articulated adjectives with specific syntactic functions ending
in -ë (gjạllë e shëndọshë “alive and unharmed”, ra sëmụrë “fell ill”, etc.), as well
as compound adjectives (afatshkụrtër “on short notice”, bojëkạfe “brown,
tan”, zemërbọrë “innocent” etc.). The plurals of unarticulated masculine
adjectives follow the same rules as masculine nouns.

62
Feminine and plural of articulated adjectives

Depending on how the feminine and plural are formed, articulated adjectives
are divided into four groups.

▪ Adjectives that receive the ending -e in the feminine singular and plural.
This group includes adjectives ending in -shëm, -(ë)m, -më 21 , some
adjectives ending in -q. In the feminine singular and plural, the unstressed
vowel ë is dropped at the end of the word and before the – m.

m.sg. m.pl. f.sg. f.pl.

i sjẹllshëm të sjẹllshëm e sjẹllshme të sjẹllshme “polite”
i mẹsëm të mẹsëm e mẹsme të mẹsme “medium”
i rrẹmë të rrẹmë e rrẹme të rrẹme “false”
i kuq të kuq e kụqe të kụqe “red”

▪ Adjectives that receive the -a ending in the feminine plural. This group
includes adjectives ending in -ë22, -ël, -r, -ër, -t, -ët, -j. The unstressed vowel
ë disappears at the end of the word and before -l and -r.

m.sg. m.pl. f.sg. f.pl.

i bạrdhë të bạrdhë e bạrdhë të bạrdha “white”
i ẹ̈mbël të ẹ̈mbël e ẹ̈mbël të ẹ̈mbla “sweet”
i hụaj të hụaj e hụaj të hụaja “foreign”
i shkrụar të shkrụar e shkrụar të shkrụara “written”
i ve të ve e ve të vẹja23 “widow(ed)”
i ạfërt të ạfërt e ạfërt të ạfërta “near”

21
Only compound adjectives with the suffix -më (e.g. i bardhẹmë “whitish, off-white” from i
bạrdhë “white”, i andẹjmë “from there” from andẹj “over there”).
22
Provided it is not part of the suffix -më, see above.
23
In adjectives ending in an stressed vowel, interposes -j-.
63
 ▪ The following adjectives have irregular forms.

m.sg. m.pl. f.sg. f.pl.

i keq të këqịj e kẹqe të këqịja “bad”
i madh të mëdhẹnj e mạdhe të mëdhạ “big”
i lig të ligj e lịgë të lịga “bad, vile”
i zi të zinj/të zez e zẹzë të zẹza “black”
i ri të rinj e re të rẹja “young”
i vọgël të vẹgjël e vọgël të vọgla “small”
i zọti24 të zọtë e zọnja24 të zọnja “able”

▪ The basic form of the adjective remains invariable for adjectives of this
group. It includes the adjectives i fụndit “last”, i parafụndit “penultimate”,
adjectives derived from feminine nouns ending in a stressed vowel, and
masculine nouns with different endings.

m.sg. f.sg. m. and f.pl.

i fụndit e fụndit të fụndit “last”
i pafuqị e pafuqị të pafuqị “powerless”
i pagjụmë e pagjụmë të pagjụmë “sleepless”

Feminine and plural of unarticulated adjectives

Depending on how the feminine and plural are formed, unarticulated

adjectives can be classified into different groups.
▪ Adjectives ending in -ë in the masculine plural and -e in the feminine
singular and plural. This group includes adjectives consisting of two or
more syllables, stressed on the last syllable, and monosyllabic adjectives
ending in a consonant. The most common endings are -ạç, -ạk, -ạl, -ạn, -
ạnt, -ạr, -ạsh, -ạt, -cạk, -ẹnt, -ẹsh, -ẹz, -ịk, -ịl, -ịn, -ịst, -ịt, -ịv, -mạn, -njọz, -
oịd, -ọr, -ọt, -ọsh, -rạk, -rọr, -sọr, -tạr, -tọr, -ụk, -vẹc etc.

