100 Essential Albanian Words

These are 100 essential Albanian words, curated for learners: the pronouns, verbs, and everyday nouns that unlock simple sentences. Core-first learning works: a small set of essential words does most of the work in daily speech, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.

#	Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
1	unë	OO-nuh	I
2	ti	tee	you
3	ai	ahy	he
4	ajo	ah-YOH	she
5	ne	neh	we
6	ju	yoo	you
7	ata	ah-TAH	they
8	ky	kew	this
9	çfarë	CHFAH-ruh	what
10	kush	koosh	who
11	jo	yoh	no
12	dhe	dheh	and
13	ose	OH-seh	or
14	por	pohr	but
15	në	nuh	in
16	me	meh	with
17	një	nyuh	one
18	dy	dew	two
19	madh	mahdh	big
20	vogël	VOH-guhl	small
21	mirë	MEE-ruh	good
22	ri	ree	new
23	njeri	nyeh-REE	person
24	ujë	OO-yuh	water
25	ditë	DEE-tuh	day
26	vit	veet	year
27	kohë	KOH-huh	time
28	shtëpi	shtuh-PEE	house
29	punë	POO-nuh	work
30	jetë	YEH-tuh	life
31	fjalë	FYAH-luh	word
32	jam	yahm	be
33	kam	kahm	have
34	bëj	buhy	do
35	them	them	say
36	di	dee	know
37	shoh	shoh	see
38	shkoj	shkoy	go
39	vij	veey	come
40	jap	yahp	give
41	marr	mahr	take
42	dua	DOO-ah	want
43	ha	hah	eat
44	pi	pee	to drink
45	tani	tah-NEE	now
46	këtu	kuh-TOO	here
47	atje	aht-YEH	there
48	ku	koo	where
49	pse	pseh	why
50	gjithë	GYEE-thuh	all
51	gjatë	GYAH-tuh	long (great length/duration)
52	tregoj	treh-GOY	to show; to tell
53	gjë	gyuh	thing, object
54	çdo	chdoh	every, each one
55	atë	ah-TUH	him (object form of he)
56	nën	nuhn	under, below
57	shumë	SHOO-muh	very; much, a lot
58	shikoj	shee-KOY	to look, watch
59	më shumë	muh SHOO-muh	more, a greater amount
60	përmes	puhr-MEHS	through, from end to end
61	mund	moond	can, to be able to
62	mendoj	men-DOY	to think
63	ndihmoj	ndih-MOY	to help
64	vijë	VEE-yuh	line (long thin mark; row)
65	im	eem	my (masculine; feminine ime)
66	tingull	TEEN-gool	sound, noise
67	para	PAH-rah	before, in front of
68	shumica	shoo-MEE-tsah	most, the majority
69	numër	NOO-muhr	number (numeric quantity)
70	i njëjtë	ee NYUHY-tuh	same, identical
71	mbi	mbee	over, above
72	i ndryshëm	ee NDREE-shuhm	different, not the same
73	lëviz	luh-VEEZ	to move
74	se	seh	than (comparison)
75	thërras	thuh-RRAHS	to call (summon; shout)
76	i parë	ee PAH-ruh	first (ordinal 1st)
77	djathtë	DYATH-tuh	right (direction, opposite of left)
78	vjetër	VYEH-tuhr	old (of things; aged)
79	poshtë	POHSH-tuh	down, downward
80	anë	AH-nuh	side (left/right side)
81	gjithashtu	gyee-thahsh-TOO	also, in addition
82	fjali	fyah-LEE	sentence (grammatical unit)
83	gjej	gyey	to find, discover
84	ndonjë	ndoh-NYUH	any (no matter which)
85	tre	treh	the number 3
86	ajër	AH-yuhr	air (what we breathe)
87	pjesë	PYEH-suh	part, portion
88	luaj	LOO-ahy	to play (games; music)
89	fund	foond	end, final part
90	vend	vehnd	place, location
91	lexoj	leh-DZOY	to read
92	jetoj	yeh-TOY	to live (be alive; reside)
93	dorë	DOH-ruh	hand (body part)
94	pas	pahs	after, following
95	prapa	PRAH-pah	back, backward
96	pak	pahk	a little, few
97	vetëm	VEH-tuhm	only, no more than
98	rrumbullakët	rroom-boo-LAH-kuht	round, circular
99	burrë	BOO-rruh	man, adult male
100	duhet	DOO-het	must, to have to

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Curated for learners: Albanian has no reliable public frequency corpus, so this list is ordered by usefulness, not by measured frequency. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.

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Frequently asked questions about Albanian words

How many Albanian words do you need for a basic conversation?

Across languages, a small core of words does most of the work in everyday speech: the first few hundred words carry the bulk of simple conversation. You can manage basic exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.

What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?

Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.

Are 100 words enough to speak Albanian?

No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, keep growing your core vocabulary and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.

Where does this Albanian word list come from?

It is curated for learners rather than corpus-ranked: Albanian has no reliable public frequency corpus, so we selected the words that unlock everyday sentences and ordered them by usefulness. These are essential words, not a measured frequency ranking.