What makes irregular verbs special in Albanian language?

The basics of Albanian irregular verbs

You have probably heard of irregular verbs. They exist in every language and are sometimes not the easiest thing to learn (especially while learning foreign languages). What makes them irregular is the fact that the stem of the verb can completely change its form during its conjugation.

What you might have not known, is that in Albanian language, the two main verbs “ to be”(jam) and “to have”(kam), that also serve as auxiliary verbs, are both irregular verbs. This is quite interesting, isn’t it?

In Albanian language the biggest modification can be noticed between the first and second person singular. “Kam” becomes “ke”, whereas “jam” becomes “je” and afterwards “është”.

Please read carefully the verbs and notice the differences.

Irregular Verbs

Jam - to be

• Unë jam (I am)

• Ti je (You are - singular, informal)

• Ai është (He is)

• Ajo është (She is)

• Ne jemi (We are)

• Ju jeni (You are)

• Ata janë (They are - masculine)

• Ato janë (They are - feminine)

Kam - to have

• Unë kam (I have)

• Ti ke (You have - singular, informal)

• Ai ka (He has)

• Ajo ka (She has)

• Ne kemi (We have)

• Ju keni (You have - plural, formal)

• Ata kanë (They have - masculine)

• Ato kanë (They have - feminine)

Photo by Patti Black on Unsplash

Albanian is not the only language where this phenomenon occurs.
This is common in other languages as well, such as: Spanish, French, Italian and German.