kull ma

Everything That

Level 5

Kulma qrajt means ‘everything I read’; kull ktieb means ‘every book’.

How It Works

Kulma introduces a free relative: the following clause identifies things without a preceding noun such as ‘book’ or ‘message’. Its totalizing meaning is restricted by that clause and the situation. Thus kulma kitbet Marija includes everything Maria wrote in the relevant context, rather than everything in existence.

Compare kull ktieb, ‘every book’, with kulma qrajt, ‘everything I read’. The first quantifies a singular noun; the second introduces a clause. The element ma inside this expression is not ordinary verbal negation.

The complete expression can serve as an object or subject. In Kulma sajret kien għall-familja, feminine sajret identifies the cook, while masculine singular kien predicates something of the complete free relative. Read these agreement relationships separately. The spelling used in this lesson is kulma.

Examples (3)

  1. Qrajt kulma kitbet Marija.

    I read everything Maria wrote.

    The free relative is the object; the intended context selects first-person qrajt.

  2. Kulma sajret kien għall-familja.

    Everything she cooked was for the family.

    The cook’s feminine agreement is separate from the main predicate’s agreement.

  3. Ġbart kulma kien fil-kamra.

    I collected everything that was in the room.

    The location limits the totality; the intended context selects first-person ġbart.

How It Connects

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

kull maLevel 5Everything That

Learn This First

Teach the body’s spelling kulma as a totalizing free relative whose clause limits the relevant set. Separate the embedded actor’s agreement from agreement with the complete expression, and distinguish its ma from verbal negation.