këta / këto

Plural Near Demonstratives

Level 1

Albanian uses two words for 'these' depending on gender: këta (masculine) and këto (feminine). They point to things or people near the speaker.

How It Works

In Standard Albanian, plural near demonstratives function as both adjectives (these books) and pronouns (these ones).

1. Gender Agreement:

  • Këta: Used with masculine nouns in the plural. It is also used for mixed-gender groups.
  • Këto: Used with feminine nouns in the plural, and with masculine nouns that take feminine plural forms, such as male (mountains).

2. Noun Form:
When used as a determiner, the noun following këta/këto is typically in the indefinite form. For example, 'këta libra' (these books) rather than 'këta librat'.

3. Case Changes:
While këta and këto are used for the Nominative and Accusative cases, they both change to këtyre in the Dative, Genitive, and Ablative cases. This single form këtyre covers both genders in these 'oblique' positions.

Examples (4)

  1. Këta libra janë të rinj.

    These books are new.

    Word by Word: These books are of new.

    'Libra' is masculine plural, so we use 'këta'.

  2. Këto vajza studiojnë shumë.

    These girls study a lot.

    Word by Word: These girls study much.

    'Vajza' is feminine plural, so we use 'këto'.

  3. Këta janë shokët e mi.

    These are my friends.

    Word by Word: These are friends-the of mine.

    Here 'këta' acts as a pronoun referring to a masculine or mixed group.

  4. U dhashë ujë këtyre luleve.

    I gave water to these flowers.

    Word by Word: To-them I-gave water to-these flowers.

    Because 'to these' is dative, we use the oblique form 'këtyre'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'këto' for masculine nouns ending in -a.

    këto libra
    këta libra

    Many masculine nouns like 'libër' (book) end in -a in the plural (libra). Learners often mistake them for feminine because of the -a ending, but they still require the masculine 'këta'.

  • Using the definite noun form after the demonstrative.

    këta djemtë
    këta djem

    In Standard Albanian, demonstratives are followed by the indefinite form of the noun, not the definite form with the suffix.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

këta / këtoLevel 1Plural Near Demonstratives

Learn This First

To understand plural near demonstratives, you first need to be familiar with the singular forms (ky/kjo) and how nouns are pluralized in both masculine and feminine genders, as the demonstratives must agree with the nouns they modify.

Words in This Pattern

kjo