biex

An Intended Purpose

Level 2

Purpose biex means to, in order to, or so that.

How It Works

Purpose biex commonly takes an imperfect verb with subject agreement. Maltese has no infinitive directly corresponding to English “to buy.” The main action may be past, present, or future. A simple purpose clause may follow the main clause or come first.

Mort il-ħanut biex nixtri ħalib, “I went to the shop to buy milk,” gives both actions the same participant. In Ftaħt it-tieqa biex it-tfal jaraw il-baħar, “I opened the window so that the children could see the sea,” the plural purpose verb has a different subject.

Biex ma ninsiex, ktibt l-indirizz, “So that I would not forget, I wrote down the address,” fronts a negative goal. Purpose does not guarantee achievement. Biex also introduces result or feasibility clauses after expressions such as “too.” Interrogative biex separately means “with what”; identify its function from the construction.

Examples (3)

  1. Mort il-ħanut biex nixtri ħalib.

    I went to the shop to buy milk.

    The purpose verb agrees with the speaker.

  2. Ftaħt it-tieqa biex it-tfal jaraw il-baħar.

    I opened the window so that the children could see the sea.

    The purpose clause has a different, plural subject.

  3. Biex ma ninsiex, ktibt l-indirizz.

    So that I would not forget, I wrote down the address.

    The fronted purpose clause contains ordinary verbal negation.

How It Connects

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

biexLevel 2An Intended Purpose

Learn This First

Introduce purpose clauses as intended goals with their own agreeing imperfect predicates. Shared and different actors, fronted negative goals, and the absence of guaranteed achievement establish the lesson's actual scope; result and interrogative uses are separately identified.