Module 3: When Things Go Wrong ​

Module title: Meta l-affarijiet ma jmorrux kif nixtiequ
English title: When things go wrong

Module Title Breakdown ​

The English title When things go wrong is close to "when things go wrong"; the Maltese title reads more literally as "when things don't go as we wish". This module practises expressing yourself when things go wrong, through situations such as losing things, being late, accidents, and service complaints.

Overall Outline ​

Reading Notes ​

• il-/l- definite article, similar to English the; in context it can be translated "this/that" or left untranslated.
• fil- in the (preposition + article, written together).
• tal- of the (preposition + article, written together).
• bil- with/by the (preposition + article, written together).
• plural sħiħ regular/full plural, usually formed by adding an ending.
• plural miksur broken plural; the stem changes internally and cannot be derived by a single uniform rule.

1 Two Dialogues ​

Dialogue One: Brenda Can't Find Her Ring ​

Qari — Aqra dawn id-djalogi. (Reading — read these dialogues.)

• qari reading.
• aqra read (imperative).
• dawn these.
• id-djalogi the dialogues (plural).

Dialogue Two: Emily Misses the Bus ​

The sentences about being late and waiting for the next bus have been completed according to your corrected transcript.

2 Dialogue Comprehension Questions ​

Wieġeb dawn il-mistoqsijiet dwar l-ewwel djalogu. (Answer these questions about the first dialogue.)

Wieġeb dawn il-mistoqsijiet dwar it-tieni djalogu. (Answer these questions about the second dialogue.)

Full Reference Answers to the Eight Questions in Maltese ​

Shared words used by both question sets:

• wieġeb answer.
• dawn il-mistoqsijiet these questions.
• dwar about.
• l-ewwel djalogu the first dialogue.
• it-tieni djalogu the second dialogue.

3 Picture-Based Speaking ​

It-Taħdit — X’ġara f’dawn l-istampi? (Speaking — what happened in these pictures?)

Traffic Accident / Collision ​

Asking About Products in a Shop ​

Complaining at a Restaurant ​

4 Situational Dialogues and Restaurant Reviews ​

Agħżel xenarju minn dawn it-tlieta u pprepara djalogu li ser tippreżenta quddiem sħabek.

Choose one of the three scenarios and prepare a dialogue to present in front of your classmates.

• agħżel choose
• xenarju scenario
• minn from
• dawn it-tlieta these three
• u and
• pprepara prepare
• djalogu dialogue
• li ser that will
• tippreżenta you present
• quddiem in front of
• sħabek your classmates.

Reference Dialogue Answers (Restaurant) ​

Il-Qari — Aqra dan l-ilment u l-kummenti daqslikieku rajthom fuq il-midja soċjali.

Read this complaint and the comments as if you had seen them on social media.

• aqra read
• dan l-ilment this complaint
• u and
• il-kummenti the comments
• daqslikieku as if
• rajthom you saw them
• fuq on
• il-midja soċjali social media.

Rachel's Review ​

Ma nirrakkomandax ir-ristorant "Bella Malta" li jinsab Marsaxlokk minħabba s-servizz ħażin li rċivejna!

I don't recommend the "Bella Malta" restaurant in Marsaxlokk because of the bad service we received!

• ma nirrakkomandax I don't recommend
• ir-ristorant the restaurant
• li that
• jinsab is located
• minħabba because of
• is-servizz the service
• ħażin bad
• rċivejna we received.

Meta poġġejna domna nistennew nofs siegħa sakemm ġie l-wejter jagħtina l-menus, u dam tliet kwarti oħra biex jieħu l-ordni.

After we sat down we waited half an hour before the waiter came to give us the menus, and then he took another three quarters of an hour to take the order.

• meta when
• poġġejna we sat down
• domna we took (time)
• nistennew waiting
• nofs siegħa half an hour
• sakemm until
• ġie he came
• il-wejter the waiter
• jagħtina gives us
• il-menus the menus (plural)
• u and
• dam he took
• tliet kwarti oħra another three quarters
• biex to / before
• jieħu he takes
• l-ordni the order.

Agħar minn hekk, meta l-ordni waslet kienet ħażina u minfuq ried ir-raġun il-wejter!

Worse still, when the order arrived it was wrong, and what's more the waiter insisted he was right!

• agħar worse
• minn hekk than that
• meta when
• waslet it arrived (feminine, the order)
• kienet ħażina it was wrong
• u and
• minfuq what's more
• ried he insisted/wanted
• ir-raġun being right
• il-wejter the waiter.

The Two Replies ​

5 Writing a Complaint ​

Il-kitba ta’ lment = writing a complaint.

• kitba writing
• ta’ of
• ilment complaint.