24
The adjective i zọti, e zọnja is declined in the definite form when it accompanies singular
nouns (Do të të prezantọj me një pedagọg shụmë të zọtin/me një pedadọge shụmë të zọnjën.
“I'll introduce you to a very capable teacher.”)
64
 ▪ Adjectives with different endings and phonetic changes.

m.sg. m.pl. f.sg. f.pl.

plak pleq plạkë plạka “old”
turk turq tụrke tụrke “Turkish”
budallạ budallẹnj budallạqe budallạqe “dumb”
bullafịq bullafịqër bullafịqe bullafịqe “chubby”
fukarạ fukarẹnj fukarẹshë fukarẹsha “poor”

▪ The adjectives gri “grey”, bẹzhë “beige”, blu “blue”, bojëqiẹll “blue”,
allatụrka “Turkish”, ẹkstra “extra” are invariable.

sy bojëqiẹll “blue eyes” këpụcë bẹzhë “beige shoes”

Compound adjectives, in which the second element is an adjective, follow the

same rules of feminine and plural formation as the simple adjectives from
which they are derived.

m.sg. m.pl. f.sg. f.pl.

fatmịrë fatmịra “fortunate”
fatkẹq fatkëqịj fatkẹqe fatkëqịja “unfortunate”
mishngrẹ̈nës mishngrẹ̈nëse “carnivorous”

Many adjectives, in which the second element is a noun, are invariable

(zemërhẹkur “intransigent”).

Declension of adjectives ‖ Lakimi i mbiemrave

Both inarticulate and articulate adjectives follow usually the noun. Apart from
gender, number and case, the declension of articulated adjectives must take
into account two fundamental aspects: the position of the adjective in relation
to the noun (preposition or postposition) and, in postponed adjectives, it must
be considered whether the adjective immediately follows the noun or whether
there are other interspersed elements (for example, possessive pronouns,
comparative particles, etc.).
66
 NUMERAL ‖ NUMËRORI

Numeral denotes numbers or quantities expressed numerically. There are four

categories of numerals: cardinal, ordinal, nominalized and fractional.

Cardinal Numeral ‖ Numërori themelor

0 zẹro 10 dhjẹtë
1 një 11 njëmbëdhjẹtë
2 dy 12 dymbëdhjẹtë
3 tre m., tri f. 13 trembëdhjẹtë
4 kạtër 14 katërmbëdhjẹtë
5 pẹsë 15 pesëmbëdhjẹtë
6 gjạshtë 16 gjashtëmbëdhjẹtë
7 shtạtë 17 shtatëmbëdhjẹtë
8 tẹtë 18 tetëmbëdhjẹtë
9 nẹ̈ntë 19 nëntëmbëdhjẹtë

20 njëzẹt 101 njëqịnd e një

21 njëzẹt e një 111 njëqịnd e njëmbëdhjẹtë
22 njëzẹt e dy 200 dyqịnd
30 tridhjẹtë 222 dyqịnd e njëzẹt e dy
31 tridhjẹtë e një 300 treqịnd
32 tridhjẹtë e dy 333 treqịnd e tridhjẹtë e tre
40 dyzẹt 400 katërqịnd
50 pesëdhjẹtë 500 pesëqịnd
60 gjashtëdhjẹtë 600 gjashtëqịnd
70 shtatëdhjẹtë 700 shtatëqịnd
80 tetëdhjẹtë 800 tetëqịnd
90 nëntëdhjẹtë 900 nëntëqịnd
100 njëqịnd 999 nëntëqind e nëntëdhjẹtë e nẹ̈ntë

80
Numbers between 11 and 19 are formed from the simple form of the numerals
1 to 9, to which is added the preposition mbë (from mbi “over”) and the
numeral dhjẹtë “ten”: 15 - pẹsë + mbë + dhjẹtë “five + over + ten”.

With the exception of the numerals njëzẹt “twenty” and dyzẹt “forty”, the
numerals of the tens are formed from the numeral of the units and the
numeral dhjẹtë “ten”: tri + dhjẹtë “thirty”.

The numerals of hundreds are formed from the numeral of units, to which is
added the numeral qind “hundred”. They are always written linked: shtạtë +
qind “five hundred”.

