Macedonian Grammar List

Macedonian says the by adding an ending to the noun: градот (the city), жената (the woman), селото (the village), градовите (the cities) and селата (the villages). There is no separate word for the.

The neutral order is subject, verb, object: Ана чита книга. A noun does not change its ending to show whether it is the subject or the object.

Name the days of the week and say on Monday with во понеделник.

Most nouns that end in -а are feminine, such as жена (woman), куќа (house) and книга (book). They take нова, една and -та: нова куќа, куќата. A few that name men, such as судија (judge), are masculine.

Feminine nouns change -а to -и, or add -и after a consonant: жена → жени, куќа → куќи, ноќ → ноќи.

At the end of a word, б, в, г, д, ж, з, ѓ, ѕ and џ sound like п, ф, к, т, ш, с, ќ, ц and ч. The spelling does not change, and the voiced sound returns when an ending is added, as in лебот and градот.

Most nouns that end in a consonant are masculine, such as град (city), стол (chair) and пријател (friend). They take нов, еден and the article -от: нов град, градот. A small group is feminine instead.

Most masculine nouns add -и in the plural: студент → студенти, пријател → пријатели. A final к, г or х changes to ц, з or с: ученик → ученици, бубрег → бубрези, монах → монаси.

Nouns ending in -о or -е are usually neuter, such as село (village), место (place), море (sea) and дете (child). They take ново, едно and -то: ново село, селото. Nouns in -че, such as момче (boy), are neuter too.

Neuter nouns in -о take -а (село → села). Many in -е take -иња, as in море → мориња and куче → кучиња, while some take -а, as in лице → лица.

Macedonian shows whose something is with на after the owned thing, which usually takes the article: куќата на Марко (Marko's house), книгата на Ана, името на градот. The owner's name does not change.

Every noun is masculine, feminine or neuter. Most masculine nouns end in a consonant (град), most feminine nouns in -а (жена) and most neuter nouns in -о or -е (село, море).

Unlike Serbian or Russian, Macedonian nouns do not change for case: книга is the same as subject and as object. Only the vocative for calling someone, as in Петре!, is left. Prepositions such as на, во and од show relationships instead: Книгата е на масата.

Count from one to ten, matching one and two to the noun they describe.

Most one-syllable masculine nouns add -ови, or -еви after a soft consonant: град → градови, леб → лебови, нож → ножеви, крај → краеви. Some, such as маж → мажи, simply add -и.

А-verbs such as чита take -ам, -аш, -а, -аме, -ате, -аат: читам, читаш, чита, читаме, читате, читаат.

Е-verbs such as јаде take -ам, -еш, -е, -еме, -ете, -ат: јадам, јадеш, јаде, јадеме, јадете, јадат. Пие gives пијам and пијат.

И-verbs such as оди take -ам, -иш, -и, -име, -ите, -ат: одам, одиш, оди, одиме, одите, одат.

The forms има and нема also mean there is and there is not: Има леб (There is bread), Нема вода. They stay the same with plurals: Има многу луѓе.

Macedonian stress follows a rule: it falls on the third syllable from the end of a word, or on the first syllable of a shorter word. When an ending adds a syllable, the stress moves with it, as in у́чител and учи́телот.

In Macedonian, р can carry a syllable by itself when it stands between consonants, as in срце (heart) and прв (first). At the very start of a word, this р is written after an apostrophe, as in 'рж (rye) and 'рѓа (rust).

The letter л has two sounds. It is a dark l, like the end of English full, in words such as мал (small) and лук (onion), and a lighter l before е, и and ј, as in лето (summer). Before а, о and у, a soft l is written with its own letter, љ, as in љубов (love).

Dictionaries list a verb in its he or she present form: чита (read), пие (drink), оди (go). Build every other form from it.

Macedonian is written with a 31-letter Cyrillic alphabet. Each letter has one sound, so once you know the letters you can read words like мама, куќа and здраво aloud.

Благодарам means thank you, and Фала is a casual thanks. Ве молам means please to a stranger or a group, and Те молам to a friend. Нема зошто answers thanks, and Извинете gets attention or apologizes.

Во says something is inside a place, and на says it is on a surface or at an activity.

Talk about the weather with a subjectless verb or е plus a neuter word.

Да (yes) and не (no) answer questions. И (and) joins similar words and sentences, and а links two parts that differ or turns to someone new: Јас сум Ана, а ти?

Start a yes-or-no question with Дали: Дали зборуваш англиски? You can also put ли right after the verb: Зборуваш ли англиски? Use one or the other, not both.

Еден, една and едно (one) agree with the noun and can work like English a: Имам една сестра, Тоа е еден стар град. Often nothing is needed: Тоа е книга.

Name a language with a word in -ски, written with a small letter: Зборувам македонски, Учам англиски.

Здраво is a friendly hello, and Добро утро, Добар ден and Добра вечер greet people by the time of day. To say goodbye, use Довидување or Пријатно, or Чао with friends.

