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Understanding grammar is key to achieving fluency in any language, and our Albanian Grammar Section is designed to make this process clear and approachable. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner, this section provides comprehensive explanations and practical examples to help you grasp the rules and structures of Albanian grammar.

We cover everything from basic sentence construction and verb conjugations to more complex topics like noun cases, gender agreements, and tenses. Each concept is broken down into easy-to-understand lessons, complete with interactive exercises and quizzes to reinforce your learning.

Our step-by-step approach ensures that you build a strong grammatical foundation, allowing you to speak, write, and understand Albanian with confidence. As you progress through the lessons, you’ll gain the skills needed to express yourself accurately and effectively in any situation.

Albanian Alphabet

Pronunciation

In Albanian, the writing and pronunciation correspond with each other.

Special characters

There are two special characters:

• «ç» corresponds to 'tch' , e.g. 'match'

• «ë» corresponds to a closed 'e' similar to 'oyster' or the sound in Oi (ɔɪ) (BE)

Sounds, consisting of two letters:

• «dh» corresponds to 'th' (voiced), e.g. in 'they'

• «gj» is to be pronounced at the same time (simultaneously) «g+j»

• «g» like in 'garage'; «j» is pronounced like the «y» in 'year'

• «ll» corresponds to «l» , e.g. English 'bill'

• «nj» corresponds to the Spanisch letter «ñ» ('eh-nyeh'), e.g. in 'Señor'

• «rr» is pronounced like a rolling «r» (at least) double tonguing

• «sh» is similar to English «sh», it corresponds to 'sh' (unvoiced), e.g. 'shoe'

• «th» corresponds to the English «th» (unvoiced), e.g. 'thunder'

• «xh» is pronounced like a voiced «j» e.g. 'jeans'

• «zh» corresponds to the sound «sh» (voiced), e.g. 'garage'

Stressing

• In words ending on a vocal, the penultimate syllable is stressed

• Words ending on a consonant, the last syllable is stressed

Grammar

SUBJECT PRONOUNS

The subject pronouns are:

Singular

• I unë

• you (informal) ti; you (informal) ju

• he ai

• she ajo

Plural

• we ne

• you (formal and informal) ju

• they (masc.) ata

• they (fem.) ato

In the singular, the second- person pronoun (you) is distinguished for formality. Ti is the informal form (equivalent to the French tu), while ju is the formal form (equivalent to the French vous). In the plural form only ju is used, and it can be either informal or formal (again, equivalent to the French vous).

There is no equivalent pronoun for the English ‘it’. All nouns will be either masculine or feminine, and the pronouns ai and ajo, respectively, can be used in place of the nouns. Remember, however, that pronouns are used mostly for emphasis. As a general rule, avoid the pronoun, since the verbal form clearly indicates the person.

Ato is used when referring to a group of women exclusively.

Ata can refer either to an exclusive group of men or to a mixed group of men and women.

Kush janë ata?

Who are they?

Ata janë Agroni dhe Sokoli. They are Agroni and Sokoli.

Ata janë Agroni dhe Teuta. They are Agroni and Teuta.

Kush janë ato?

Who are they?

Ato janë Bora dhe Albana.

They are Bora and Albana.

The third-person pronouns ai, ajo, ata, and ato can also be used as demonstrative adjectives or pronouns equivalent to English ‘that’ or ‘those’ (see §21). Thus, the following example is ambiguous:

Ata janë Agroni dhe Sokoli.

They are Agroni and Sokoli.

Those are Agroni and Sokoli.

The pronoun kush ‘who’ is typically used with the verb conjugated in the third-person singular (as in English; cf. “Who speaks Albanian?”). Lately, however, and most often with the verb ‘to be’, as in the examples below, it is used with the verb conjugated in the third- person plural if we know that the answer will be more than one person:

Kush është ajo? Ajo është Vesa. Who is she? She is Vesa.

Kush janë ato? Ato janë Vesa dhe Bora. Who are they? They are Vesa and Bora.

VERB "TO BE" IN THE PRESENTE TENSE

These are the forms of the verb jam ‘to be’ in the present indicative:

unë jam I am

ne jemi we are

ti je you are

ju jeni you are

ai është he is

ata janë they are (masc.)

ajo është she is

ato janë they are (fem.)

Zonja Paola është italiane.

(Mrs.) Paola is Italian.

Zoti Pjer është francez.

(Mr.) Pierre is French.

Drini është shqiptar.

Drini is Albanian.

Paola is a feminine noun; therefore, the adjective of nationality must appear in the feminine form. Zoti Pjer and Drini are masculine names, so the adjective of nationality must appear in the masculine form.

To form the feminine form from a masculine adjective of nationality, simply add - e to the masculine form of the adjective:

• italian becomes italiane

• francez becomes franceze

• shqiptar becomes shqiptare

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

A negative sentence is made by adding nuk or s’ in front. There is no difference between the two forms.

Ju jeni Agimi. You are Agimi.

Negative sentence:

Ju nuk jeni Agimi. You are not Agimi.

Ju s’jeni Agimi.

