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Year 1

Syllables

Combining syllables to form words or splitting complete words into syllables.

In Maltese language, each syllable contains one vowel. By looking at the number of vowels in a word, you will know how many syllables the word has. Also, every syllable starts with a consonant.

Example:

❌ tazza - tazz-a → syllables are never made up of single letters

❌ pinna - pi-nna → double letters are always split

❌ ferrovija - fe-rro-vij-a → same as above

TIP: remember that the vowel 'ie' is one letter, and the 'għ' and 'h' are silent consonants.

Example:


Finding the Odd Word from a Set

Finding the word that does not match the theme in the set.

TIP: Use of Dictionary is required.

Example:


Rhyming Words

Matching / Finding words with rhyming syllables

TIP: Use of Dictionary is required.

Example:


Rearranging Letters to Form Words

At this level, most of the time this exercise will be accompanied with pictures to match the words to the pictures.

Example:

🍊

aġalirn → larinġa

🥁

uarmtb → tambur

🦋

etfraft → farfett


Forming Words by adding Syllables

At this level, most of the time this exercise will be accompanied with pictures to match the words to the pictures.

TIP: Use of Dictionary is required.

As a rule of thumb, Maltese language does not contain double vowels nor two vowels following each other. Also for such a task, there can be more than one correct answer.

Example:


True or False - (Veru jew Falz)

The aim of these exercises is to build vocabulary and understand the correct contexts. At this stage it would be short phrases.

Example:


Days of the Week in Context

Learning the days of the week in the context of a sentence linked to activities and weekly tasks.

The days of the week are:

It-TnejnMonday [ɪt'tnɛjn]

It-TlietaTuesday [ɪtˈtlɪː.ta]

L-ErbgħaWednesday [lˈɛr.ba]

Il-ĦamisThursday [ɪl'hamiːs]

Il-ĠimgħaFriday [ɪlˈd͡ʒɪ.ma]

Is-SibtSaturday [ɪs'sɪpt]

Il-ĦaddSunday [ɪlˈħat]

In such a context, the days of the week usually are in the beginning of a sentence.

Examples in context:

When referring to a specific one-time event, for example a birthday celebration, the word 'nhar' ( 'day' )is added before the specific day of the week. The applies for both past and future events. the word 'nhar' literally translates to 'the day of'.

Examples in context:


Similar Consonant Sounds - 1

Maltese consonants can sound very similar. Here we will be comparing consonant sounds that are 'qawwija' (hard) or 'rotob' (soft).

Konsonanti QAWWIJA (Strong consonants)

b

v

ġ

ż

Konsonanti ROTOB (Soft consonants)

p

f

ċ

s

P.S. - more consonant sounds are covered in Year 2.

At this stage, the goal is to identify and learn how to pronounce these letters in different parts of the word. In many instances when a strong consonant is towards the end of the word, it may sound similar to a soft consonant.

Example:bandiera - [banˈdɪː.ra]

vapur - [vaˈpuːr]

ġemel - [vaˈpuːr]

żunżana - [zunˈzaːn]

BUT

kelb - [kɛlp]

ċerv - [t͡ʃɛrf]

silġ - [silt͡ʃ]

lewż - [lɛws]


Articles

The Definite Article

The Maltese language uses the definite article il- (translating to 'the' in English) when referring to something specifically. This article varies depending on the word following it.

For LUNAR consonants: il-

For SOLAR consonants: the 'l' is replaced with the initial letter of the following word.

P.S. - Click here to read more about Lunar and Solar consonants.

Example:

🌜LUNAR consonants

il-ballun - 🏀

il-ġelat - 🍦

il-ħobż - 🍞

il-fenek - 🐇

il-jum - 🏞

il-kelb - 🐶

il-granċ - 🦀

il-maskra - 😷

il-lapes - ✏️

il-qamar - 🌙

il-papra - 🦆

il-werqa - 🍁

il-vapur - 🛳

🌞 SOLAR consonants

iċ-ċirasa - 🍒

id-dar - 🏠

ir-rixa - 🪶

is-serp - 🐍

it-tajra - 🪁

ix-xita - ☔️

iz-zokk - 🪵

iż-żrinġ - 🐸

t

t

t

t

t

For vowels (a, e, i, o, u, ie) and silent letters (għ, h) the article is l- .