The numerals mịjë “thousand”, miliọn “million”, miliạrd 28 “billion” are

preceded by the simple form of the numeral and are written separately from
it.

1 000 një mịjë

2 000 dy mịjë
3 000 000 tre miliọnë

The elements of the numeral are linked by the conjunction e “and”.

5 678 pẹsë mịjë e gjashtëqịnd e shtatëdhjẹtë e tẹtë

The separation between classes (class of units from class of thousands, class of
thousands from class of millions, etc.) is marked by a blank.

28 531 njëzẹt e tẹtë mịjë e pesëqịnd e tridhjẹtë e një

432 678 katërqịnd e tridhjẹtë e dy mịjë e gjashtëqịnd e shtatëdhjẹtë e tẹtë

Decimals are written in a single block.

5 956,3651 pẹsë mịjë e nëntëqịnd e pesëdhjẹtë e gjạshtë prẹsje tri mịjë e
gjashtëqịnd e pesëdhjẹtë e një

28
dy, tre miliọnë/miliạrdë “two, three million/billion”, but me miliọna/miliạrda “in their
millions/billions”.
81
98
 Possessive Pronoun ‖ Përemri pronor
Attributive possessive pronoun in postposed position and nounized
Possessor: 1st person, singular; possessed object: masculine, singular
Attributive Nominalized
N mịku im “my friend” ịmi “mine”
A mịkun tim tịmin
G (i/e), D, Ab mịkut tim tịmit

Possessor: 1st person, singular; possessed object: masculine, plural

Attributive Nominalized
N mịqtë e mi “my friends” të mịtë “mine”
A mịqtë e mi të mịtë
G (i/e), D, Ab mịqve të mi të mịve

Possessor: 1st person, singular; possessed object: feminine, singular

Attributive Nominalized
N mịkja ịme “my friend” ịmja “mine”
A mịken tịme tịmen
G (i/e), D, Ab mịkes sịme 32
sịmes32

Possessor: 1st person, singular; possessed object: feminine, plural

Attributive Nominalized
N mịket e mịa “my friends” të mịat “mine”
A mịket e mịa të mịat
G (i/e), D, Ab mịkeve të mịa të mịave

Possessor: 2nd person, singular; possessed object: masculine, singular

Attributive Nominalized
N mịku yt “your friend” ỵti “yours”
A mịkun tënd tẹ̈ndin
G (i/e), D, Ab mịkut tënd tẹ̈ndit

32
In the spoken language are used the forms tẹ̈nde respectively tẹ̈ndes and tịme respectively
tịmes.
99
 VERB ‖ FOLJA

The verb is the part of speech that expresses an action, a process, a state or an
activity and is the main core of the sentence.
The grammatical categories of the verb are person, number, voice, mood and
tense.
In terms of form, Albanian verbs can have an active form (kërkọj “to seek, to
ask”, ndodh “to happen”, pi “to drink”) or a non-active form (sịllem “to
behave”, dëgjọhem “to be heard”). Non-active verbs are recognised by the
ending -(h)em (e.g. afrọhem “to approach”, mẹrrem “to deal with”).
In the standard language, there is no proper form of infinitive. The dictionary
form of the verb corresponds to first person singular, present indicative (e.g.
mësọj “to learn; I learn”, ndịhem “to feel; I feel”).

Person and Number ‖ Veta dhe numri

The Albanian verb has three singular and three plural forms.

Pers. Singular Plural

I ụnë them “I say” ne thẹmi “we say”
II ti thụa “you say” ju thọni “you say”
III m. aị thọtë “he says” atạ thọnë “they say”
III f. ajọ thọtë “she says” atọ thọnë “they say”

Voice ‖ Diateza

Depending on the relationship between the action of the verb and the subject,
there are four voices in Albanian. The active voice is expressed by verbs in the
active form. Passive, reflexive and middle voice are expressed by verbs in the
non-active form.

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 • The active voice ‖ Diateza veprore: the subject performs the action
expressed by the verb..
Gọca e përshëndẹti gjỵshin. “The girl greeted the grandfather.”
• The passive voice ‖ Diateza pësore: the subject undergoes the action
expressed by the verb. The agent of the action may be expressed (usually
introduced by the preposition nga or prej “by”) or it may be implied.

