It is clear that Cabinet ministers, news scriptwriters and newscasters do not know that the Maltese word ftehim (agreement) is a masculine singular noun that can be used with a collective sense although it always retains its number and gender.

There is the so-called “counted plural” which is ftehimiet, which is also the plural of ftehima, and should be used with numbers. So it is quite wrong and ridiculous to say and write “tliet ftehim”. The right and sensible version in this case is tliet ftehimiet.

Will they ever stop fiddling with the Maltese language as though they are foreigners?

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