Example in context:

Illum nieżla ix-xita, għalhekk ser noqgħod id-dar. Il-kelb tkebbeb taħt il-gverta peressli il-bard. Meta l-arju jibnazza, forsi noħroġ. translation: "Today it's raining, so I am staying at home. The dog is wrapped under the blanket because it's cold. When the weather improves, maybe I'll go out."

P.S. - the Maltese language does not use the indefinite article


In Maltese, verbs are conjugated according to the pronouns. When working in the past tense, the verbs have a different suffix depending on the pronoun.

Verbs - Past Tense

At this stage, children will learn to identify basic gestures and activities based on images shown. They will not be expected to conjugate a verb in all the forms at once. The below is only for parents to use it as a guide. Children do not need to memorise this at this stage.

TIP: Verbs do not have an infinitive form in Maltese language. The "infinitive" is the verb in the 3rd person singular masculine past tense. This is also known as the Mamma.

The 'Mamma' (the 'Stem') and 'Għerq' (the 'Root')

The Mamma is the equivalent of the infinitive form in Maltese language. It is the 'stem' and all the other forms of the verb branch out from it. From it, one can extract the għerq - i.e. the root.

The għerq is made up of the consonants of the mamma. The sequece of the consonants is always the same in all the forms of the verb.

Example: (verb " xorob" - "to drink")

Mamma

(Huwa) xorob

Għerq

X-R-B

Besides the suffix that is common in all past tense conjugations, there are also some changes in the vowels of the verb. As a guide:

Below is an example of a verb conjugated for all different pronouns.

Pronoun

Conjugation

Verb

"raqad" - "to sleep" R-Q-D

Verb

"kiteb" - "to write" K-T-B

Verb

"qabeż" - "to jump" Q-B-Ż

Verb

"xorob" - "to drink" X-R-B

Verb

"ħadem" - "to work" Ħ-D-M

Jien

-t

rqadt

ktibt

qbiżt

xrobt

ħdimt

Inti

-t

rqadt

ktibt

qbiżt

xrobt

ħdimt

Huwa

(mamma)

raqad

kiteb

qabeż

xorob

ħadem

Hija

-(e)t

raqdet

kitbet

qaet

xorbot

ħadmet

Aħna

-na

rqadna

ktibna

qbiżna

xrobna

ħdimna

Intom

-tu

rqadtu

ktibtu

qbiżtu

xrobtu

ħdimtu

Huma

-u

raqdu

kitbu

qau

xorbu

ħadmu


Verbs - Present Tense

As mentioned above, in Maltese, verbs are conjugated according to the pronouns. The present tense verbs have a different prefix for each pronoun, whereas the past tense have a suffix.

At this stage, children will learn to identify basic gestures and activities based on images shown. They will not be expected to conjugate a verb in all the forms at once. The below is only for parents to use it as a guide. Children do not need to memorise this at this stage.

TIP: Verbs do not have an infinitive form in Maltese language. The "infinitive" is the verb in the 3rd person singular masculine past tense. This is also known as the Mamma. **read more in the Verbs - Past Tense section.

Verb Endings

For plural pronouns (Aħna, Intom, Huma), the vowel 'u' is added in the end. HOWEVER:

Example: (verb " kiteb" - "to write")

Singular

(Jiena) nikteb - "I write" *conjugation changes depending on pronoun

Plural

(Aħna) niktebu - "we write" *the vowel 'e' is omitted and 'u' added.

Example: (verb " xorob" - "to drink")

Singular

(Jiena) nixrob - "I drink" *conjugation changes depending on pronoun.

Plural

(Aħna) nixorbu - "we drink" *the vowel 'o' switches position with the preceding consonant and 'u' added.

