Questions

A1 — Sintaksë

Forming questions — yes/no and Wh-questions

Can ask and answer basic questions about personal information, location, and prices

Examples

A flet shqip? — Do you speak Albanian?
Ku banon ti? — Where do you live?
Sa kushton kjo? — How much does this cost?

Sentence structureA1

Questions

Forming questions — yes/no and Wh-questions

Learning Goal

Can ask and answer basic questions about personal information, location, and prices

Exam Skills:ListeningSpeaking

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

A flet shqip?

Do you speak Albanian?

Ku banon ti?

Where do you live?

Sa kushton kjo?

How much does this cost?

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Yes/no questions

English builds questions with "do" or by swapping the verb and subject. Albanian does neither. You can:

start with the question particle a: A flet shqip? - Do you speak Albanian?
or keep the statement and raise your voice at the end: Flet shqip?

Question words

Albanian	English	Example
kush?	who?	Kush është ai? - Who is he?
çfarë? / ç'?	what?	Çfarë do? - What do you want?
ku?	where?	Ku banon? - Where do you live?
nga?	where from? / which way?	Nga je? - Where are you from?
kur?	when?	Kur vjen? - When are you coming?
si?	how?	Si je? - How are you?
pse?	why?	Pse nuk vjen? - Why aren't you coming?
sa?	how much / how many?	Sa kushton? - How much does it cost?
cili / cila?	which? (m. / f.)	Cila rrugë? - Which street?

Word order

The question word comes first and the verb right after it; a subject pronoun, if you use one, goes after the verb: Ku banon ti? or simply Ku banon? (Where do you live?). With a noun subject: Kur vjen autobusi? - When does the bus come?

Two greetings are built from these words: Si jeni? (How are you? polite) and the very Albanian Ç'kemi? (literally "What do we have?"), the friendly "What's up?" you will hear all over Tirana.

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

The particle 'a' for yes/no questions is optional — intonation alone works too. Question words always come first. 🇬🇧 English speakers: No 'do/does' needed! Albanian questions are simpler: just add 'a' or use rising intonation.

Common Error Patterns

Wrong word order in questions

Question word comes first: Ku banon? not *Banon ku?

Used 'a' with a Wh-question

'A' is only for yes/no questions, not with kush/çfarë/ku/etc.

A flet shqip?

Do you speak Albanian?

A + verb forms a yes/no question. A is optional in spoken Albanian.

Ku banon ti?

Where do you live?

Ku (where) + verb + subject. The pronoun ti can be omitted.

Sa kushton kjo?

How much does this cost?

Sa (how much) + kushton (costs) + kjo (this, feminine demonstrative).

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Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

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A1 Modul 1: Albanian greetings, pronunciation, and first sentences

Frequently asked questions

When do you use Questions?: English builds questions with "do" or by swapping the verb and subject. Albanian does neither. You can:
How do you form Questions?: A has no meaning of its own; it just announces a question, a little like a spoken question mark at the front. Both versions are everyday Albanian. The answer is po (yes) or jo (no), and English speakers often mix them up because po sounds nothing like "yes". The question word comes first and the verb right after it; a subject pronoun, if you use one, goes after the verb: Ku banon ti? or simply Ku banon? (Where do you live?). With a noun subject: Kur vjen autobusi? - When does the bus come? Two greetings are built from these words: Si jeni? (How are you? polite) and the very Albanian Ç'kemi? (literally "What do we have?"), the friendly "What's up?" you will hear all over Tirana.
What are common mistakes with Questions?: The particle 'a' for yes/no questions is optional — intonation alone works too. Question words always come first. 🇬🇧 English speakers: No 'do/does' needed! Albanian questions are simpler: just add 'a' or use rising intonation.

Albanian

English

Example

kush?

who?

Kush është ai? - Who is he?

çfarë? / ç'?

what?

Çfarë do? - What do you want?

ku?

where?

Ku banon? - Where do you live?

nga?

where from? / which way?

Nga je? - Where are you from?

kur?

when?

Kur vjen? - When are you coming?

si?

how?

Si je? - How are you?

pse?

why?

Pse nuk vjen? - Why aren't you coming?

sa?

how much / how many?

Sa kushton? - How much does it cost?

cili / cila?

which? (m. / f.)

Cila rrugë? - Which street?

Frequently asked questions

When do you use Questions?

English builds questions with "do" or by swapping the verb and subject. Albanian does neither. You can:

How do you form Questions?

A has no meaning of its own; it just announces a question, a little like a spoken question mark at the front. Both versions are everyday Albanian. The answer is po (yes) or jo (no), and English speakers often mix them up because po sounds nothing like "yes". The question word comes first and the verb right after it; a subject pronoun, if you use one, goes after the verb: Ku banon ti? or simply Ku banon? (Where do you live?). With a noun subject: Kur vjen autobusi? - When does the bus come? Two greetings are built from these words: Si jeni? (How are you? polite) and the very Albanian Ç'kemi? (literally "What do we have?"), the friendly "What's up?" you will hear all over Tirana.

What are common mistakes with Questions?

The particle 'a' for yes/no questions is optional — intonation alone works too. Question words always come first. 🇬🇧 English speakers: No 'do/does' needed! Albanian questions are simpler: just add 'a' or use rising intonation.