Albanian Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Albanian grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Albanian and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Albanian and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Albanian.

Prepositions - Albanian
and dhe
above sipër
under nën
before para
after pas
in front of përpara
behind prapa
far from larg prej;
near pranë
in në
inside brenda
outside përjashta
with me
without pa
about për
between midis
but por
for për
from nga
to te, tek

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Albanian
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] unë ha pa një thikë
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] ajo jeton pranë kishës
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] ai është më shtatlartë se ajo
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] ai erdhi me qenin e tij të vogël
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] mund të vijnë me mua?

Negation in Albanian

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Albanian
I understand you [affirmative form] unë e kuptoj që ju
I don't understand you [negation + verb] unë nuk ju kuptoj
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] kjo nuk është fjala e saktë
don't leave me [imperative negation] mos më lënë
no problem [negation + noun] nuk ka problem

Negative Sentences - Albanian
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] unë nuk flas frëngjisht
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] ajo nuk e ka vizituar gjermaninë
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] ai nuk mund të na shikoj
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] ajo nuk mund të loz shah?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] ne nuk do të vijmë vonë

Questions in Albanian

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Albanian
how? si?
what? çfarë?
who? kush?
why? pse?
where? ku?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Albanian
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] ku jetoni?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] a flet ajo kinezisht?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] sa është kjo?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] a mund t'ju ndihmoj?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] si është emri juaj?

Adverbs in Albanian

It's time to learn the adverbs in Albanian. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Albanian
now tani
yesterday dje
today sot
tonight sonte
tomorrow nesër
soon së shpejti
quickly shpejt
slowly ngadalë
together së bashku
very shumë
almost thuajse, pothuaj
always gjithmonë
usually zakonisht
sometimes nganjëherë
rarely rrallë
never kurrë

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Albanian
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] a më kuptoni tani?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] unë kam nevojë për ndihmë menjëherë
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] ajo është shumë inteligjente
I will always love you [verb + adverb] unë gjithmonë do të dua
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] mund të mësojmë gjermanisht së bashku?

Pronouns in Albanian

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Albanian. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Albanian
I unë
you ti
he ai
she ajo
we ne
they ata

Object Pronouns - Albanian
me mua
you ty; ju
him atë
her atë
us ne; neve
them ata, ato

Possessive Pronouns - Albanian
my tim; time
your tënd; tënde
his e tij
her e saj
our tona
their e tyre

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Albanian
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] unë jam miku juaj
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] ju flisni shumë shpejt
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] ai ka tre qen
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] ajo mund të flasë gjermanisht
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] ne nuk do të vijmë vonë
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] ata kanë blerë qumësht dhe bukë

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Albanian
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] mund të më thoni emrin tuaj?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] unë do të të jap paratë
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] ajo i shkroi një letër atij
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] ata vizituan ato dje
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] mund ajo të na ndihmojë?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] ai u dha atyre ushqim

Possessive Pronouns - Albanian
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] emri im është maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] vëllai juaj jeton këtu
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] nëna e saj gatuan për ne
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] hobi i tij është leximi i librave
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] ëndrra jonë është që të vizitojmë parisin
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] shtëpia e tyre nuk është larg

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Albanian
this is my house kjo është shtëpia ime
that restaurant is far restoranti është shumë larg
these apples are delicious këto mollë janë të shijshme
those stars are shiny ato yjet shkelqejnë

I hope you learned a lot about the Albanian grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!