Simple past

The simple past (also called the aorist or the past definite) tells what happened and was completed at a definite time in the past. It is a single word with its own endings, and it is the tense whose stem causes the most irregularity in Albanian, which is why it is one of the three principal parts of every verb.

How it is formed

The endings are close to the same for every verb; what changes from class to class is the stem and the way the endings attach. First the regular patterns:

	Class 1 punoj	Class 1 laj	Class 1 blej	Class 2 hap	Class 3 pi	Class 4 eci
unë	punova	lava	bleva	hapa	piva	eca
ti	punove	lave	bleve	hape	pive	ece
ai, ajo	punoi	lau	bleu	hapi	piu	eci
ne	punuam	lamë	blemë	hapëm	pimë	ecëm
ju	punuat	latë	bletë	hapët	pitë	ecët
ata, ato	punuan	lanë	blenë	hapën	pinë	ecën

Pattern by class

Class 1, verbs in -oj and -uaj: -ova, -ove, -oi, -uam, -uat, -uan (punova, shkrova from shkruaj).
Class 1, verbs in -aj, -ej, -ij, -yj: -va, -ve, -u, -më, -të, -në (lava, bleva, fshiva, fryva).
Class 1, two groups with their own stem: bëj and hyj add -r: bëra, bëre, bëri, bëmë, bëtë, bënë; hyra, hyre, hyri, hymë, hytë, hynë. Arrij, gjej, luaj keep a -t throughout: arrita, arrite, arriti, arritëm, arritët, arritën.
Class 2: -a, -e, -i, -ëm, -ët, -ën added to the stem.
Class 3: like Class 1 with -aj/-ej: -va, -ve, -u, -më, -të, -në.
Class 4: -a, -e, -i, -ëm, -ët, -ën, as in Class 2.

Class 2 with a changed stem

Class 2 has several groups whose simple past stem differs from the present:

Group	What happens	Examples (unë)
stem vowel becomes -o-	same endings, -a, -e, -i, -ëm, -ët, -ën	dal, dola; flas, fola; marr, mora; sjell, solla; zgjedh, zgjodha
verbs in -as, -es	add -ta; the vowel before it becomes -i-	bërtas, bërtita; pres "wait", prita; shes, shita
verbs in -yes	drop the -s and add -ta, without -i-	pyes, pyeta
verbs in -h	ai/ajo ends in -u, not -i	njoh, njohu (but vesh is regular: veshi)
other stem changes	memorize	thërras, thirra (or thërrita); vdes, vdiqa, vdiqe, vdiq

Class 3 irregulars

di "know": dita. fle "sleep": fjeta.
vë "put": vura. zë "catch": zura.

Class 5 and the other common irregulars

These simple pasts have to be learned one by one. They are listed with the verb's present form:

Verb	unë	ti	ai, ajo	ne	ju	ata, ato
jam "be"	qeshë	qe	qe	qemë	qetë	qenë
kam "have"	pata	pate	pati	patëm	patët	patën
dua "want"	desha	deshe	deshi	deshëm	deshët	deshën
jap "give"	dhashë	dhe	dha	dhamë	dhatë	dhanë
them "say"	thashë	the	tha	thamë	thatë	thanë
shoh "see"	pashë	pe	pa	pamë	patë	panë
bie "fall"	rashë	re	ra	ramë	ratë	ranë
lë "leave"	lashë	le	la	lamë	latë	lanë
vij "come"	erdha	erdhe	erdhi	erdhëm	erdhët	erdhën
ha "eat"	hëngra	hëngre	hëngri	hëngrëm	hëngrët	hëngrën
rri "stay"	ndenja	ndenje	ndenji	ndenjëm	ndenjët	ndenjën
vete "go"	vajta	vajte	vajti	vajtëm	vajtët	vajtën

For jam and kam the imperfect (isha, kisha) is used far more often than these simple pasts.

Class 6: u + the active verb

The simple past of a Class 6 verb is the simple past of the corresponding active verb with the particle u in front. The third person singular is the irregular cell: it loses the ending of the active verb.

	lahem (laj)	futem (fut)
unë	u lava	u futa
ti	u lave	u fute
ai, ajo	u la	u fut
ne	u lamë	u futëm
ju	u latë	u futët
ata, ato	u lanë	u futën

Verbs in -oj/-uaj: the third person singular is -ua, not -oi: takohem: u takova, u takove, u takua, u takuam.
Verbs in -ej/-yej: the third person singular is -ye: kthehem: u ktheva, u ktheve, u kthye, u kthyem.
Verbs whose active simple past ends in -ra: the -ri is dropped: vihem: u vura, u vure, u vu, u vumë; bëhem: u bëra, u bëre, u bë, u bëmë.

When to use it

1. A completed action at a definite time

The basic meaning is that the action was performed and finished at a particular time. It often comes with a past time word such as dje "yesterday", pardje "the day before yesterday", vjet "last year", atëherë "then", para dy ditësh "two days ago":

Ai erdhi, hapi derën dhe hyri. "He came, opened the door and went in."

2. An action that lasted, but is over

The simple past can cover a long time, as long as the whole of it is closed off:

Ajo punoi gjithë jetën këtu. "She worked here all her life."

3. After "if" (po), for a hypothesis in the past

In a conditional sentence the antecedent in the simple past needs the conjunction po, not nëse or në: Po s'erdhe ti, nuk shkoj as unë. "If you did not come, I am not going either." See Conditional and if-sentences.

4. A future event presented as already done

For emphasis or urgency, a speaker can say that something is done when it is about to be: Erdha! "I'm coming!" (literally "I came!").

Simple past or present perfect, or imperfect?

If the action is over and the speaker reports it as a closed event: simple past. Dje hapa derën.
If the action is connected to now, or began in the past and continues: present perfect. Kam hapur derën.
If the action is in progress, habitual or in the background of another past action: imperfect.

In speech the present perfect often replaces the simple past. Both are used, with a small difference of focus, and in many sentences either is acceptable.

Watch out: the stem of the simple past is rarely predictable. Learn it with the verb, as the principal parts (punoj, punova, punuar) show. The participle often follows from it: fola gives folur, shita gives shitur.