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Albanian has no separate word for "the". Instead, "the" is an ending glued to the noun: libër is "a book" or just "book", and libri is "the book". Romanian, Bulgarian and the Scandinavian languages do the same, but for English speakers it means learning to listen to the end of the word.

Masculine nouns: -i or -u

Feminine nouns: -a

How it changes your sentences

Albanian uses the definite form in places where English has "the", and in a few where it does not:

• Names of cities and countries are usually definite: Tirana është e bukur (Tirana is beautiful), Shqipëria (Albania).
• Possessives follow a definite noun: libri im (my book, literally "the book my").
• The indefinite article is një (also "one"): një libër, një vajzë.

The ending also changes with case, so libri becomes librin when it is the object (see the nominative and accusative topic). For now, learn every new noun in both forms, as Albanians do in dictionaries: qytet, -i; lule, -ja.