Learning Albanian

Overview

I am currently learning Albanian through the following Udemy course. I am learning Albanian so that I may better communicate with my spouse’s family.

Topics

A section capturing specific topics.

Verbs

To Be - Folja Jam

• Une Jam - I am

• Ti Je - You are

• AI/ajo Eshte: He/She/ It is

• Ne Jemi - We are

• Ju Jeni - You are

• Ata/ato Jane - They Are (masculine, femanine)

To Have - Folja Kam

• Une Kam - I have

• Ti Ke (Singular) - You have

• Ai/ajo ka - He/She/It has

• Ne Kemi - We have

• Ju Keni (Plural) - You have

• Ata/Ato Kane - They have

Conjugation of Most Albanian Verbs

Present Tense:

• For singular: -j, -n, -n

• For Plural: -jme, -ni, -jne

• to learn - mesoj

• Singular:

  • Une meso-j …

  • Ti meso-n …

  • Ai Ajo meso-n

• Plural

  • Ne meso-jme

  • Ju meso-ni

  • Ata/Ato meso-jne

Rules of Conjugation

• Une studioj

• Ti Studion

• Ai/ajo studion

• Ne studiojme

• Ju studioni

• Ata/Ato studiojne

• Une Jam Abdul

• Une Kam nje qen (dog) dhe (and) nje mace (cat), une punoj (work) dhe studioj (study) nje France.

Conjugation of Verb To Go - Shkoj

• Common Verbs:

  • To be - jam

  • To have - Kam

  • To go - Shkoj

  • To learn - mesoj

  • To study - studioj

  • To work - punoj

  • To accept - pranoj

• To Go - Shkoj

  • Une shkoj ne Paris neser (tomorrow)

  • Ti shkon ne Londer neser.

  • Ai/Ajo shkon ne Gjeneve sot (today).

  • Ne shkojme ne shkolle (school) sot.

  • Ju shkoni ne Shqiperi (Albania) neser? Po une shkoj ne shqiperi.

  • Ata/Ato shkojne ne France.

Negation in Albanian

Negation can be put by putting jo before the verb.

• Jo - No

• Nuk/ s’ - Not

• I don’t like it - Nuk e dua

• I can’t go there - Nuk mund (can) ta shkoj atje

• She is not there - Ajo nuk ashte (it is) atje (there)

• This is not yours - Kjo nuk eshte e jotje

• I don’t go - Une nuk shkoj

• He isn’t here - Ai nuk eshte ketu

• I don’t speak - une nuk flas

• She doesn’t love - Ajo nuk dashuron

Orders can be giving using mos-

• Don’t smoke - mos pi duhan

• Don’t go there - Mos shko atje

• Do not enter - mos hyr

Questions

Basic Questions

• What? - Cfare?

• How - Si?

• Who? - Kush?

• Where? - Ku?

• When? - Kur?

• Why? - Pse?

Pronoun + verb or verb + pronoun

Use “A” at the start of an interrogative sentence? A slet Shqip ti?

Generic Questions

• Kush jemi ne? - Who are we?

• Kush eshte ajo? - Who is she?

• Kush je ti (sing)? - Who are you?

• Kush jeni ju (Pl) ? - Who are you?

• Si je ti (sing) - How are you?

• Si jeni ju (Pl)? How are you?

• Where is she? Ku eshte ajo?

• What is this? cfare eshte kjo (this)?

• Why is this? Pse esthe kjo?

• Where do you live? Ku jeton ti?

• What time is it? Sa eshte ora?

• Where are you? Ku je ti?

• Can I help you? mund t’ju ndhimoj (help)?

Asking yes or no questions (Po, jo):

Verb + Pronoun -

Does he have a new car? - Ka ai makine te re?

Answering Questions

• Ku jetoni ju? - Where do you live you? New York

• Si quheni ju? - How _ you?

• A studion ai? Do he study? Jo

• A punon ajo? Do she work? Po

Albanian Articles and Prepositions

Definite Articles in Albanian

Albanian Articles: Albanian doesn’t have the word “the”. They don’t put anything before a noun, it has endings for nouns.

• i (masc, sing.) - libri (the book), lapsi (the pen)

• u (masc, sing) - shoku (the friend)

• a (fem, sing) - vajza (the girl)

• ja (fem, sing) - lulja (the flower).

