Categorized Basic Maltese Vocabulary

This reference groups basic vocabulary into ten core categories. Relevant forms are included directly in the tables. Maltese has no infinitive exactly equivalent to English to + verb; verbs are shown in common citation forms, with person-specific forms in Personal Pronouns and Verb Conjugation.

Pronouns

English	Malti	Number/gender
I	jien	first-person singular
you (singular)	inti	second-person singular; any gender
he	hu	third-person singular, masculine
she	hi	third-person singular, feminine
we	aħna	first-person plural
you (plural)	intom	second-person plural
they	huma	third-person plural
this (masculine)	dan	singular
this (feminine)	din	singular
these	dawn	plural
that (masculine)	dak	singular
that (feminine)	dik	singular
those	dawk	plural
mine	tiegħi	first-person singular possessor
yours (singular)	tiegħek	second-person singular possessor
his	tiegħu	third-person singular masculine possessor
hers	tagħha	third-person singular feminine possessor
ours	tagħna	first-person plural possessor
yours (plural)	tagħkom	second-person plural possessor
theirs	tagħhom	third-person plural possessor

Family, Friends, and People

English	Singular Malti	Plural Malti	Gender/notes
man	raġel	irġiel	masculine
woman	mara	nisa	feminine
boy	tifel	tfal	masculine
girl	tifla	tfal	feminine
male friend	ħabib	ħbieb	masculine
female friend	ħabiba	ħbieb	feminine singular; common shared plural
family	familja	familji	feminine
mother	omm	ommijiet	feminine
father	missier	missirijiet	masculine
child	wild	ulied	masculine; plural can refer to children generally
person	persuna	persuni	feminine
son	iben	ulied	masculine
daughter	bint	bniet	feminine
brother	ħu	aħwa	masculine
sister	oħt	aħwa	feminine
older brother	ħija l-kbir	ħuti l-kbar	possessive phrase
younger brother	ħija ż-żgħir	ħuti ż-żgħar	possessive phrase
older sister	oħti l-kbira	ħuti l-kbar	possessive phrase
younger sister	oħti ż-żgħira	ħuti ż-żgħar	possessive phrase
sister's husband	ir-raġel ta' oħti	l-irġiel ta' ħuti	brother-in-law
brother's wife	il-mara ta' ħija	in-nisa ta' ħuti	sister-in-law
fiancé; boyfriend	l-għarus tiegħi	l-għarajjes tiegħi	masculine singular; plural can mean an engaged couple
fiancée; girlfriend	l-għarusa tiegħi	l-għarajjes tiegħi	feminine singular; plural can mean an engaged couple
grandfather	nannu	nanniet	masculine
grandmother	nanna	nanniet	feminine
uncle	ziju	zijiet	masculine
aunt	zija	zijiet	feminine
male cousin	kuġin	kuġini	masculine
female cousin	kuġina	kuġini	feminine
nephew	neputi	neputijiet	masculine
niece	neputija	neputijiet	feminine

Home and Everyday Objects

English	Singular Malti	Plural Malti	Gender/notes
house; home	dar	djar	feminine
room	kamra	kmamar	feminine
door	bieb	bibien	masculine
window	tieqa	twieqi	feminine
kitchen	kċina	kċejjen	feminine
table	mejda	imwejjed	feminine
chair	siġġu	siġġijiet	masculine
bed	sodda	sodod	feminine
book	ktieb	kotba	masculine
living room	salott	salotti	masculine
bedroom	kamra tas-sodda	kmamar tas-sodda	feminine phrase
bathroom	kamra tal-banju	kmamar tal-banju	feminine phrase
balcony	gallarija	gallariji	feminine
garden	ġnien	ġonna	masculine
garage	garaxx	garaxxijiet	masculine
wall	ħajt	ħitan	masculine
floor; ground	art	artijiet	feminine
roof	saqaf	soqfa	masculine
stairs; step	taraġ	taraġiet	masculine
sofa	sufan	sufani	masculine
lamp	lampa	lampi	feminine
refrigerator	friġġ	friġġijiet	masculine
oven	forn	fran	masculine

Animals

Grammatical gender does not always indicate an animal's biological sex. raġel (plural rġiel) is a generic word for a male animal, and mara (plural nisa) for a female animal; species-specific terms are shown when available.

