Moods and tenses
An Albanian verb can be put into several moods (how the speaker presents the action) and, within each mood, into several tenses (when it happens). This section has one page for each form that matters, ordered by how soon a learner needs it. Every page explains how the form is built, shows the pattern for each conjugation class, and lists what it is used for, with examples.
What do I want to say?
If you are not sure where to start, begin from what you want to express:
| I want to say... | Go to |
| what is happening now, what I usually do, or something that is always true | Present indicative |
| tell someone to do something, or ask politely | Imperative |
| that I want, must or can do something | Present subjunctive and Modals |
| what I will do | Future |
| what happened, with a result that still matters | Present perfect |
| what happened and is over | Simple past |
| what was going on, or used to happen | Imperfect |
| what had already happened before another moment in the past | Pluperfect |
| what would happen, or "if" sentences | Conditional and if-sentences |
| "while doing" or "without doing" | Participles, duke and pa |
| that I am surprised, or that I heard it from someone else | Admirative |
| a wish, a blessing or a curse | Optative |
The five moods
| Mood | Tenses on this site | Main use |
| Indicative | present, imperfect, simple past, present perfect, pluperfect, future, future perfect, conditional, perfect conditional | Facts, description and narration. The speaker presents the action as real. |
| Subjunctive | present, imperfect, present perfect (and a past perfect built from it) | Actions that depend on something else: wanting, having to, being able to, purpose. It replaces the missing infinitive. |
| Imperative | present (ti and ju only) | Orders, requests, advice, invitations. |
| Admirative | present, imperfect, present perfect, pluperfect | Surprise at an unexpected fact, doubt, irony, and news that came from someone else. |
| Optative | present, present perfect | Wishes, blessings and curses. |
The conditional is listed under the indicative because it is built with the same do të as the future, only with the imperfect instead of the present subjunctive. Albanian grammars do not treat it as a mood of its own.
Simple and compound forms
- Simple forms are a single word with endings: the present, imperfect, simple past, imperative and the present of the subjunctive, admirative and optative.
- Compound forms are built from an auxiliary and the participle: kam or jam plus the participle gives the present perfect, the pluperfect, the future perfect and the perfect forms of the other moods.
- The particle do makes the future and the conditional: do të plus a subjunctive form. Do never changes; the person comes from the verb after it.
Names you may meet in other books
Grammars do not always use the same names. This table shows the ones used on this site and the alternatives.
| On this site | Also called | Example (punoj) |
| Present indicative | present | punoj |
| Simple past | aorist, past definite | punova |
| Imperfect | imperfect indicative | punoja |
| Present perfect | perfect | kam punuar |
| Pluperfect | past perfect | kisha punuar |
| Future | future subjunctive | do të punoj |
| Conditional | future in the past, when used in reported speech | do të punoja |
The Albanian grammatical terms are dëftore (indicative), lidhore (subjunctive), urdhërore (imperative), habitore (admirative) and dëshirore (optative).
The sequence below
The pages are grouped into three levels. Beginner pages give you enough verbs to speak and read simple texts; intermediate pages add storytelling, hypotheses and longer verb phrases; advanced pages cover forms you will meet mostly in reading and in the finer points of speech. Each page ends with a link to the next one, and the top of every page shows the whole section.
Beginner
Start here: what you need to say what is happening, what you will do, what you did, and to give orders.
Intermediate
Once the basics feel comfortable: telling stories, saying what would happen, and building longer verb phrases.
Advanced
Rarer or more subtle forms, worth coming back to when you read or listen to more Albanian.