Indefinite Articles in Albanian

A, an in English - nje, disa(ca) in Albanina

• nje (masc. sing) - nje telefon (a phone), nje makine (a car)

• Disa/ca (masc, pl) - disa or ca - disa/ca telefone (some phone)

• Disa/ca (fem, pl) - disa/ca makina

List of Albanian Articles

Article List

• a/ an - nje - nnje liber

• some - disa/ca - disa libra

• of - e - nje liber e tij

Masculine:

• Singular - Nje shqiptar (an Albanian) /Nje Shok (a friend) - shqiptari/shoku

• Plural - Disa/ca shqiptar (some Albanians) / Disa/ca shoke (some friends) - shqiptaret/shoket

Feminine:

• Singular - Nje shqiptare, Nje Shoqe - shqiptarja/shoqja

• Plural - Disa/ca shqiptare, Disa/ca shoque - shqiptaret/shoqet

Using Albanian Prepositions

• under: nen - nen makine, libre eshte nen tavoline (The book is under the table)

• outside the house - jashte - Une jam jasthe shtepise (I am outside the house)

• without me - pa - pa me

• near - afer: Une shkoj afer Kew Gardens

• far - larg: Ne jemi larg nja Shqipëria

• is - esthe: ajo esthe nje lule

• from - nja: Ato jane nja Pakistani

• against - kunder: Kush esthe kunder ca punojate?

• between - midis: Cfare esthe midis Paris dhe London?

• beyond - pertej: Mos shok pertej atje

• But - por: Por pse? pos pse nuk?

• in - ne: Ti je ne zemer ime

• on - mbi:

• round - perreth

• since - qysh

• until - deri

• as - si

Nouns and Adjectives

Understanding Albanian Nouns

• One woman - nje grua

• black monkey - majmun i zi

• my school - shkolla ime

• buy a pen - blej nje stilolaps

• first love - dashuria e pare

• a computer - nje kompjuter

• a bicycle - nje biciklete

• an apple - nje molle

• some computers - disa kompjutra

• some bicycle - disa bicikleta

• some apples - disa molla

In Albanian, there are 5 cases of nouns.

1. Emorore - Nominative* - Designation (it names the subject in a sentence)

2. Gjinore - Genitive* - Description (it qualifies the word it modifies, possession)

3. Dhanore - Dative* - Reception (it expresses the indirect object of the verb)

4. Kallzore - Accusative* Limitation (the action extends to and its limited to the object)

5. Rrjedhore - Ablative* Separation (is used after certain prepositions: pre-from, by)

Table of Nouns

1. Emorere - nje mal/mal-i (a mountain/the mountain)

2. Gjinore - i, e, te, se (nje) mali / mal-it (

   1. i, e, te, se are used to connect 2 nouns or a noun and an adjective

   2. drejtori i shkolles (noun-noun, director of the school); drejtori i ri (noun-adjective, the new director)

3. Rrjedhore - Fsharari vjen prej malit (the villager comes from the mountain)

Understanding Albanian Adjectives

An adjective must agree with the gender of the noun.

• Masculine to feminine gender

  • Ky eshte eqni Im i vogel (This is my little dog)

  • Kjo eshte pula im e vogel (This is my little hen)

• ky (masc) - kjo (fem)

• im (masc) - ime (fem)

The adjective comes after the noun and also requires the same gender with the noun.

• Singular to Plural

  • Kjo eshte shtepia ime e bardhe (this is my white-colored house)

  • Keto jane shtepite e mia te bardha (these are my white-colored houses).

Table of Albanian Adjectives

• A white car - nje makine e bardhe

• a high tree - nje peme e larte

• an old book - nje liber i vjeter

• the old rood - catia e vjeter

• a pretty girl - nje vajze e bukur

• a cold winter - nje dimer i ftohte (masc, singular)

• (some) cold winters - disa dimra te fthota (masc, plural)

• A freezing hand - nje dore e ftohte (fem, sing)

• (some) freezing hands - disa dora te ftohta (fem, plural)

List of adjectives:

• Colors

  • Black - i zi (masc); e zeze (fem)

  • Blue - i kalter (masc); e kalter (fem)

  • Gray - i hirte (masc); e hirte (fem)

  • Green - i gjelber (masc); e gjelber (fem)