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

An interrogative sentence is made by inverting the subject and the verb. You can also use the interrogative particle a in front of the inverted verb. There is no difference in meaning between the two forms.

Jeni ju Agimi? / A jeni ju Agimi? Are you Agimi?

To answer a question, you can use po ‘yes’ or jo ‘no’:

Jeni ju Drita? Are you Drita?

Po, unë jam Drita. Yes, I am Drita.

Jeni ju Agimi? Are you Agimi?

Jo, unë nuk jam Agimi. Unë jam Genci. No, I’m not Agimi. I’m Genci.

Jo, unë s’jam Agimi. Unë jam Genci. No, I’m not Agimi. I’m Genci.

Po is also used to introduce the topic of a question. The closest English equivalent to this use is ‘and’.

Unë jam mirë. Po ti? I am well. And you?

Ne jemi mirë. Po ju, si jeni? We are well. And you, how are you?

VERB CLASSES

In Standard Albanian there is no infinitive. Verbs are classified according to the form that the first person singular (unë) takes. There are six classes of verbs:

• Class 1: verbs that end in - j (mësoj ‘to learn’)

• Class 2: verbs that end in a consonant (hap ‘to open’)

• Class 3: verbs that end in a vowel (ha ‘to eat’)

• Class 4: a few verbs that end in - i (hipi ‘to get on’)

• Class 5: irregular verbs (jap ‘to give’)

• Class 6: verbs that end in - (h)em (quhem ‘to be called’)

In this section we will start with the verb flas, which, as we will see later, is a subtype of class 2:

unë flas I speak

ne flasim we speak

ti flet you (sing) speak

ju flisni you (pl) speak

ai flet he speaks

ata flasin they speak (masc.)

ajo flet she speaks

ato flasin they speak (fem.)

Notice the three vowels that appear in this conjugation:

-a- with unë, ne, and ata/ ato;

-e- with ti and ai/ ajo;

-i- with ju.

Declarative sentence:

Ti flet anglisht. You speak English.

There are 3 ways to make an Interrogative sentence, the first is to put the verb in front of the subject:

Flet ti anglisht? Do you speak English?

The second way is to use the interrogative particle a in front of the inverted verb:

A flet ti anglisht? Do you speak English?

The third option is to make a question using the word order of a declarative sentence and raising the voice at the end of the sentence.

Ti flet anglisht?

To answer a question affirmatively, use the particle po ‘yes’:

Po, unë fl as anglisht. Yes, I speak English.

To answer negatively, use the particle jo ‘no’ and have nuk or s’ ‘not’ precede the verb.

Jo, unë nuk flas anglisht / Jo, unë s’flas anglisht. No, I don’t speak English.

BASIC CASES IN ALBANIAN

In Albanian cases are endings added to nouns to indicate or mark a particular function of that noun in a sentence. There are five cases in Albanian:

• nominative (typically used with subjects and a couple of prepositions)

• accusative (typically used with direct objects and some prepositions)

• dative (typically used with indirect objects)

• genitive (typically used to indicate possession but also used with some prepositions)

• ablative (typically used with some temporal and locative prepositions)

DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE NOUN FORMS

The nouns (like the names of countries) have two forms: Itali, Italia; Francë, Franca; Shqipëri, Shqipëria.

The first form listed in the examples is the indefinite form, while the second form is the definite form. The feminine article - a is equivalent to our English ‘the’, so when you say Shqipëria, you are actually saying “the Albania.” Notice that the definite article in Albanian follows the noun, thus when you say Shqipëria, you are actually saying “Albania- the.”

To express the country of origin for example we use the preposition nga ‘from’. Nga requires the definite form of the country in the nominative case. As mentioned above, the nominative case is typically used to express subjects, but it is also used after a couple of prepositions, including nga.

Zonja Paola është nga Italia.

(Mrs.) Paola is from Italy.

Zoti Pjer është nga Franca.

(Mr.) Pierre is from France.

Drini është nga Shqipëria.

Drini is from Albania.

Literally, nga Italia means “from the Italy.” Notice also that since the definite article follows the noun in Albanian, when you say nga Italia, you are literally saying “from Italy- the.”

To form the nominative definite form of a country, follow the following rules:

1. If the noun ends in - ë, change the - ë into - a: 

Francë becomes Franca

2. If the noun ends in a stressed - i, add - a:

Itali becomes Italia;

Shqipëri becomes Shqipëria

3. If the noun ends in a stressed vowel, except - i, add - ja:

Kanada becomes Kanadaja

Eritre becomes Eritreja

4. If the noun ends in a consonant, add - i:

Brazil becomes Brazili

Egjipt becomes Egjipti

5. If the noun ends in - k, - g, or -h, add - u:

Irak becomes Iraku

Luksemburg becomes Luksemburgu

Nagorni Karabah becomes Nagorni Karabahu

In general, nouns that end in a vowel are considered feminine; those that end in a consonant are considered masculine. Thus, rules 1 through 3 apply to feminine nouns, while rules 4 and 5 apply to masculine nouns.

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