How To Conjugate Maltese Verbs In The Present Tense
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Maltese verbs change their form based on who is doing the action.
This process is called conjugation.
The present tense in Maltese is actually called the imperfect tense.
We use it to talk about habits, routines, and things happening right now.
Conjugating Maltese verbs in the present tense relies heavily on adding a few simple letters to the beginning and end of a word.
I’ll show you exactly how to do this below.
Table of Contents:
Maltese subject pronouns
Before you conjugate a verb, you need to know the subject pronouns.
These are the specific words for “I”, “you”, “he”, “she”, “we”, and “they”.
You’ll match your verb to these pronouns every time you speak.
Here are the basic Maltese subject pronouns:
| English Pronoun | Maltese Pronoun |
|---|---|
| I | Jien (or Jiena) |
| You (singular) | Int (or Inti) |
| He | Hu (or Huwa) |
| She | Hi (or Hija) |
| We | Aħna |
| You (plural) | Intom |
| They | Huma |
The present tense prefix system
Maltese builds its present tense by adding prefixes to the front of a verb stem.
A prefix is simply a letter attached to the beginning of the word.
Plural pronouns also require a specific suffix at the end of the word.
A suffix is a letter attached to the very end of the word.
Here’s the formula you must apply to verbs in the present tense:
| Pronoun | Prefix | Suffix |
|---|---|---|
| Jien | n- | none |
| Int | t- | none |
| Hu | j- | none |
| Hi | t- | none |
| Aħna | n- | -u |
| Intom | t- | -u |
| Huma | j- | -u |
Notice that “Int” (you) and “Hi” (she) use the exact same prefix.
You’ll know which one the speaker means based entirely on the context of the sentence.
Conjugating a regular Maltese verb
Let’s look at a clear example using the common verb ħadem (to work).
The root consonants for this word are ħ-d-m.
To say “I work”, we add the n- prefix to the front of the stem.
Here’s the full present tense conjugation for ħadem:
| Pronoun | Conjugation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Jien | naħdem | I work |
| Int | taħdem | You work |
| Hu | jaħdem | He works |
| Hi | taħdem | She works |
| Aħna | naħdmu | We work |
| Intom | taħdmu | You (plural) work |
| Huma | jaħdmu | They work |
Here are a few sentences to show you how this looks in a real conversation.
Jien naħdem kuljum.
Hi taħdem ġo sptar.
Huma jaħdmu fil-belt.
Common pronunciation changes
Sometimes the vowels inside the verb shift slightly when you add the plural suffix.
This happens because the emphasis of the word moves to the end.
When we add the -u suffix for “we”, “you (plural)”, and “they”, the middle vowel often drops out entirely.
For example, taħdem (you work) becomes taħdmu (you all work).
Notice how the letter ‘e’ vanishes in the plural form.
This vowel dropping makes the word much easier to say quickly.
You’ll see this pattern happen frequently across many regular Maltese verbs.