Në Shqipërị flịtet shqip. “In Albania, Albanian is spoken.”

Lịbri i tij u përkthỵe në disạ gjụhë të hụaja (nga shtëpị botụese të njọhura). “His
book has been translated into several foreign languages (by well-known
publishers).”

• The reflexive voice ‖ Diateza vetvetore: the subject simultaneously

performs and suffers the action expressed by the verb.

 simple

Të dỵja binjạket vịshen njësọj. “The twins dress alike.”

 mutual

A do të takọhemi nẹsër? “Will we meet tomorrow?”

• The medium voice ‖ Diateza mesore: the subject performs an action

expressed by a verb in the non-active form, meaning an intransitive verb.

Gëzọhem shụmë që kam pạsur rạstin t’ju takọj. “I’m so glad I had the
opportunity to meet you.”
Do të përpịqem të vij sa më shpejt. “I’ll try to come as soon as possible.”

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Mood ‖ Mënyra

In Albanian there are six moods.

Indicative Çfạrë po bën? “What are you doing?”

Dëftore
Subjunctive Dụhet të bësh më shụmë “You need to do more
Lidhore sport. sport.”
Conditional Po të më pỵesnin, kështụ “If he asked me, I would
Kushtore do të thọsha. say.”
Admirative Ti e bẹ̈ke njerịun të “You make people crazy.”
Habitore çmẹndet.
Optative U bëfsh 100 vjeç! “Happy birthday to you!”
Dëshirore (ad. litt. “Shall you become
a hundred years old!”)
Imperative Më bëj një nder, të lụtem! “Do me a favor, please!”
Urdhërore

Tenses ‖ Koha

The Albanian language is very rich in temporal forms. The basic forms are the
present (e tashmja), the past (e shkuara) and the future (e ardhmja).

Verb Conjugation ‖ Zgjedhimi i foljeve

The Albanian verbal system is extremely complex. According to the simplest

criteria, the regular verbs of the Albanian language are divided into two
conjugations: 1st conjugation, for verbs ending in a vowel, and 2nd
conjugation, for verbs ending in a consonant. However, the difficulties appear
in the organization by subcategories. This is why class and group classification
is not uniform, sometimes differing from author to author and from grammar
to grammar. In this book, the grouping of verbs has been simplified for
practical reasons. If a group is represented by a small number of verbs, they
have been presented in the list of irregular verbs or with other types of
phonetic transformations.
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First conjugation ‖ Zgjedhimi i parë

The first conjugation includes verbs that in the first person singular end in a
vowel or vowel group. This conjugation includes most verbs.

1st conjugation, 1st class

The 1st class includes vowel ending verbs, which in the simple perfect, first
person singular, receive the ending -va.

1st conjugation
1st class
a) b) c) d) e)
punọj rrëfẹj shkrụaj lỵej laj
“to work” “to confess” “to write” “to paint” “to wash”
Present pun-ọ-j rrëf-ẹ-j shkr-ụa-j l-ỵe-j l-a-j
Past simple pun-ọ-va rrëf-ẹ-va shkr-ọ-va l-ẹ-va l-ạ-va
Participle pun-ụa-r rrëf-ỵe-r shkr-ụa-r l-ỵe-r l-ạ-rë

