kush

Question Word: Kush

Foundations

Kush is the Albanian word for 'who'. It is used to ask about the identity of a person or people.

How It Works

Kush is the primary way to ask 'who' in Albanian. Here is how to become confident with its use:

Human Only: Use kush only for people. For objects or animals, use çfarë (what).
Subject-Verb Agreement: If the subject is unknown, use a singular verb: Kush është te dera? (Who is at the door?). However, if you are asking about a specific plural group, the verb becomes plural: Kush janë këta njerëz? (Who are these people?).
Case Changes: Kush changes form based on its role. It becomes kë for direct objects (Accusative), kujt for the Dative, and prej kujt for the Ablative (e.g., 'from whom').
Whose: To say 'whose', use a link article with the dative form: i/e/të/së kujt. Crucially, the article must agree with the object possessed, not the person (e.g., i kujt është ky libër? - masculine; e kujt është kjo çantë? - feminine).
Indefinite Use: In negative or conditional contexts, kush can mean 'anyone' or 'someone'. For example, S'erdhi kush means 'No one came' (literally: 'Anyone didn't come').
Kush vs. Cili: Use kush for general identity. If you are selecting one person from a specific, known group, use cili (which one) instead.

Kush është ai?
Who is he?
Word by Word: Who is he?
This uses the basic nominative form of 'kush' with the verb jam (to be).
Kë po kërkoni?
Whom are you looking for?
Word by Word: Whom [are] you looking for?
Here, 'kush' changes to 'kë' because it is the object of the sentence.
E kujt është kjo makinë?
Whose is this car?
Word by Word: [Linking particle] whom is this car?
To ask 'whose', we use 'kujt' with a linking particle. The particle 'e' agrees with the feminine noun 'makinë'.
Prej kujt e more këtë?
From whom did you get this?
Word by Word: From whom [it] you took this?
The form 'prej kujt' is used for the ablative case to express origin or 'from whom'.
S'erdhi kush.
No one came.
Word by Word: Not came anyone.
In negative sentences, 'kush' can function as an indefinite pronoun meaning 'anyone' or 'no one'.

Using 'kush' as a relative pronoun (like 'The man who...').
Burri kush erdhi...
Burri që erdhi...
Kush asks 'who' and does not link a noun to a description, so it cannot replace që after a noun. To link a description to a person, use the relative pronoun që.
Using the nominative kush after a preposition.
Me kush po flet?
Me kë po flet?
Standard Albanian puts kë after prepositions like me (with). Me kush is heard in casual speech, but it is not the standard form. You can learn more about this in Definite Accusative Case.
Forcing a singular verb when the subject is explicitly plural.
Kush është ata?
Kush janë ata?
While 'kush' is singular by default, the verb must agree with the subject if you explicitly mention a plural group (like 'ata' - they). Use jam in the plural form in these cases.

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kushFoundationsQuestion Word: Kush

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kush

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