Albanian Plural
Learning the Albanian Plural is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Albanian language. But first we need to know what the role of Plural is in the structure of the grammar in Albanian.
Albanian Plurals are grammatical numbers, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers.
Grammar Tips:
While
in English, the plural is formed by adding (s) to the singular. In Albanian, to form the plural of nouns and
adjectives we add (-s) to words ending in a vowel and (-es) to words ending in a
consonant. Here are some examples:
Një
shok/ një shoqe (a friend) becomes: Disa shokë/ disa shoqe (some friends)
Një
grua (one woman) becomes: Disa gra (some women)
Kjo
është vetura/makina ime e kuqe (this is my red car) becomes: Këto janë makinat
e mia te kuqe (these are my red cars)
Explanation:
In Albanian Language we have for both gender in singular, and for
plural too.
Example
1. Një shok means: a friend, but only reffered to masculine singular
Një
shoqe means: a friend, but only reffered to feminine singular.
In
this case: një shok, in masculine singular, and when it goes to feminine
singular: një shoqe, means that we erase “k” sho+ and we add “qe”
(sho+qe=shoqe)
Pay attention: when we say in English:
Example 2. He is Salim’s friend. Vs. Albanian: Ai është shoku i
Salimit.
Here in this example: shok goes to shoku: (prominent form and
case)
And, Salim also goes to Salimit.
In Albanian Language we have 5 cases (rasa), below we have them
and an example:
1. Emërore - mal/ mal-i
2. Gjinore - i, e, të, së mal-it
3. Dhanore- mal-i/mal-it
4. Kallëzore- mal-i/mal-in
5. Rrjedhore- prej mal-i/mal-it
Note:
Until the beginning of the 20-century there were also the 6-th
case (rasa), 6. Rrjedhimore, but it doesn’t use anymore, they have erased from the grammar!
These are a bit complicated!
Here are some examples:
| English Plural | Albanian Plural |
| Plural | Shumës |
| my book | libri im (subjective form) |
| my books | librat e mi |
| our daughter | vajza jonë; bija jonë (subjective form) |
| our daughters | vajzat tona; bijat tona (subjective form) |
| I'm cold | kam ftohtë |
| we're cold | kemi ftohtë |
| his chickens | pulat e tij |
| their chicken | pula e tyre |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Plural in Albanian has a logical pattern. Locate the Plural above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Albanian.
Note: The plural of some masculine nouns is formed by adding -ë to the singular, for example: shqiptar - shqiptarë, amerikan - amerikanë, anglez - anglezë, italian - italianë. From some masculine nouns in Albanian, you can form the feminine, by adding -e to the masculine singular.
The plural feminine nouns have the same ending -e , for example: një shqiptare - disa shqiptare (an Albanian {woman} - some Albanians {women}). Here are some other examples of plural masculine and feminine nouns: francezë (masc.) becomes franceze (fem.).
List of Plurals in Albanian
Below is a list of the Plurals and Singulars in Albanian placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Albanian vocabulary.
| English Plural | Albanian Plural |
| alligator | aligator |
| alligators | alligators |
| bear | ari |
| bears | arinj |
| bird | zog |
| birds | zogj |
| bull | dem |
| bulls | dema |
| cat | mace |
| cats | macet |
| cow | lopë |
| cows | lopët |
| deer | dre |
| many deer | shumë dre |
| dog | qen |
| dogs | qentë |
| donkey | gomar |
| donkeys | gomerë |
| eagle | shqiponjë |
| eagles | shqiponjat |
| elephant | elefant |
| elephants | elefantët |
| giraffe | gjirafë |
| giraffes | gjirafat |
| goat | dhi |
| goats | dhitë |
| horse | kalë |
| horses | kuajt |
| lion | luan |
| lions | luanët |
| monkey | majmun |
| monkeys | majmunët |
| mouse | miu |
| mice | minjtë |
| rabbit | lepur |
| rabbits | Lepuj |
| snake | gjarpër |
| snakes | gjarpërinj |
| tiger | tigër |
| tigers | tigrat |
| wolf | ujk |
| wolves | ujqërit |
Plural and Singular have a very important role in Albanian, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with Albanian Plural, you might want to check the rest of our Albanian lessons here: Learn Albanian. Don't forget to bookmark this page.