Maltese Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Maltese 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 Maltese and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Maltese and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Maltese.

Prepositions - Maltese
and u
above fuq
under taht
before qabel
after wara
in front of quddiem
behind wara
far from boghod minn
near qrib
in go
inside gewwa
outside barra
with ma'
without minghajr
about dwar
between bejn
but imma
for ghall- / ghal
from minn
to lejn / ghall- / ghal

Preposition Grammar Rules

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

Prepositions + Rules - Maltese
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] jien niekol minghajr sikkina
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] hi tghix qrib il-knisja
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] huwa itwal minnha
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] hu gie bil-kelb zghir tieghu
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] tista tigi mieghi?

Negation in Maltese

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 - Maltese
I understand you [affirmative form] nifhemek
I don't understand you [negation + verb] ma nifhmekx
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] din mhux il-kelma korretta
don't leave me [imperative negation] thallinix
no problem [negation + noun] mhux problema

Negative Sentences - Maltese
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] ma nitkellimx bil-franciz
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] hi ma zarietx il-germanja
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] ma jistax jarana
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] hi ma tistax tilghab cess?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] ahna mhux se nigu tard

Questions in Maltese

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

English - Maltese
how? kif?
what? liema?
who? min?
why? ghaliex?
where? fejn?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Maltese
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] fejn toqghod?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] hi titkellem bic-ciniz?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] kemm hu dan?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] nista nghinek?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] x'jismek?

Adverbs in Maltese

It's time to learn the adverbs in Maltese. 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 - Maltese
now issa
yesterday ilbierah
today illum
tonight illejla
tomorrow ghada
soon dalwaqt
quickly malajr
slowly bilmod
together flimkien
very hafna
almost kwazi
always dejjem
usually normalment
sometimes kultant
rarely rari
never qatt

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

Adverbs + Rules - Maltese
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] qed tifhimni issa?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ghandi bzonn l-ghajnuna immedjatament
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] hija intelligenti hafna
I will always love you [verb + adverb] jien inhobbok dejjem
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] nistghu nitghallmu il-germaniz flimkien?

Pronouns in Maltese

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Maltese. 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 - Maltese
I jien
you int
he hu
she hi
we ahna
they huma

Object Pronouns - Maltese
me jien / jiena, lili
you int / inti, lilek (s) intom / lilkom (pl)
him hu / huwa, lilu
her hi / hija, lilha
us ahna, lilna
them huma, lilhom

Possessive Pronouns - Maltese
my tieghi
your tieghek
his tieghu
her taghha
our taghna
their taghhom

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 - Maltese
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] jiena l-habib tieghek
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] inti titkellem tghaggel
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] huwa ghandu tlett iklieb
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] hi tista titkellem bil-germaniz
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] ahna mhux se nigu tard
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] huma xtraw halib u hobz

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 - Maltese
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] tista tghidli x'jismek?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] jien naghtik il-flus
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] hija kitbitlu ittra
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] huma zaruha lbierah
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] hi tista tghinna?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] hu tahom l-ikel

Possessive Pronouns - Maltese
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] jien jisimni maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] huk jghix hawn
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] ommha ssajrilna
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] il-passatemp tieghu huwa l-qari
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] il-holma taghna hija li nzuru parigi
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] id-dar taghhom mhijiex il-boghod

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

Demonstrative Pronouns - Maltese
this is my house din hija d-dar tieghi
that restaurant is far dak ir-restorant huwa 'l boghod
these apples are delicious dan it-tuffieh huwa delizzjuz
those stars are shiny dawk l-istilel ileqqu

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