A. Fill-in Complaint Model ​

Word bank for the exercise:

• nistenna I wait
• iddiżappuntata disappointed, feminine
• nirrapporta I report
• teknixin technician
• friġġ fridge.

B. Complaint Letter Sentence Frames ​

Kompli dawn is-sentenzi biex tagħqad din l-ittra ta’ lment. (Continue these sentences to complete this complaint letter.)

B. Complete Model Answer ​

Sur Cachia,

Ilbieraħ użajt is-servizz tal-kumpanija tiegħek "Ħassiela tad-djar". Jiddispjaċini ngħidlek li ma kontx sodisfatta, dan għaliex l-art baqgħet maħmuġa u t-twieqi ma tnaddfux sew.

Nixtieq li tibgħat lil xi ħadd biex jerġa’ jnaddaf id-dar.

Nispera li taċċetta l-ilment tiegħi u li ssolvi din il-problema.

Saħħiet,

Is-Sinjura Fenech

Breakdown of the newly added parts:

C. Free Writing ​

Agħżel servizz jew prodott u ikteb ilment dwaru. Choose a service or product and write a complaint about it.

• agħżel choose
• servizz service
• jew or
• prodott product
• u and
• ikteb write
• ilment complaint
• dwaru about it.

C. Model Complaint and Sentence-by-Sentence Analysis ​

Għażiż Maniġer,

Ilbieraħ xtrajt mowbajl mill-ħanut tiegħek. Meta wasalt id-dar, indunajt li l-iskrin ma kienx jaħdem. Nixtieq mowbajl ieħor jew il-flus lura. Nispera li ssolvi din il-problema malajr.

Grazzi, Alex

6 Singular and Plural Word Table ​

Is-Singular u l-Plural. Kompli din it-tabella. (Singular and plural; complete this table.) The entries and their common correspondences follow; the blanks are completed with the plural forms found elsewhere in the book:

Word prompts:

• singular = singular
• plural = plural
• kompli = continue/complete
• din it-tabella = this table.

7 Regular/Full Plurals ​

Plural Sħiħ — Żieda ta’ suffiss mal-kelma. Adding a suffix to the word.

"Full plurals" are usually formed by adding an ending to the stem. This page reproduces the original table; the arrow points from singular to plural. Some words also change spelling or stem, so it is best to memorise them as groups.

Reading the instruction word by word:

• Żieda addition
• ta’ of
• suffiss suffix
• mal-kelma to the word.

Example: karozza (car) → karozzi (cars).

8 Write the Plurals from Pictures (1) ​

Imla l-vojt billi tagħti l-kelma skont l-istampa u fil-ġenb ikteb jekk hux plural sħiħ jew miksur.

Fill in the blanks by giving the word for the picture, and write beside it whether it is a full or broken plural.

• imla l-vojt fill in the blank
• billi by
• tagħti give
• il-kelma the word
• skont according to
• l-istampa the picture
• fil-ġenb at the side
• ikteb write
• jekk hux whether it is
• sħiħ full
• jew or
• miksur broken.

9 Write the Plurals from Pictures (2) ​

This page continues the table and instruction from page 8; the pictures are a motorbike, a pencil, a dog, a cat, and a bucket.

Word by word:

• singular singular
• plural plural.

10 Write the Plurals from Pictures (3) ​

This page's pictures are one boy/several children, one phone/several phones, one bed/several beds, one umbrella/several umbrellas.

11 Plural Nouns in Sentences ​

It-taħriġ dwar in-nomi u l-għadd. (The exercise about nouns and number.)

• taħriġ exercise
• dwar about
• in-nomi nouns
• l-għadd number/count.

The exercise asks you to underline the plural nouns, then write their singular and mark s (full plural) or m (broken plural).

Part B table headers:

• In-nom il-plural the plural noun
• Plural sħiħ / Plural miksur full/broken plural
• In-nom fis-singular the singular noun.

Example: żeffiena → żeffien, marked s.

A. Full Analysis of the Remaining Words in the Sentences ​

B. Full Classification and Singular Answers ​

Listed without duplicates, 11 items; annimali appears twice in sentence 5 but is recorded once here.

• aqta’ linja taħt draw a line under.
• in-nomi fis-sentenzi the nouns in the sentences.
• li qegħdin fil-plural that are in the plural.
• ikteb il-kliem write the words.
• li qtajt linja taħtu that you underlined.
• immarka mark.
• jekk huwiex whether it is.
• fil-plural sħiħ full plural.
• jew fil-plural miksur or broken plural.
• u ikteb and write.
• is-singular tiegħu its singular.

12 Prepositions of Place (1) ​

Il-Prepożizzjonijiet: Fejn qiegħed dan it-tifel? (Prepositions: where is this boy?)

