mbiemër

Mbiemër is the Albanian term for the part of speech known in English as an adjective. It describes or qualifies a noun or pronoun by indicating properties such as color, size, origin, or quality. In Albanian, mbiemër typically agrees with the noun in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) and is used to modify the noun in a noun phrase.

In attributive use, mbiemër usually follows the noun and may appear with a determiner, as in examples like “një libër i madh” (a big book) or “gratë e bukura” (the beautiful women). The form of the mbiemër changes to match the noun’s gender and number. Adjectives can also be used predicatively, after copular verbs such as “është,” to describe the subject, e.g., “Ky libër është interesant” (This book is interesting).

The degree of comparison for mbiemër is expressed with the particle “më” to form the comparative, and with appropriate endings or constructions to form the superlative, always adapting to the noun’s gender and number. This allows speakers to compare properties across different nouns while maintaining grammatical agreement.

Etymology: The word mbiemër is composed of mbi- meaning over or beside and emër meaning name; together they describe a word that is added to a noun to give it a property.

See also: Emër (noun), drejtshkrim i gjuhës shqiptare.