Demonstratives

A demonstrative points to something by how far it is from the speaker — "this" versus "that". Albanian has two full sets: ky, kjo, këta, këto for something near ("this/these"), and ai, ajo, ata, ato for something farther away ("that/those").

Demonstratives can stand on their own as pronouns, or work as adjectives placed directly in front of a noun: ky libër ("this book"). When used this way, the noun that follows takes its indefinite form, not the definite one.

Each set changes by gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) — that's what gives four columns per table (ky/kjo/këta/këto, or ai/ajo/ata/ato). On top of that, each one changes by case.

Double duty: ai, ajo, ata and ato are also Albanian's third-person personal pronouns ("he/she/they"). Context is what tells them apart — on their own before a verb they mean "he/she/they"; placed in front of a noun, they mean "that/those".

Genitive, dative and ablative all share the same shape for demonstratives — there's no separate ablative form the way there is for personal pronouns. Genitive use just adds the linking article i/e in front, agreeing with whatever is possessed: libri i këtij djali ("this boy's book").