a) highly productive conjugation type, a large number of verbs are

conjugated in this way: punọj “to work”, mësọj “to learn”, këndọj “to sing”,
trajtọj “to treat”, etc.
b) rrëfẹj “to tell stories”, dëfrẹj “to entertain”, fërshëllẹj “to whistle”,
gënjẹj “to lie”, kërcẹj “to dance”, këmbẹj “to change”, kthẹj “to turn”,
kursẹj “to save”, mallëngjẹj “to touch, to move”, mbërthẹj “to close
(clothes)”, ngashërẹj “to move, to touch”, ngërthẹj “to join”, pëlqẹj “to
please”, përkthẹj “to translate”, rrëkëllẹj “to roll”, shpërthẹj “to break, to
burst”, urrẹj “to hate”, ushqẹj “to feed”, zbërthẹj “to unbutton”, etc.
c) shkrụaj “to write”, blụaj “to grind”, gatụaj “to cook”, krụaj “to scratch”,
pagụaj “to pay”, përshkrụaj “to describe”, rrụaj “to shave”, shqụaj “to
scratch”, shụaj “to extinguish”, zgjụaj “to wake”, etc.
d) lỵej “to paint”, gërrỵej “to scrape”, krỵej “to sprinkle”, ngjỵej “to
soften”, përlỵej “to stain”, përkrỵej “to unravel”, zhgërrỵej “to dig”, shqỵej
“to sizzle”, thỵej “to break”, përthỵej “to fold”, etc.
e) This category includes verbs such as laj “to wash”, çaj “to crack”, përçạj
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 “to divide”, ndaj “to separate”, shpërndạj “to spread”, qaj “to cry, to
weep”, shaj “to swear”, thaj “to dry”, ndej “to stretch”, fshij “to wipe”,
përfshịj “to include”, teshtịj “to sneeze”, gdhij “to watch, to wake”, grij “to
touch”, ngrij “to freeze”, shtrij “to stretch”, fryj “to blow”, hyj “to enter”,
ndryj “to lock”, ndyj “to sulk, to disgust”, shtyj “to push”, pështỵj “to spit”,
etc. Most of these verbs are monosyllabic or are compounds of
monosyllabic verbs (e.g. fshij, përfshịj).

1st conjugation, 2nd class

The 2nd class includes verbs ending in a vowel, which, in the simple perfect,
broaden the stem with -(j)t or with -r-.

1st conjugation
2nd class
a) b) c)
arrịj mbạj bëj
“to arrive” “to keep” “to make”
Present arrị-j mbạ-j bë-j
Past simple arrị-ta mbạ-j-ta bẹ̈-ra
Participle arrị-tur mbạ-j-tur bẹ̈-rë

a) arrịj “to reach”, mbërrịj “to arrive”, gërhịj “to grunt, to snore; to snort”,
ulërịj “to howl”.
b) mbaj “to hold”, brej “to gnaw”, drụaj “to fear”, hụaj “to borrow”, lụaj
“to play”, mbroj “to defend”, qụaj “to name”, rụaj “to keep”, rrej “to
cheat”, rroj “to live”, trụaj “to beguile”, vërẹj “to observe”, vlej “to value”,
vụaj “to suffer” etc.
c) bëj “to do”, hyj “to enter”.

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 PREPOSITION ‖ PARAFJALA

The classification of prepositions is presented according to syntactic criteria

and their main meanings. From the syntactic point of view, Albanian
prepositions are followed by nominative, accusative, genitive and ablative
cases.

Gjạtë udhëtịmit rreth bọtës ka pạrë vẹnde fantastịke. “While travelling around
the world he saw fantastic places.”
Në Tirạnë do të mạrrë një shtëpị me qirạ. “In Tirana he will rent a place to live.”

In some cases, the preposition may also precede an adverb.

E dụa për më vọnë. “I want it for later.”

Për ku je nịsur? “Which way did you go?”
Për kur e do? “For when do you want it?”

Prepositions with the Nominative

In Albanian, the prepositions nga and te(k), as well as the compound për nga,
are always followed by nouns in the nominative, necessarily accompanied by
the definite or indefinite article or an indefinite pronoun.

Jạnë të ndrỵshëm për nga pẹsha e përmạsat. “They differ in weight and size.”