  • Orange - ngjyre portokalli

  • Purple - i purpurte (masc); e purpurte (fem)

  • Red - i kuq (masc); e kuqe (fem)

  • White - i bardhe (masc); e bardhe (masc)

  • Yellow - i verdhe (masc); e verdhe (fem)

• I am - Une jam i(masc)/e(fem)

  • hungry - uritur

  • full - ngopur

  • thirsty - i/e etur

  • busy - i/e zene

  • free - i/e lire

  • tired - i/e lodhur

  • sick - i/e semure

  • happy - i/e lumtur

  • sad - i/e trishtuar

  • glad - i/e gezuar

  • angry - i/e zemeruar

Practice

• I think you are beautiful - Une mendon ti je bukur

• I am not hungry - Nuk une jam e uritur

• This is my mountain - Ky eshte mali ime

  • This is a cold mountain - Ky eshte a mal i fthota

Pronouns and Adverbs

Subject Pronouns

Singular - une (I), ti (you), ai (he), ajo (she)

Plural - ne (we), ju (you, pl), ata (they masc), ato (they fem)

• I think - Une mendoj

• You think - Ti mendon

• He thinks - Ai mendon

• She thinks - Ajo mendon

• We think - Ne mendojme

• You think (plural) - Ju mendoni (pl)

• They think - Ata/ato mendojne

Demonstrative prononuns:

• This - Ky (masc); Kjo (fem)

• These - Keta (masc); Keto (fem)

• That - Ai (masc); Ajo (fem)

• Those - Ata (masc); Ato (fem)

Possessive and Indefinite Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

• Possessive masculine pronoun ending:

  • Singular - i, e - imi, yni, yti

  • Plural - t(e)

• Possessive feminine pronoun ending:

  • Singular - a - imja, jotja, e tija, e saja, e jona

  • Plural - t

Masc/Fem (Singular) ; Masc/Fem (Plural)

• Mine = imi / imja; te mite / te miat

• Yours = yti / jotja; te tute / te tuat

• His = i tiji / e tija; te tijte / te tijat

• Hers = I sajji / e saja; te sajte / te sajat

• Ours = yni / jona; tanet / tonat

• Yours = juaji / juaja; tuajt / tuajat

• Theirs = I tyre / e tyrja; te tyre/ te tyret

Example:

• Singular - Where is my handkerchief? - Ku eshte shamia ime?

• Plural - This is my pencil - Ky eshte lapse im

Indefinite Pronouns

An indefinite quantity of things

Example:

• Someone - Dikush

• Anyone - Ndonje

• Nobody - Askush

• Everyone - Kushdo

• Nothing - Asgje

• Something - Dicka

• A lot - Shume

• A little - Pak

Formed with: do-

• Cilido - Any

• Cfaredo - What do you want?

• Kushdo - Everyone

Formed with: di-

• Someone - Dikush

• Something - Dicka

• Some - Disa

Formed with: as-

• No one - Askush

• Nothing - Asgje

• Nobody - Asnjeri

Possessive Adjectives

Masculine and Feminine Genders are used if the defined nouns are respectively masculine or feminine.

Examples:

• Ky esthe libri ime - This is my book (Masc Sing)

• Kjo esthe makina e saj - This is her fact (Fem Sing)

• Kete jane librat e mi - These are my books (Masc Plural)

• Ato jane makinat e mia - Those are my cars ( Fem Plural)

Masc nouns in singular and plural

• My - im (sing); e mi (pl)

• Your (sing) - ty; e tu

• His - i tij; e tij

• Her - e saj; e saj

• Its - i tij (masc); i saj (fem)

• Our - yne (sing); tane (pl)

• Your (pl) - juaj(pl); tauj(pl)

• They - i tye(masc pl); e tyre (pl); e tyre (fem pl)

Example:

• This is his phone - Ky eshte telefoni i tij

• I am a man and this is my book - Une jam burre dhe ky esthe libri im

• We are teachers and this is our book - Ne jemi mesues dhe ky esthe libri yne

Fem nouns in singular and plural

• My - ime (sing); e mia (pl)

• Your (sing) - jote; e tua

• His - e tij; e tij

• Her - e saj; e saj

• Its - e tij (masc); e saj (fem)

• Our - jone, tona

• Your (pl) - juaj (pl); tuaja (pl)

• They - e tyre(masc pl); e tyre (fem pl)

Examples

• This is my car - Kjo esthe makina ime

• This is my sister and these are her dolls - Kjo esthe motra ime dhe keto jane kukullat e saj.