English	Singular Malti	Plural Malti	Grammatical gender	Male	Female
dog	kelb	klieb	masculine	kelb	kelba
cat	qattus	qtates	masculine	qattus	qattusa
bird	għasfur	għasafar	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
fish	ħuta	ħut	feminine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
horse	żiemel	żwiemel	masculine	żiemel	debba (plural dwieb)
cow	baqra	baqar	feminine	barri (plural barrin)	baqra
sheep	nagħġa	nagħaġ	feminine	muntun (plural mtaten)	nagħġa
goat	mogħża	mogħoż	feminine; common collective plural	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
pig	ħanżir	ħnieżer	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
chicken	tiġieġa	tiġieġ	feminine; common collective plural	serduq (plural sriedaq)	tiġieġa
duck	papra	papri	feminine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
rabbit	fenek	fniek	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
mouse	ġurdien	ġrieden	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
lion	iljun	iljuni	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
elephant	iljunfant	iljunfanti	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
monkey	xadina	xadini	feminine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
snake	serp	sriep	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
turtle	fekruna	fkieren	feminine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
bee	naħla	naħal	feminine; common collective plural	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)
butterfly	farfett	friefet	masculine	raġel (generic)	mara (generic)

Plants and Nature

English	Singular Malti	Plural Malti	Gender/notes
flower	fjura	fjuri	feminine
tree	siġra	siġar	feminine
sun	xemx	—	feminine; not usually pluralized
rose	warda	wardiet	feminine
olive tree	siġra taż-żebbuġ	siġar taż-żebbuġ	feminine phrase
olive	żebbuġa	żebbuġ	feminine; collective plural
grass	ħaxix	—	masculine; mass/collective noun
leaf	werqa	weraq	feminine
branch	fergħa	friegħi	feminine
root	għerq	għeruq	masculine
seed	żerriegħa	żrieragħ	feminine
fruit	frott	frottiet	masculine; often collective
vegetable	ħaxix	ħxejjex	masculine; collective plural
mushroom	faqqiegħ	faqqiegħ	masculine; often collective
cactus	kaktus	kakti	masculine
palm tree	palma	palmiet	feminine
lemon tree	siġra tal-lumi	siġar tal-lumi	feminine phrase
orange tree	siġra tal-larinġ	siġar tal-larinġ	feminine phrase
grapevine	dielja	dwieli	feminine
wheat	qamħ	—	masculine; mass noun
herb	ħwawar	ħwawar	commonly plural form
pine tree	arżnu	arżnu	masculine; same form commonly used

Transport

English	Singular Malti	Plural Malti	Gender/notes
car	karozza	karozzi	feminine
bus	xarabank	xarabanks	masculine
bicycle	rota	roti	feminine
train	ferrovija	ferroviji	feminine
airplane	ajruplan	ajruplani	masculine
taxi	taxi	taxis	masculine; loanword
motorcycle	mutur	muturi	masculine
scooter	skuter	skuters	masculine; loanword
truck	trakk	trakkijiet	masculine
van	vann	vannijiet	masculine
ship	vapur	vapuri	masculine
boat	dgħajsa	dgħajjes	feminine
ferry	lanċa	laneċ	feminine
tram	tram	trams	masculine; loanword
metro	metro	metri	masculine; loanword
ambulance	ambulanza	ambulanzi	feminine
police car	karozza tal-pulizija	karozzi tal-pulizija	feminine phrase
airport	ajruport	ajruporti	masculine
port	port	portijiet	masculine
station	stazzjon	stazzjonijiet	masculine
bus stop	waqfa tal-karozzi tal-linja	waqfiet tal-karozzi tal-linja	feminine phrase
road	triq	toroq	feminine

Time

English	Malti singular/expression	Malti plural	Gender/notes
hour	siegħa	sigħat	feminine
minute	minuta	minuti	feminine
second	sekonda	sekondi	feminine
day	jum	jiem	masculine
week	ġimgħa	ġimgħat	feminine
weekend	tmiem il-ġimgħa	tmiem il-ġimgħat	masculine phrase
month	xahar	xhur	masculine
year	sena	snin	feminine
now	issa	—	adverb
today	illum	—	adverb
tomorrow	għada	—	adverb
yesterday	ilbieraħ	—	adverb
day after tomorrow	pitgħada	—	adverb
dawn; early morning	sebħ	—	masculine; usually not pluralized in this sense
morning	filgħodu	—	time expression
midday	nofsinhar	—	time expression
afternoon	wara nofsinhar	—	time expression
evening	filgħaxija	—	time expression
daytime	binhar	—	time expression
night	billejl	—	time expression
midnight	nofsillejl	—	time expression
last week	il-ġimgħa li għaddiet	—	phrase
this week	din il-ġimgħa	—	phrase
next week	il-ġimgħa d-dieħla	—	phrase
last month	ix-xahar li għadda	—	phrase
this month	dan ix-xahar	—	phrase
next month	ix-xahar id-dieħel	—	phrase
last year	is-sena l-oħra	—	phrase
this year	din is-sena	—	phrase
next year	is-sena d-dieħla	—	phrase

Question Words

Question words are generally fixed and do not agree in gender or number. Approximate order by frequency.

