Language/Maltese/Grammar/Plurals

Maltese Grammar - Plurals

Hi Maltese learners! 😊

In this lesson, we will delve into the Maltese plural forms. Knowing how to form plurals is essential for communicating effectively in Maltese. By the end of this lesson, you will have the necessary knowledge to form plurals correctly and understand plurals in context.

Introduction

In Maltese, plurals are formed in several ways. Therefore, it's essential to understand the rules related to plural formation. As an intermediate Maltese learner, we assume that you have a basic understanding of Maltese grammar. If not, you can refer to our wiki page on Grammar for a quick overview.

Regular Plurals

The easiest way to form plurals is by adding "-iet" at the end of the noun. For instance, singular words such as "ktieb" meaning "book" will become "ktiebiet" which means "books" in plural. Here's another example below:

Maltese	Pronunciation	English
Bajd	Ba-yid	Egg
Bajdiet	Ba-yid-yet	Eggs

Notice how we added "-iet" at the end of "bajd" to make it "bajdiet."

For plurals ending in "-na," we replace it with "-nejn." For example:

Maltese	Pronunciation	English
qronfli	Kronf-lee	Brackets
qranflijen	Kronf-lee-yen	Brackets (Plural)

Case Endings

Unlike the singular, where case endings are added to the end of the word, it is added at the end of the last vowel in a noun for plurals. Here's an example of a singular noun, "ktieb" which means "book," and its corresponding plural noun with different case endings:

Maltese	Pronunciation	English
Ktieb	Ktieb	Book (Singular)
Kotba	Kot-ba	Books (Plural)

As you can see from above, in the plural, "ktieb" becomes "kotba," with "a" being the case ending. Here is another example:

Maltese	Pronunciation	English
taxxa	tax-ia	Dish
tixgha	tucked-ja	Dishes

Notice how the case ending "-a" is added to the last vowel in "tixgha."

Irregular Plurals

When forming plural nouns, irregular nouns do not follow the regular "-iet" pattern. Here are some examples:

Maltese	Pronunciation	English
tfajla	tie-fai-la	Girl
tfajliet	tie-fai-let	Girls
ktieb	ktieb	Book
kotba	kot-ba	Books
tifel	ti-fel	Boy
tfal	tif-fl	Boys
mulej	mu-lai	Gentleman
mulieħ	mul-ieehh	Gentlemen

In the above examples, we see that the plurals are formed irregularly. To properly use irregular plurals, special attention must be paid to memorizing the specific nouns and their corresponding plurals.

Conclusion

By now, you should have a better understanding of Maltese plural formation. Practice and repetition are key to learning plurals. If you want to improve your understanding of Maltese plurals, use Polyglot Club to find native speakers and ask them any questions you may have.

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Dialogue

• Person 1: Qed nitolbu kliem għaliex qed niċċelebraw l-istadjiu tal-ktieb "The Witcher" (<translation in English>: We are choosing words because we are celebrating the stages of the book "The Witcher")
• Person 2: Hemm bżonn nkunu ċari fuq kemm kotba neħtieġu. (<translation in English>: We need to be clear about how many books we need.)

Sources

• Maltese Language
• Maltese Grammar
• Maltese Phonology

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