Participles, duke and pa

The participle is the form of the verb that never changes for person, number or tense. Albanian uses it in three ways: to build the perfect tenses with kam and jam, as an adjective, and in two short constructions, duke "while doing" and pa "without doing".

How it is formed

The participle is the third of the three principal parts of a verb. Its stem is usually related to the stem of the simple past (fola gives folur, shita gives shitur), and the ending depends on the class:

Class	Pattern	Examples
1	-oj verbs: -uar. -ej verbs: -yer. One-syllable verbs: -rë. vij is irregular.	punoj, punuar; lexoj, lexuar; kërcej, kërcyer; laj, larë; blej, blerë; hyj, hyrë; vij, ardhur
2	consonant stems: -ur. Verbs in -s/-t: -tur. Some take -ë.	hap, hapur; mbyll, mbyllur; njoh, njohur; pyes, pyetur; dal, dalë; marr, marrë; sjell, sjellë
3	verbs in -ë: -në. Many others are irregular.	vë, vënë; zë, zënë; lë, lënë; fle, fjetur; di, ditur; pi, pirë
4	always -ur	eci, ecur; hipi, hipur; iki, ikur
5	irregular	jam, qenë; kam, pasur; dua, dashur; jap, dhënë; them, thënë; shoh, parë; flas, folur; vdes, vdekur
6	the participle of the active verb	lahem, larë

Some verbs have two participles with different meanings: pres is pritur when it means "wait" and prerë when it means "cut".

1. In the perfect tenses

The participle combines with kam or jam to form the present perfect (kam larë), the pluperfect (kisha larë), the future perfect (do të kem larë), the perfect subjunctive and the perfect forms of the admirative and optative.

2. As an adjective

On its own, a participle describes the state that results from the action. The participle of a transitive verb has a passive sense:

Derën e gjeta hapur. "I found the door open."
i hapur "opened"; i shkruar "written"; i lexuar "read".

With a linking article it becomes a full adjective: Derën e gjeta të hapur. The participle of an intransitive verb is active in sense: një djalë i lodhur "a tired boy". A participle can also be the predicate of a copula and describe a state: Dera është e hapur. "The door is open."

3. Without doing: pa + participle

The privative construction pa + participle says that something happens in the absence of an action, usually at the same time as the main verb:

Ai iku pa folur. "He left without speaking."
Mos shko pa ngrënë. "Do not go without eating."

It can also express a condition: Pa punuar, nuk ke bukë. "If you do not work, you have no bread." The same idea is often said with duke mos + participle: "by not doing".

4. While doing: duke + participle

The gerundive duke + participle expresses an action that accompanies the main action, usually at the same time:

Ai ecte duke folur. "He walked while talking."
Po lexoja duke ngrënë. "I was reading while eating."

Its time is set by the main verb, so it refers to the present, past or future according to that verb. With jam it makes the progressive: jam duke larë "I am (in the process of) washing", isha duke larë "I was washing".

5. For + doing: për të + participle

Where English uses an infinitive of purpose or necessity, Albanian has për të + participle: kam për të bërë "I have (something) to do". The Gheg dialects use me + an infinitive for this, and for the other uses of pa and duke. Standard Albanian has no such infinitive.

With a reflexive or passive meaning: u

For Class 6 verbs the participle is the one of the active verb, and the reflexive or passive meaning is carried by the particle u placed before it: pa u larë "without washing oneself", duke u larë "while washing oneself", duke u ngritur "while getting up".

Watch out: the bare participle of a transitive verb is passive (i hapur "opened"), but after pa or duke the same participle is active and can take an object: pa hapur derën "without opening the door". The subject of pa or duke may also differ from the subject of the main verb.