• These are my cars - Keto jane makinat e mia

Adverbs in Albanian

In english we add (-ly) to adjectives, in Albanian it’s -shem (sing, fem). But its not always the case

• i/e ngadalte (slow) - ngadalshem (slowly)

• i/e lire (free) - lirshem (freely)

Examples:

• I watch TV sometimes - Une shikoj TV ndojehere

• I will never eat pork - Une kurre nuk do te ha derr

• Are you alone? Je vetem?

More Examples

• Adverbs of time

  • today - sot

  • tomorrow - neser

  • yesterday - dje

• Adverbs of place

  • here - ketu

  • there - atje

  • outside - jashte

• Adverbs of manner

  • very - shume

  • quickly - shpejt

  • well - mire

• Adverbs of frequency

  • always - gjithmone

  • rarely - rralle

  • usually - zakonisht

Useful Phrases & Directions in Albanian

Useful Phrases

• Where are you from? - Nga jeni ju?

• I am from the United States - Une jam nga (from) Amerika.

• I am American - Une Jam amerikan.

• Where do you live? - Ku banoni ju?

• I live in .. - Une banoj ne….

• How are you? Ci jeni ju?

• Fine thanks! - Mire, faleminderit!

• What do you do? - Cfare pune(work) beni(do) ju?

• I am a volunteer - Une jam vullnetar

• I speak only english - Une flas vetem (only) anglisht

• I don’t speak Albanian - Une nuk flas (mire) shqip

• What time is it? Sa esthe ora?

• Please speak more slowly - Flisni me ngadale (slowly), je lutem

• Please speak more loudly - Flisni me ze me te larte, ju lutem

• I understand - Une kuptoj ….

• I don’t understand - Une nuk kuptoj …

• Repeat it, please - Perseriteni, je lutem.

• Write it down, please - Shkruajeni, ju lutem.

Useful Phrases in a Restaurant

• I want a coffee - (Une) Dua(want) nje kafe

• I don’t want.. - (Une) nuk dua…

• I want to eat - (Une) Due te ha

• I want to drink - (Une) dua te pi.

• I don’t want to eat/drink - (Une) nuk dua te ha/pi.

• I like it - Me pelqen

• I don’t like it - Nuk me pelqen

• This is good - Ky/kjo eshte e mire

• This is not good - Ky/kjo nuk eshte e mire

• How much is this? - Sa kushton kjo?

Phrases and Directions

• I need help - (Une) Dua ndihme

• Look out! - Kujdes!

• Listen - Degjoni!

• Can you help me? - Mund te me ndihmoni?

• Can you tell me? - Mund te me tregoni?

• I am looking for… - Po kerkoj…

• I want to go… - Une dua te shkoj…

• I know - (Une) E di.

• I don’t know - (Une) nuk e di.

• I think so - (Une) Mendoj keshtu

• I don’t think so - (Une) Nuk mendoj keshtu

• I believe, yes - (Une) Besoj se po.

• I don’t believe - (Une) Nuk besoj

• Where is the..? Ku eshte..?

