# Maltese: waqt / matul / żmien / ħin



## jonquiliser

Hello,

jien li nitgħallmu l-ilsien Malti. Mostly I'm trying to read Maltese articles and posts, using Googletranslate for a rough idea of the meaning. Unfortunately I don't have access to a detailed dictionary giving any more than basic meanings.

So, now I wonder: what is the difference between waqt / matul / żmien / ħin? Do they all mean "time", or are the two first only used for "during" (or during)? Are there any other differences in their uses?

Grazzi ħafna,


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## clevermizo

Like Arabic, to my knowledge:



waqt [waʔt] is the basic word for time in general.
żmien [zmi:ən] denotes a longer period of time
ħin [ħi:n] also means time, though I don't know exactly how it's different from waqt
matul [matu:l] is used for the meaning of "during" and doesn't mean "time" (literally it comes from the Arabic طول which means "length" (or here, duration of time). I'm not sure what the "ma" comes from, perhaps a contraction of _ma' tul_ مع طول).

The word waqt I believe can also be used similar to the conjunction "when",  but you can also use the interrogative _meta_ for this. Hopefully a native speaker can clarify.


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## jonquiliser

Thank you, clevermizo, very nice to get such a fast answer. There are so many things like this one I am wondering about and can't find in the dictionaries that I have access to.


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## StinaMT

Hi jonquiliser, Hi clevermizo, 

the following is out of the maltese-english dictionary by J. Aquilina.

*waqt*, waqtiet/waqtijiet, n.m.  W-Q-T = *instance*; point in time


clevermizo said:


> The word waqt I believe can also be used similar to the conjunction "when",  but you can also use the interrogative _meta_ for this.



-->  dalwaqt (dan il-waqt) = at this very moment; shortly, soon, before long
-->  fil-waqt = in time, punctually
-->  fil-waqt li… = while
-->  f’ waqtu / f’ waqttha = at the right time 
-->  mal-waqt = at the very moment
-->  għal waqt wieħed = for a short while, for a moment
-->  minn waqt għal ieħor = at any moment


*żmien*, żminijiet, iżmna, n.m. Ż-M-N = *time; age; span of life*; duration (gen. long); period of time; season (iżmna pl. = times, seasons)


*ħin*, ħinijiet, (pl. obs. ħjien), n.m. = *time *(in *measurements of moments, hours* etc.); often conveys the idea of the right or proper time (to do s.th.))

*matul*, prep.= during; lengthwise = ma’ + tul/tal
tul, tulijiet, n.m.  T-W-L = length


clevermizo said:


> I'm not sure what the "ma" comes from, perhaps a contraction of _ma' tul_ مع طول)..


Tassew!

Inselli għalikom


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## jonquiliser

Grazzi għal darb'oħra! Nistudja din meta għandi l-ħin . U jekk nista nistaqsi mill-kurżità għaliex inti tistudja l-ilsien malti?


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## chevalblanc

jonquiliser said:


> Hello,
> 
> jien li nitgħallmu l-ilsien Malti. Mostly I'm trying to read Maltese articles and posts, using Googletranslate for a rough idea of the meaning. Unfortunately I don't have access to a detailed dictionary giving any more than basic meanings.
> 
> So, now I wonder: what is the difference between waqt / matul / żmien / ħin? Do they all mean "time", or are the two first only used for "during" (or during)? Are there any other differences in their uses?
> 
> Grazzi ħafna,



It's very interesting that you are learning Maltese as a language. It is rarely dine by foreigners. So as already advised, the best dictionary so far is the Ġuże' Aquilina one. But being a native speaker of the language I can help you out to know the difference between the words. So...

"waqt" is the equivalent of 'while' so '*waqt *li kont qed nistudja ċempel it-telefon' meaning *while *I was studying, the phone rang. 
"matul" is the equivalent of 'during' so 'lestejt ix-xogħol *matul *is-sajf' meaning I finished the repairs *during *summer.
"żmien" can mean age or a period of time. so 'kemm għandek *żmien*?' meaning how *old *are you? or 'kemm għadda *żmien *minn l-aħħar li rajtek!' meaning 'I haven't seen you *in ages*'
'ħin' is the equivalent of 'time'. 'x'*ħin* hu?' 'what's the *time*?'

Hope it was useful.


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## StinaMT

Grazzi ħafna chevalblanc!


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## jonquiliser

Very useful indeed - grazzi hafna!


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