Describing a Subject

Level 1

Subject + agreeing adjective can form a present statement.

How It Works

A predicative adjective says what a subject is like. A present Maltese statement can express this without a separate verb corresponding to English ‘is’ or ‘are’. Select masculine singular, feminine singular or plural agreement as appropriate; invariant adjectives retain their form. A definite subject does not automatically give its predicate adjective an article.

Compare il-kamra s-sabiħa, ‘the beautiful room’, with Il-kamra sabiħa., ‘The room is beautiful.’ The first is a noun phrase; the second, read with statement intonation, asserts a property. An articleless adjective can also be attributive, so the article contrast alone is not decisive.

Some nominal clauses allow an overt linking pronoun. Negative descriptions use mhux or an appropriate negative copular form. Ordinary verbal ma…-x cannot simply be attached directly to an adjective.

Examples (3)

  1. Il-ħalib kiesaħ.

    The milk is cold.

    Present statement with masculine singular adjective agreement.

  2. Il-kamra sabiħa.

    The room is beautiful.

    Present statement with feminine singular agreement.

  3. Il-kotba interessanti.

    The books are interesting.

    Present statement with an invariant predicate adjective.

How It Connects

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

Describing a SubjectLevel 1

Learn This First

Focus on clause-level property assertion and subject agreement. Compare it with the already taught attributive description, using context and statement intonation rather than an exceptionless article test.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 1 more in the full list.