Çezar Kurti
LEARN ALBANIAN
MËSIMI I TETË - LESSON 8
I. XHON SMITHI MËSON SHQIP
JOHN SMITH LEARNS ALBANIAN
A.
Zana: Tungjatjeta, Marin!
Marini: Tungjatjeta, Zana!
Zana: Çfarë po bëni ju këtu?
Marini: Ja, po pres Xhonin
Zana: Pse, ku është zoti Xhon?
Marini: Ai është në dhomë. Po shkruan një letër. .
Zana: Si shkon mësimi i gjuhës shqipe?
Marini: Xhoni është entuziast. Atij i pëlqen gjuha shqipe dhe mëson shumë mirë.
Zana: Ju, me siguri, e ndihmoni shumë?
Marini: Unë e ndihmoj çdo ditë. Megjithëse ka vetëm një javë që jeton në Shqipëri, ai kupton tani shumë fjalë, fjali e shprehje në gjuhën shqipe. Fjalët ose shprehjet që dëgjon i shkruan dhe i mëson përmendësh. Pastaj i përsërit me mua. Ai punon sistematikisht dhe lexon e dëgjon shumë. Ka dhe një fjalor të vogël, ku shkruan fjalët dhe shprehjet e reja.
Zana: Sa mirë! I bëni të fala nga ana ime. Mirupafshim, Marin!
Marini: Mirupafshim, Zana! .
B . TRANSLATION
Zana: Hello, Marin.
Marin:Hello, Zana.
Zana: What are you doing here?
Marin: I am waiting for John.
Zana: Why, where is John?
Marin: He is in his room. He is writing a letter.
Zana: How are the Albanian lessons going?
Marin: John is enthusiastic. He likes the Albanian language and is doing very well.
Zana: You are probably a great help to him.
.Marin: I try to help him every day. Although he has only been living in Albania for a month, he has learned many Albanian words, sentences and expressions. The words or the expressions that he hears, he writes down and learns them by heart. Then he repeats them with me. He works systematically and is a very attentive listener. He has a little dictionary, where he writes down the new words and expressions.
Zana: How nice. Give him please my regards. Good bye, Marin.
Marin: Good bye, Zana
C. QUESTIONS - ANSWERS:
- Ku është Xhoni? Where is John?
- Ai është në dhomë. He is in his room.
- Çfarë po bën? What is he doing?
- Ai po shkruan një letër. He is writing a letter.
- Çfarë i pëlqen atij? What does he like?
- Atij i pëlqen gjuha shqipe. He likes the Albanian language.
- Si mëson Xhoni? How does John study?
- Xhoni mëson shumë mirë. John studies very well.
- Çfarë kupton ai tani? What does he understand now?
- O, tani ai kupton shumë fjalë, fjali dhe shprehje shqip. Now he understands many words, sentences and expressions in Albanian.
- Si punon ai? How does he work?
- Ai punon sistematikisht, lexon dhe dëgjon shumë. He works systematically, reads and is very attentive.
II. GRAMMAR
A. CLASSES OF THE VERB
Like in English, verbs in Albanian may be transitive or intransitive , of active or passive voice . The intransitive verbs (including reflexive verbs) are called in albanian grammar non-active.
There are 7 moods recognized in Albanian grammar: Indicative, Subjunctive, Conditional, Imperative, Optative and Admirative (in English there are 3 - Indicative, Subjunctive and Imperative ). The most used are Indicative, Subjunctive and Imperative.
Verbs are conjugated in six tenses: Present, Imperfect, Future, Aorist (Past), Present Perfect, Past Perfect (Pluperfect) . Only Indicative mood has all six tenses. The Imperative has only the Present.
Verbs in Albanian do not have infinitive. There is a form, so called Paskajore (translated as infinitive ), that assumes many functions of the infinitive. Besides this, albanian verbs have the Participle and the Gerund .
Verbs are listed in the vocabulary in the present first person singular of the indicative: unë punoj (Iwork) - punoj (to work) . For example, punoj (to work), shkruaj (to write), shkoj (to go), ndihmoj (to help), pres (to wait), përsëris (to repeat), mësoj (to learn) etc.
B. THE CONJUGATIONS OF THE VERB.
All the verbs in the Albanian language are divided into two main types of conjugations.
The verbs bë-j (to do), shkrua-j (to write), kupto-j (to understand), mëso-j (to learn), dëgjo-j (to hear), puno-j (to work), ndihmo-j (to help) that we encountered in the previous text, belong to the first type of conjugation. Their stem ends in vowel and in the first person of present indicative they take the ending -j.
The verbs pres (to wait) and përsëris (to repeat), that we have encountered in the text, belong to the second type of conjugation. Their stem ends in consonant and in the first person of present indicative they do not take any ending.
