Possession: libri i Anës
"Ana's book" in Albanian is libri i Anës: the noun, the linking article and the owner in the genitive. The key point: the article agrees not with the owner but with what is owned — libri i Anës, shtëpia e Anës, librat e Anës.
The article follows the first noun
| phrase | meaning | why this article |
|---|---|---|
| libri i Anës | Ana's book | libër is masculine |
| shtëpia e Anës | Ana's house | shtëpi is feminine |
| librat e Anës | Ana's books | plural |
| shtëpia e Agimit | Agim's house | shtëpi is feminine, though Agim is a man |
| libri i mësueses | the teacher's book | libër is masculine, though the teacher is a woman |
The owner's form
The owner is in the genitive: the dative form with an article in front. Usually it is the definite form: i/e shokut "of the friend", i/e qytetit "of the city", i/e shtëpisë "of the house", i/e vajzave "of the girls". All the forms are in the topic "Noun declension".
The article changes with the first noun
When the first noun changes its case, the article changes as in the linking-article table:
| first noun | Nom. | Acc. | Dat. |
|---|---|---|---|
| m. sg. | libri i Anës | librin e Anës | librit të Anës |
| f. sg. | shtëpia e Anës | shtëpinë e Anës | shtëpisë së Anës |
| pl. | librat e Anës | librat e Anës | librave të Anës |
Names: the city of Vlorë
City, river and lake names are built with the genitive too: qyteti i Vlorës — "the city of Vlorë", lumi i Vjosës — "the Vjosa river", liqeni i Shkodrës — "Lake Shkodër".
Where no genitive is needed
After words of measure and quantity there is no genitive: një gotë verë "a glass of wine", një shishe ujë "a bottle of water", një kilogram domate "a kilo of tomatoes".
The question "whose?"
"Whose?" is i kujt?, e kujt?, të kujt?: here too the article agrees with the thing owned: ky libër → i, kjo shtëpi → e. I kujt është ky libër? — "Whose book is this?" — I Anës. In the plural, at the start of a question, it is të: Të kujt janë këta libra?