• prepożizzjonijiet prepositions
• fejn where
• qiegħed located
• dan it-tifel this boy.

According to the pictures, fill in the blanks; the answers are ordered as follows (the exercise is laid out in two columns):

1. It-tifel qiegħed quddiem il-kaxxa. The boy is in front of the box.
   it-tifel the boy
   qiegħed located
   quddiem in front of
   il-kaxxa the box.
2. It-tifel qiegħed wara l-kaxxa. The boy is behind the box.
3. It-tifel jinsab fuq il-kaxxa. The boy is on top of the box.
   jinsab is located.
4. It-tifel jinsab taħt il-mejda. The boy is under the table.
   il-mejda the table.
5. It-tifel qiegħed bejn il-kaxxi. The boy is between the boxes.
   il-kaxxi the boxes (plural).
6. It-tifel qiegħed ħdejn il-kaxxa. The boy is next to the box.
7. It-tifel qiegħed fuq in-naħa tax-xellug tal-kaxxa. The boy is on the left side of the box.
   in-naħa the side
   tax-xellug of the left
   tal-kaxxa of the box.
8. It-tifel qiegħed fuq in-naħa tal-lemin tal-kaxxa. The boy is on the right side of the box.
   tal-lemin of the right.

13 The Apple and the Box ​

Fejn qiegħda t-tuffieħa? Where is the apple?

• fejn where
• qiegħda located (feminine)
• it-tuffieħa the apple.

Position Description Picture by Picture ​

There are 9 small pictures, numbered from top to bottom, left to right within each row. Left/right is from the reader's viewpoint; front/back is judged mainly by whether the apple covers the box or is covered by it. The expressions below are reference answers based on the pictures, not answers provided by the textbook.

Correspondence with the Page 12 Vocabulary ​

• fuq on: picture 1.
• taħt under: picture 7.
• quddiem in front of: picture 4.
• wara behind: picture 5; the difference from picture 3 is that the apple is partly hidden by the box.
• bejn between: picture 6; the plural il-kaxxi is used because the reference objects are two boxes.
• ħdejn / maġenb next to: picture 3 could also be It-tuffieħa qiegħda ħdejn il-kaxxa., but that doesn't say left or right.
• fuq in-naħa tal-lemin on the right side: the more specific expression for picture 3. The whole phrase means "on the right side"; don't translate only the fuq in it as "above".
• fuq in-naħa tax-xellug on the left side: picture 4 is also somewhat left in the frame, so one could add It-tuffieħa qiegħda fuq in-naħa tax-xellug tal-kaxxa.; however, since it covers the front of the box, quddiem is the more accurate main relation.
• fil-kaxxa in the box: picture 2, and provisionally picture 8; not "on top of the box".
• madwar around: picture 9; distinct from bejn (between two or more reference objects).

Still to check: the box boundaries and the apple overlap in picture 8 are unclear; "inside" is not treated as the only certain answer. Picture 9 uses the collective noun tuffieħ rather than the single apple tuffieħa, so qiegħed is used accordingly.

14 Prepositions of Place (2) ​

Imla l-vojt billi tuża l-prepożizzjonijiet skont l-istampa. Fill in the blanks using the prepositions according to the picture.

• tuża use
• skont l-istampa according to the picture.

For items 9 and 10, "the things" refers to the whole group of furniture in the picture; when using quddiem (in front of) or fuq (above), the point is to describe the relative position as in the picture.

15 List Singular Nouns from the Picture and Write Their Plurals ​

Agħmel lista tan-nomi fis-singular li jidhru fl-istampa, imbagħad agħti l-plural tagħhom u għid hux sħiħ jew miksur.

Make a list of the singular nouns that appear in the picture, then give their plurals and say whether each is full or broken.

• agħmel lista make a list
• tan-nomi of the nouns
• fis-singular in the singular
• li jidhru that appear
• fl-istampa in the picture
• imbagħad then
• agħti give
• tagħhom their
• u għid and say
• hux whether it is
• sħiħ jew miksur full or broken.

This page has a blank table; the picture it refers to should be the living-room illustration on the previous page. Possible examples from the picture:

Review Points ​

1. Asking about and explaining a situation:
   X’ġralek? (What happened to you?)
   Ma nafx (I don't know)
   Skużani (Sorry / excuse me).
2. Asking for help and service:
   Xi ħadd jista’ jgħinni? (Can someone help me?)
   Nixtieq inkellem lill-maniġer (I'd like to speak to the manager).
3. Expressing position:
   fuq on
   taħt under
   quddiem in front of
   wara behind
   bejn between
   ħdejn/maġenb next to.
4. Noun plurals: regular and broken plurals both need to be memorised with examples; don't assume every word just adds the same ending.