An Affected Participant or Result

Level 4

Magħmul, magħmula and magħmulin mean made with masculine, feminine and plural agreement.

How It Works

Passive participles often function as adjectives. Miktub, ‘written’, describes something affected by writing; magħmul, ‘made’, describes something produced. Formation varies across verb classes, so learn the complete participle with its agreement forms.

The set magħmul / magħmula / magħmulin distinguishes masculine singular, feminine singular and plural. Some feminine forms in -a with corresponding plurals in -in, including passive participles, can also occur with plural nouns. This class-restricted variation does not extend to every feminine adjective. Present participial predicates ordinarily use mhux for negation in Standard Maltese.

Compare Pawlu għamel il-mejda, ‘Pawlu made the table’, with Il-mejda magħmula mill-ħadid, ‘The table is made of iron’. The first names an actor and event. The second describes composition without identifying the maker or specifying when manufacture occurred.

Examples (3)

  1. Il-kappell magħmul mill-plastik.

    The hat is made of plastic.

    Masculine singular description with a material complement.

  2. Il-mejda magħmula mill-ħadid.

    The table is made of iron.

    Feminine singular agreement with mejda.

  3. Il-kaxxi magħmulin mill-injam.

    The boxes are made of wood.

    Plural agreement with kaxxi.

How It Connects

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

An Affected Participant or ResultLevel 4

Learn This First

Introduce written and made descriptions through affected participants and resulting composition. Contrast an actor's finite making event with a table's material description, which neither names the maker nor independently locates manufacture in the past; retain the restricted plural -a alternative.