C. THE PRESENT OF THE INDICATIVE
In the present of the indicative the verbs of the first type are conjugated as follows:
bëj shkruaj ndihmoj
(to do) (to write ) (to help)
Singular
unë bë -j shkrua -j ndihmo -j
ti bë -n shkrua -n ndihmo -n
ai bë -n shkrua -n ndihmo -n
ajo bë -n shkrua -n ndihmo -n
Plural
ne bë -jmë shkrua- jmë ndihmo- jmë
ju bë -ni shkrua -ni ndihmo- ni
ata bë -jnë shkrua- jnë ndihmo- jnë
ato bë -jnë shkrua -jnë ndihmo -jnë
The first person takes- j , the second and third person singular and plural take: -n, -n, -jmë, -ni, -jnë.. Albanian verb does not have a neuter gender.
Often with theverb in the present indicative the particle po is used, indicating that the action is occurring at that particular moment, before the eyes of the speaker (the continuous present tense in English). For example:
- Çfarë po bën Zana? What are you doing, Zana?
- Po shkruaj një letër. Po ti, Marin, nuk ke me çfarë të merresh? I am writing a letter. And what about you Marin, don't you have anything to do?
- Jo, nuk kam me çfarë të merrem. No, I have nothing to do.
- Ku po shkon? Where are you going ?
- Po shkoj në teatër. I am going to the theater.
Since the verbs jam (to be) and kam (to have) play an important role in the formation of the different verbal forms, it is important to remember their conjugation:
Jam Kam
unë jam unë kam
ti je ti ke
ai (ajo) është ai (ajo) ka
ne jemi ne kemi
ju jeni ju keni
ata (ato) janë ata (ato) kanë
Exercise 1
Translate into Albanian:
- What are you doing, Anna?
- I am helping Marin to study English.
-Where are you going now, Zana?
- I am going to my room.
Exercise 2.
Add the appropriate endings of the Present indicative to the stem of the Albanian verbs punoj to work), jetoj (to live), lexoj (to read)
unë puno- jeto- lexo-
ti puno- jeto- lexo-
ai puno- jeto- lexo-
ajo puno- jeto- lexo-
ne puno- jeto- lexo-
ju puno- jeto- lexo-
ata puno- jeto- lexo-
ato puno- jeto- lexo-
Exercise 3
Change the verbs according to the person:
A. Unë lexoj një libër (I read a book) , ti ... një libër (You read a book) etc.
B. Unë kuptoj mirë shqip (I understand Albanian well), ti ...mirë shqip (You understand Albanian well) etc.
THE NEGATIVE
A sentence is made negativeby placing adverb nuk ( s' ) before the verb, for example:
Unë punoj. I work
Unë nuk punoj. Unë s' punoj I do not work.
D. Interrogative sentences are formed with the help of verb bëj (to do) and the interrogative pronoun çfarë? (what?). For example:
Unë punoj - Çfarë bëj unë? I work? What do I do?
Ti punon - Çfarë bën ti? You work. What do you do?
Ai punon - Çfarë bën ai? He works. What does he do?-
Ajo punon - Çfarë bën ajo? She works. What does she do?
Ne punojmë - Çfarë bëjmë ne? We work. What do we do?
Ju punoni - Çfarë bëni ju? You work. What do you do?
Ata punojnë - Çfarë bëjnë ata? They work. What do they do?
Ato punojnë - Çfarë bëjnë ato? They work. What do they do?
The interrogative sentences may be formed also by placing the subject after the verb, for example:
Unë punoj. Punoj unë?
I work. Do I work?
Ti punon. Punon ti?
You work. Do you work?
Ai punon. Punon ai?
He works. Does he work? etc.
Exercise 4.
Put the questions to the following sentences:
Example: Unë lexoj një libër - Çfarë bëj unë?
Ti mëson shqip -
Ai dëgjon mësimin -
Ne mësojmë anglisht -
Ju ndihmoni Xhonin -
Ata dëgjojnë shokun -
Ato lexojnë një libër -
Vocabulary
çfarë po bëni - what you are doing?
pres - to wait
pse - why
ku është ai? - where is he?
shkruaj - to write
letër - letter
entuziast - enthusiastic
mësoj - to learn
ndihmoj - to help
e ndihmoj - I help him
ka vetëm një javë që jeton - he has been living here only one week
Shqipëri-ja - Albania
kuptoj - understand
fjali - sentence
shprehje - expression
dëgjoj - to hear, to listen
mësoj përmendësh - to learn by heart, to memorize
përsëris - to repeat
me mua - with me
sistematikisht - systematically
shumë mirë - very good
lexon shumë - he reads too much
i bëni të fala - send my regards
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