• nga
“from, of”: Ra nga dritạrja. “He fell from the window.”, Dọli nga pỵlli. “He
came out of the forest.”, Hịqi këpụcët nga tavọlina! “Take your shoes from the
table!”, Nga mạli po vịnte një ẹrë e frẹskët. “From the mountain came a fresh
air.”
“by, through”: I rạmë nga Elbasạni. “We passed through Elbasan.”
“because of”: Kịshte ngẹlur në provịm nga emociọni. “He failed the exam
because of emotion.”, Po vdes nga urịa. “I’m starving.”
“on, by, at” (local): Kalọi nga ụnë. “He stopped by.”, Do të shkoj pak nga
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pụna. “I’m going to stop by work for a bit.”
“by, around” (temporal): Po dẹshe, mund të takohẹmi nga drẹka. “If you
want, we can meet around noon.”, Dụa të kthẹhem nga gụshti. “I want to go
back through August.”, Ẹrdhi nga ọra njëmbëdhjẹtë. “He came around eleven
o’clock.”
“by” (expressing the agent of an action): Banẹsat e projektụara nga ky ekịp
inxhiniẹrësh më pëlqẹjnë më shụmë. “The buildings designed by this team of
engineers I like the most.”
“of, among” (expressing the whole from which a part is separated): Kjo
kẹ̈ngë ẹ̈shtë një nga më të mịrat e kësạj këngëtạreje. “This song is one of this
singer’s best.”, Për të fitụar në këtẹ̈ lotarị, dụhet të parashikọsh 6 nụmra nga
39. “To win this lottery game, you have to guess 6 numbers out of 39.”
“about”: Sẹcili blẹu nga dy shalqịnj. “Everyone bought two melons each.”,
Ndạnë nga 10 kịle ushqịme për famịlje. “They distributed 10 kilograms of food
for each family.”
Other expressions with the preposition nga: i madh/i vọgël nga mọsha
“big/small in age”, i dọbët nga shëndẹti “in poor health”, i ndrỵshëm nga
variạnti i pạrë “different from the first variant”

• te, tek58
“at”: Jam te shtëpịa e Lịdës. “I’m at Lida’s place.”, Sọnte do të shkoj te gjỵshi.
“Tonight I’m going to grandpa’s.”, Kạnë dërgụar projektlịgjin nga një komisiọn
te tjẹtri. “They passed the bill from one committee to another.”

Prepositions with the Genitive

Prepositions with the genitive are prepositions composed using a noun.

• me ạnë të, me ạnën e “with help”: E zgjịdhi këtẹ̈ problẹm me ạnë të

vëllạit. “He solved this problem with the brother’s help.”

• në drejtịm të “in the direction”: Njẹrëzit vrapọnin në drejtịm të pọrtit.

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The rule recommends using the form tek before words that start with a vowel, e.g. tek aị „at
his place”, tek Ariạna „at Ariana’s place”. In some areas, including Tirana, te(k) has the variant
ke*.
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“People were running in the direction of the port.”

• në sạjë të “thanks”: Dọli i pạri në sạjë të përpjẹkjeve të tij të vịteve të

fụndit. “He came out first because of his efforts over the last few years.”

• në vend të “in place”: Sivjẹt do të mbjẹllin kụnguj në vend të shalqịnjve.

“This year they’ll sow pumpkins instead of melons.”

• për arsỵe të, për shkak të “because of, on account of”: Nẹsër nuk do të
mbạhet mësịmi për arsỵe të mọtit. “No classes tomorrow due to weather”,
Kalịmi ẹ̈shtë i bllokụar për shkak të ndërtịmit të rrụgës. “The crossing is blocked
because of street construction.”

• në bạzë të “on the base of, in the base of”: Veprụan në bạzë të lịgjit.
“They acted on the basis of the law.”

• për hir të “for the sake”: Qëndrụan bạshkë vẹtëm për hir të fëmịjëve.
“They stayed together just for the sake of the children.”

Prepositions with the Accusative

• mbi
“over, above, on”
Aeroplạni u ngjit mbi re. “The plane rose above the clouds.”
Ụjqit u lëshụan mbi prẹnë. “The wolves pounced on the prey.”
“about, around”
Fọli mbi disạ problẹme të ekonomịsë së sọtme. “He talked about some
problems of the economy today.”, i informụar mbi situạtën “informed about
the situation”.

• me “with”: Plotësọ formulạrin me stilolạps! “Fill in the form in pen!”, E

mọri me gëzịm të madh këtẹ̈ lajm. “It was with great joy that he received this
news.“; in expressions and locutions: bạshkë me “together with”, në krahasịm
me “in comparison with”, në kundërshtịm me “in contradiction with”, në lịdhje
me “in connection with”, në pajtịm me “in accordance with”, në përshtạtje me
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