English	Malti
what	x'
who	min
where	fejn
how	kif
how much; how many	kemm
when	meta
what time	x'ħin
why	għaliex
which	liema
how many	kemm-il
how often	kemm-il darba
whose	ta' min
with whom	ma' min
for whom	għal min
to whom	lil min
from where	minn fejn
to where	sa fejn
toward where	lejn fejn
since when	minn meta
until when	sa meta
at what time	f'liema ħin
what kind; which type	ta' liema tip
from whom	mingħand min

Common Verbs

English	Third-person singular	Third-person plural
be; exist	huwa / hemm	huma / hemm
have	għandu	għandhom
eat	jiekol	jieklu
drink	jixrob	jixorbu
sleep	jorqod	jorqdu
read	jaqra	jaqraw
write	jikteb	jiktbu
travel	jivvjaġġa	jivvjaġġaw
go	imur	imorru
come	jiġi	jiġu
see; watch	jara	jaraw
hear; listen	jisma'	jisimgħu
speak; talk	jitkellem	jitkellmu
learn	jitgħallem	jitgħallmu
work	jaħdem	jaħdmu
live	jgħix	jgħixu
love; like	iħobb	iħobbu
want	irid	iridu
can; be able	jista'	jistgħu
know	jaf	jafu
understand	jifhem	jifhmu
buy	jixtri	jixtru
open	jiftaħ	jiftħu
close	jagħlaq	jagħlqu
wait	jistenna	jistennew
help	jgħin	jgħinu
do; make	jagħmel	jagħmlu
play	jilgħab	jilagħbu

Food and Places

English	Singular Malti	Plural Malti	Gender/notes
school	skola	skejjel	feminine
shop	ħanut	ħwienet	masculine
restaurant	ristorant	ristoranti	masculine
city; town	belt	bliet	feminine
street	triq	toroq	feminine
country	pajjiż	pajjiżi	masculine
water	ilma	—	masculine; mass noun
bread	ħobż	ħobżiet	masculine; often mass noun
milk	ħalib	—	masculine; mass noun
coffee	kafè	kafejiet	masculine
tea	te	tejiet	masculine
apple	tuffieħa	tuffieħ	feminine
meat	laħam	—	masculine; mass noun
breakfast	kolazzjon	kolazzjonijiet	masculine
food	ikel	ikel	masculine; collective use
egg	bajda	bajd	feminine; collective plural
cheese	ġobon	ġobnijiet	masculine
orange	larinġa	larinġ	feminine; collective plural
salt	melħ	—	masculine; mass noun
sugar	zokkor	—	masculine; mass noun

Numbers and Common Adjectives

English	Malti
one	wieħed / waħda
two	tnejn
three	tlieta
big	kbir / kbira
small	żgħir / żgħira
good	tajjeb / tajba
bad	ħażin / ħażina
new	ġdid / ġdida
old	qadim / qadima
hot	sħun / sħuna
cold	kiesaħ / kiesħa

Prepositions

These forms do not agree with gender or number; common items are listed first.

English	Malti
in; at	fi / f'
with	ma'
for; to	għal
from	minn
of	ta'
on; about	fuq
to (a person)	lil
behind; after	wara
to; until	sa
under	taħt
between	bejn
before	qabel
beside; next to	ħdejn
in front of	quddiem
at someone's place; have	għand
like; such as	bħal
about	dwar
inside	ġewwa
outside	barra
without	mingħajr
according to	skont
because of	minħabba
against	kontra
around	madwar
along; during	tul

Notes

Adjectives commonly have masculine and feminine forms, such as tajjeb and tajba.
x' is commonly used for “what,” as in X'jismek? (What is your name?); it is often written attached to the following word.
The verb forms above are not shared by all persons. For example, “I eat” is niekol, while “he eats” is jiekol; see Personal Pronouns and Verb Conjugation.

Categorized Basic Maltese Vocabulary ​

Pronouns ​

Family, Friends, and People ​

Home and Everyday Objects ​

Animals ​

Plants and Nature ​

Transport ​

Time ​

Question Words ​

Common Verbs ​

Food and Places ​

Numbers and Common Adjectives ​

Prepositions ​

Notes ​