• On the left - Ne te majte

• On the right - Ne te djathe

• Straight-ahead - Drejt

• Near by - Ketu Afer

• Not far from here - Jo larg nga ketu

• Above - Siper

• Down the village - Poshte fshatit

• Behind - Prapa

Places

• Village - Fshat

• Town - Qytet

• Shop - Dyqan

• Street - Rruge

• Building - Ndertese

• Flat - Pallat

• Library - Bibloteke

• Restaurant - Restorant

• School - Shkolle

• Student - nxenes/student

• Cultural Palace - Pallati I kultures

• Municipality - bashki

• Commune - Komune

• Office - Zyre

Home Items, Colors, Clothing, Food, and Drinks, Fruits

Home Items

• Glass - gote

• cup - filxhan

• spoon - luge

• fork - pirun

• knife - thike

• plate - pjate

• table - tavoline

• chair - karrige

• door - dere

• window - dritate

• bed - krevat

• bed sheet - carcaf

• pillow - jastek

• home - shtepi

• hotel - hotel

• floor - kat

• room - dhome

• bathroom - banje

• toilet - banje

• toilet paper - leter higjenike

• soap - sapun

• towel - peshqir

• shampoo - shampo

• kitchen - guzhine

• bedroom - dhome gjumi

• dining room/ sitting room - dhome ngrenje / dhome

Colors in Albanian - Ngjyrat

• red - i/e kuqe

• white - i/e bardhe

• black - i/e zeze

• yellow - i/e verdhe

• green - i/e gjelber

• dark blue - blu

• sky blue - i/e kalter

• grey - gri

• brown - kafe

Clothing

• pants - pantallona

• blouse - bluze

• shirt - kemishe

• dress - futsan

• skirt - fund

• shoes - kepuce

• sandals - sandale

• slippers - shapka

• boots - cizme

• jacket - xhakete

• coat - pallto

Food and Drinks

• water - uje

• coffee - kafe

• tea - caj

• milk - qumesht

• juice, lemonade - limonate

• mineral water - uje mineral

• wine - vere

• beer - birre

• raki - raki

• sugar - sheqer

• salt - kripe

• bread - buke

• salad - sallate

• meat - mish

• cheese - djathe

• butter - gjalpe

• egg - veze

Fruits

• grape - rrush

• fig - fik

• watermelon - shalqi

• melon - pjeper

• peach - pjeshke

• pear - dardhe

Family Relations - Date - Numbers

Family Members

• mother - nene

• father - baba

• sister - moter

• brother - vella

• daughter - e bija

• son - I biri

• grandmother - gjyshja

• grandfather - gjyshi

• niece - mbesa

• nephew - nipi

• mother-in-law - vjehrra

• father-in-law - jherri

• sister-in-law - kunata

• brother-in-law - kunati

Plural Nouns

Plural endings in Albanian following the following: -e, -a, -e, -er, -ra, -t, -nj

For example:

• punetor-e (workers)

• dardh-a (pears)

• mal-e (mountains)

• prind-er (parents)

• fshat-ra (villages)

• flori-nj (golds)

Also changing the stem of the noun, from -k to -q; from -a to -e, from -g to -gj

• plak (old man) - pleq (old men)

• mik (guest) - miq ( guests)

• nate (night) - net (nights)

• zog (bird) - zogj (birds)

Some nouns are only used in singular

• rini-a (youth)

• popullsi-a (population),

• arsim-i (education)

Some nouns are written with a capital

• Shqiperi-a (Albania)

• Adriatik-u (Adriatic sea)

Also we have some other nouns that are only used in plural.

• pantallona-t (pants)

• syze-t (glasses)

If a singular noun is masculine but is changed with the -e ending when it is in its plural form, it becomes feminine.

• My phone - telefoni im

• My phones - telefonet e mi

• our daughter - vajza jone

• first love - dashuria e pare

Days of the Week - Ditet e Javes

• Monday - E hene

• Tuesday - E marte

• Wednesday - E merkure

• Thursday - E enjte

• Friday - E premte

• Saturday - E shtune

• Sunday - E diel

• Weekend - peshume

Months of the Year

• Months - Muajt

• January - Janar

• February - Shkuurt

• March - Mars

• April - Prill

• May - Maj

• June - Qershor

• July - Korrik

• August - Gusht

• September - Shtator

• October - Tetor

• November - Nentor

• December - Dhjetor

Numbers - Numrat

• 0 - Zero

• 1 - Nje

• 2 - dy

• 3 - tre

• 4 - kater

• 5 - pese

• 6 - gjashte

• 7 - shtate

• 8 - tete

• 9 - nente

• 10 - dhjete

• 11 - nje-mbedhjete

• 12 - dy-mbedhjete

• 13 - tre-mbedhjete

• 14 - kater-mbedhjete

• 15 - pses-mbedhjete

• 16 - gjashte-mbedhjete

• 17 - shtate-mbedhjete

• 18 - tete-mbedhjete

• 19 - nentembedhjete

• 20 - njezete

• 30- tridhjete

• 40 - dyzete

• 50 - pesedhjete

• 60 - gjashtdhjete

• 70 - shtatedhjete

  • 71 - shtatedhejete - nje

• 80 - tetedhjete

• 90 - nentedhjete

• 100 - nje qind

• 200 - dy qind

• 1000 - nje mije

• 1,000,000 - million