taħt / quddiem / wara

Other Spatial Relations

Level 2

Place the landmark after the preposition; forms such as taħtu and quddiemna replace a named landmark.

How It Works

Taħt places something underneath a reference point, quddiem places it in front, and spatial wara places it behind. These prepositions remain separate from a following noun phrase. The article attaches to the noun: quddiem il-ħanut, but wara l-lukanda after vowel-final wara.

Attached complements include taħti, taħtek, taħtu, taħtha, taħtna, taħtkom, taħthom and quddiemi, quddiemek, quddiemu, quddiemha, quddiemna, quddiemkom, quddiemhom. Compare Il-qattus quddiem il-ħanut, ‘The cat is in front of the shop’, with Il-qattus quddiemna, ‘The cat is in front of us’. The suffix changes the landmark rather than describing the cat.

Wara also means temporal ‘after’: wara l-ikla, ‘after the meal’. Before an event clause, use the separately written connector wara li.

Examples (4)

  1. Il-kappell taħt il-ktieb.

    The hat is under the book.

    Taħt supplies the lower position.

  2. Marija quddiem il-ħanut.

    Marija is in front of the shop.

    The shop is the landmark.

  3. Il-karozza wara l-lukanda.

    The car is behind the hotel.

    Wara has its spatial meaning.

  4. Il-qattus qiegħed quddiemna.

    The cat is in front of us.

    The ending identifies us as the landmark.

How It Connects

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

taħt / quddiem / waraLevel 2Other Spatial Relations

Learn This First

Introduce under, in front of and behind as separate spatial relations with explicit landmarks. Keep spatial wara distinct from temporal wara l-ikla and the event connector wara li, without supplying an unsupported wara personal paradigm.

Words in This Pattern

wara