Ablative
Three of the ablative’s four cells are just the dative again. The fourth — the indefinite plural — is the one ending in the whole 5-case system that isn’t a copy of anything else.
Usage
The ablative covers “from”, material composition, and a long list of fixed prepositions that always take it: afër, gjatë, jashtë, krahas, kundër, larg, para, pas, përballë, përgjatë, përpara, përveç, pranë, prapa, prej, rreth, sipas.
It also shows up in two more specific places: a noun modifying another noun, when both stay indefinite — mish viçi (“veal”, literally “meat of-calf”) — switches to the genitive instead the moment the head noun becomes definite: mishi i viçit. And çfarë (“what kind of”) is always followed by an ablative indefinite noun, singular or plural: çfarë gjuhe (“what language”), çfarë librash (“what books”) — contrast this with the shorter ç’, which instead takes a nominative/accusative indefinite noun.
Formation
Singular, indefinite — identical to the dative. Masculine: same shape as the noun’s own nominative definite singular (shoku). Feminine:
Ending | Rule | Example |
-ë (or -ër/-ërr/-ël) | replace -ë with -e (drop -ë- for -ër/-ërr/-ël first) | ekspozitë → ekspozite, motër → motre |
stressed -i | add -e | shtëpi → shtëpie |
elsewhere | add -je | studente → studenteje, kala → kalaje |
Singular, definite — identical to the dative. Masculine: nominative definite singular + -t (shoku → shokut). Feminine:
Ending | Rule | Example |
unstressed final vowel | nominative indefinite + -s | nënë → nënës |
stressed final vowel | nominative indefinite + -së | shtëpi → shtëpisë |
-ër/-ërr/-ël | replace ending with -ës | motër → motrës |
Plural, indefinite — the one cell that’s genuinely independent. Take the plural stem (the same one “Plural formation” covers) and add -sh, unless it ends in two consonants or in -ëz/-s/-ër, in which case an epenthetic -i- goes in first:
Plural stem ends in | Rule | Example |
most (a single consonant, or a vowel) | add -sh | shokë → shokësh, vajza → vajzash, fshatra → fshatrash |
two consonants, or -ëz/-s/-ër | epenthetic -i- before -sh (→ -ish) | peshq → peshqish, njerëz → njerëzish, mësues → mësuesish, prindër → prindërish |
The exact same -i- shows up in the definite plural too, in the same stems, but before -t instead of -sh — see “Nominative”’s plural-definite table (mësues → mësuesit, prindër → prindërit): one phonological rule, two places in the paradigm.
Plural, definite — identical to the dative: plural stem + -ve, both genders (studentëve, vajzave).
The exact singular and plural endings still depend on how a specific noun is spelled — see “Definiteness” and “Plural formation” for those patterns, and the noun dictionary for the confirmed forms of an individual word.
See “Cases” for how the ablative relates to the other four, or “Nouns: the basics” for the overview.