How verbs work
A1
Albanian has no infinitive in the usual sense: a dictionary lists a verb in its present-tense "I" form — punoj "I work", translated as "to work". The verb changes for person and number, and the subject pronoun is usually dropped: Punoj në Tiranë — "I work in Tirana".
Six forms
The ending shows who is doing the action. Here is punoj "to work":
| person | form | translation |
|---|---|---|
| unë | punoj | I work |
| ti | punon | you work |
| ai, ajo | punon | he, she works |
| ne | punojmë | we work |
| ju | punoni | you work (pl.) |
| ata, ato | punojnë | they work |
Instead of an infinitive — të
Where English uses an infinitive, Albanian uses të and the verb in the right person: Dua të punoj — "I want to work" (literally "I want that I work"), Duhet të shkoj — "I have to go".
Verb groups
The dictionary form usually shows how a verb is conjugated. The first three groups are in the topic "Present tense: regular verbs", the irregular ones in "Irregular verbs in the present".
| group | example | I · he · we |
|---|---|---|
| ending in -j (-oj, -uaj, -ej) | punoj | punoj · punon · punojmë |
| ending in a consonant | hap | hap · hap · hapim |
| ending in a vowel | pi | pi · pi · pimë |
| ending in -em, -hem (reflexive) | lahem | lahem · lahet · lahemi |
| irregular | jam | jam · është · jemi |
Examples
Punoj në një dyqan.
I work in a shop.
Ku jeton?
Where do you live?
Ne mësojmë shqip.
We're learning Albanian.
Dua të mësoj shqip.
I want to learn Albanian.
Ata punojnë shumë.
They work a lot.
Common mistakes
Unë punon.
✓ Unë punoj.
punon is "you" and "he"; "I" is punoj.
Dua punoj.
✓ Dua të punoj.
There is no infinitive: after dua comes të and the verb.
Ne punoni.
✓ Ne punojmë.
-ni is the ending for "you" (pl.); "we" is punojmë.
💡 Tip. Learn each verb with two forms — "I" and "he": punoj — punon, flas — flet, dua — do. They tell you almost everything else.
🎯 Practise this topic