Present indicative

The present indicative is the first tense to learn and the one the verb is cited in. It says what is happening now, what happens regularly, and what is always true. Its first person singular, the unë form, is the dictionary form of every verb.

How it is formed

The present has an ending for each of the six persons, and the endings depend on the conjugation class. Here is one verb for each regular class:

	Class 1 punoj "work"	Class 2 hap "open"	Class 3 ha "eat"	Class 4 eci "walk"	Class 6 zgjohem "wake up"
unë	punoj	hap	ha	eci	zgjohem
ti	punon	hap	ha	ecën	zgjohesh
ai, ajo	punon	hap	ha	ecën	zgjohet
ne	punojmë	hapim	hamë	ecim	zgjohemi
ju	punoni	hapni	hani	ecni	zgjoheni
ata, ato	punojnë	hapin	hanë	ecin	zgjohen

Class 5 verbs (jam, kam, dua, jap, them) are irregular and have their own table on the classes page.

What the pattern is, class by class

Class 1: add -n for ti and ai/ajo, -jmë for ne, -ni for ju and -jnë for ata/ato.
Class 2: unë, ti and ai/ajo are the bare stem; ne adds -im, ju -ni, ata/ato -in. This is the plain subtype only (see the next point).
Class 2 with a changing stem: ti and ai/ajo share a changed stem. Flas gives flet, dal gives del, marr gives merr, pres gives pret, njoh gives njeh. Most take yet another vowel in ju: flitni, dilni, njihni (but merrni).
Class 3: unë, ti and ai/ajo are the bare stem; ne adds -më, ju -ni, ata/ato -në.
Class 4: ti and ai/ajo end in -ën; ne -im, ju -ni, ata/ato -in.
Class 6: -em, -esh, -et, -emi, -eni, -en, with an h added after a vowel stem.

When to use it

1. What is happening right now: po + present

To stress that an action is going on at this very moment, or is about to happen, the particle po goes before the verb:

Po punoj tani. "I am working now."
Ai po lexon një libër. "He is reading a book."

Verbs that describe a state or a lasting attitude do not normally take po: dua "I want", di "I know", kam, jam, urrej "I hate", dashuroj "I love". For example Dua ujë. "I want water." and Ajo e di. "She knows it."

2. Habits and repeated actions

Without po, the present describes what happens regularly:

Çdo mëngjes ngrihem në orën gjashtë. "Every morning I get up at six."

3. General truths and proverbs

Dielli lind në lindje. "The sun rises in the east."

4. The future, with a time word

The present can refer to the future when the sentence has a word such as nesër "tomorrow" or pasnesër "the day after tomorrow", without po:

Nesër shkoj në shkollë. "Tomorrow I go to school."

For a future that does not depend on a time word, use the future.

5. Telling a story in the present

To bring a past event to life, a narrator can describe it as if it were happening now (the "historical present"):

Një ditë hyj në qytet dhe takoj një mik. "One day I enter the city and meet a friend."

6. Something that began in the past and still goes on

With an expression of duration the present has the force of the present perfect in English; it is not used with po:

Ka tre vjet që punoj këtu. "I have been working here for three years."

7. "Let's..."

The first person plural can be an invitation or a suggestion:

Shkojmë në shkollë. "Let's go to school."

Negation

Put nuk before the verb, or s' when the verb begins with a vowel: Nuk punoj sot. "I do not work today." S'dua ujë. "I do not want water."

Watch out: in Class 2, do not assume that ti is identical to unë. That is only true when the stem never changes (hap). For flas, dal, marr and pres, ti shares the changed stem of ai/ajo.