Below is an example of a verb conjugated for all different pronouns.

Pronoun

Conjugation

Verb

"qara" - "to read"

Verb

"kiteb" - "to write"

Verb

"xtara" - "to buy"

Verb

"xorob" - "to drink"

Verb

"ħa" - "to take"

Jien

n-

naqra

nikteb

nixtri

nixrob

nieħu

Inti

t-

taqra

tikteb

tixtri

tixrob

tieħu

Huwa

j-

jaqra

jikteb

jixtri

jixrob

jieħu

Hija

t-

taqra

tikteb

tixtri

tixrob

tieħu

Aħna

n-

naqraw

niktbu

nixtru

nixorbu

nieħdu

Intom

t-

taqraw

tiktbu

tixtru

tixorbu

tieħdu

Huma

j-

jaqraw

jiktbu

jixtru

jixorbu

jieħdu


Verbs - Imperative Tense

The imperative tense is based on the present tense form. The only difference is the first letter - it is omitted.

Example: (verb " kiteb" - "to write")

Present Tense

(Inti) tikteb - "you write"

Imperative Tense

(Aħna) nikteb! - "write!" *the first letter is omitted.


Introducing Adjectives

TIP: Maltese language does not have a 'neutral gender'. Meaning that all nouns are either masculine or feminine, including inanimate objects. Similarly, the adjective changes depending on the nouns.

Adjectives come after the noun in the Maltese language.

Adjectives have 'genders', similar to nouns. In order to change an adjective from 'masculine' to 'feminine', If the adjective begins with a consonant the suffix 'a' is added.

Example

Masculine noun

  • kelb kbir - "big dog"

  • film qasir - "short film"

  • qalziet twil - "long trousers"

Feminine noun

  • kelba kbira - "big (female) dog"

  • storja qasira - "short story"

  • ġakketta twila - "yellow jacket"

P.S. - adjectives starting with vowels are IRREGULAR. They still take the suffix 'a' , however spelling can differ when switching from 'masculine' to 'feminine'.

Colours

All colours are adjectives. Below is a list of colours both in 'masculine' and 'feminine' forms.

m. aħmar [ˈaħ.mar]

f. ħamra [ˈħam.ra]

m. aħdar [ˈaħ.dar]

f. ħadra [ˈħad.ra]

m. isfar ɪs.far]

f. safra [ˈsaf.ra]

m. ikħal [ˈɪk.ħal]

f. kaħla [ˈkaħ.la]

m. f. oranġjo [ˈɔr.and͡ʒ.jɔ]

m. f. roża [ˈrɔː.za]

m. f. vjola [ˈvjɔːla]

m. f. blu [bluː]

m. abjad [ˈab.jat]

f. bajda [ˈbaj.da]

m. griż [ɡriːs]

f. griża [ɡriːza]

m. iswed [ˈɪs.wɛt]

f. sewda [ˈsɛw.da]

m. f. kannella [kanˈnɛl.la]


Who...? What? This... These...

Formulating questions

This is an introduction to interrogative and demonstrative pronouns. Students will be learning who to put together simple questions and respective answers. These will be accompanied by imagery and/or guide.

The interrogative pronouns are:

The demonstrative pronouns are:

Formulating Questions and Answers

Question:

[demonstrative pronoun]* + [interrogative pronoun] + [pronoun] ?

**demonstrative pronoun is optional

Answer:

[demonstrative pronoun] + answer


Numbers - 1

Students will be introduced to numbers and learn to count to 10.

Click here to read more on Numbers in Quick Guides.


Introduction to Punctuation

Students are introduced to the use of the full stop ('punt' in Maltese) and capital letters (ittri kbar).

In Maltese language the capital letters are used:


Building Sentences

Students will be learning how to build basic sentences. This can include completing sentences and rearranging sentences.

The structure of a basic sentence would be:

[Subject]

[noun + adjective*] *adjective is optional

+

[verb]

[verb]

+

[object]

[noun + adjective*] *adjective is optional

Example in context:


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