Има means has and нема means does not have: Имам брат, Немам време. The negative is always one word, нема, never не има.

Ask how someone is with Како си? or Како сте?, answer with Добро сум, and ask back with А ти? or А Вие?

Ask and give an age with има and the word години.

Ask a price with Колку чини? and order politely with ве молам.

Кој (who), што (what), каде (where), кога (when), како (how), зошто (why) and колку (how much, how many) come first in the question: Каде живееш? Што правиш?

Use многу for very and a lot, and малку for a little.

Мој (my) and твој (your) agree with the thing owned: мој, моја, мое, мои. With a particular thing they usually carry the article: мојот телефон, мојата куќа, твоето име.

Put не right before the verb to say not: Не знам (I don't know). If short pronouns such as те or го stand before the verb, не comes before them too: Не те разбирам.

Негов (his), нејзин (her), наш (our), ваш (your) and нивен (their) also agree with the thing owned and usually carry the article: неговата сестра, нашиот стан, нивните деца.

Adjectives agree with their noun in gender and number: нов град, нова куќа, ново село, нови книги.

Ова е (this is) points to something near, and тоа е (that is) points to something farther away or already mentioned: Ова е мојот брат, Тоа е добро.

Ask Од каде си? or Од каде сте?, and answer Јас сум од Скопје. The place name does not change after од.

Use во or на after оди to say where you are going, and just дома for home.

One verb, сака, says what you want, what you like and whom you love.

Limit something with само and add yourself or something else with и or исто така.

Many verbs use the short word се: се вика, се мие, се облекува. Се never changes and comes before the verb, except in commands: Се викам Марко.

Се викам Ана means My name is Ana. Ask Како се викаш? with a friend or a child, and Како се викате? with an adult you do not know or a group. Мило ми е means Nice to meet you.

Say when something happens with time words that need no preposition.

Со adds something or someone, and без leaves it out.

Use сум, си, е, сме, сте and се to say who or where someone is. Put не in front for the negative.

After сум the adjective still agrees with the subject: Градот е голем, Куќата е голема, Децата се уморни.

Use ти with family, friends and children, and Вие with a plural verb to be polite to one person: Како сте?

Тука and овде mean here, and таму means there: Јас сум тука, Книгата е таму.

Ask what a word means with Што значи ...?, ask how to say something with Како се вели ... на македонски?, and say Не разбирам when you are lost.

Three short words carry a grave mark: сѐ (everything), нѐ (us) and ѝ (to her). The mark keeps them apart from се, не and и, which look the same without it. It does not show stress.

Ѓ is a soft g and Ќ is a soft k, a little like the sounds in English argue and cute. They are separate letters, so куќа (house) and ќе (will) cannot be written with к.

Ѕ says dz, as in ѕвезда (star), and Џ says the j in English jam, as in џеб (pocket). Ѕ looks like Latin S, but it is never read as s.

Learn јас, ти, тој, таа, тоа, ние, вие and тие. Use them for contrast or clarity, and leave them out when the verb already says who.

Љ is a soft l, as in љубов (love), and Њ is a soft n, as in коњ (horse). Ј is the English y sound, and it joins vowels to write ya, ye, yo and yu: ја, је, јо, ју.

To say the with a plural, look at the last letter. Plurals in -и take -те (жените), and plurals in -а take -та (селата, децата).

Macedonian has a special form for addressing someone, the vocative. Masculine nouns usually add -е, many feminine nouns change -а to -о, and names such as Марко are called out as they are.

Many adjectives have an extra е or о only in the basic masculine form. Every other form drops it: добар → добра, добро, добри, добриот; топол → топла.

The neuter form of an adjective works as an adverb: брзо (quickly), убаво (nicely), добро (well), as in Зборуваш убаво.

Commands come from the present stem: чита → читај, пие → пиј, носи → носи. To speak to several people or politely, use -јте or -ете: читајте, пијте, носете.

When the object is a specific, definite thing or person, Macedonian repeats it with го, ја or ги: Ја читам книгата, but Читам книга.

Most nouns ending in a consonant are masculine, but some are feminine: ноќ, вечер, пролет, есен, сол, крв, љубов, вест and abstract nouns in -ост such as радост. They take feminine adjectives and the article -та.

Nouns such as судија, колега, татко and дедо are masculine even though they end in a vowel. Adjectives and possessives are masculine, but the article is -та after -а and -то after -о: судијата, таткото.

Use во before a month or a season to say when something happens: во мај, во пролет. Лете means in summer and зиме in winter, with no preposition.

Macedonian builds numbers above ten from smaller parts: единаесет to деветнаесет, tens such as дваесет and триесет, and и before the last part, as in сто дваесет и пет.

Short pronouns normally come before the verb, but after a command form they follow it, still with the to-someone pronoun first: Дај ми го.

In Macedonian a short pronoun always stays next to its verb. When nothing comes before it, the sentence simply starts with the pronoun.

Use the aorist for a finished event in the past: Вчера купив леб. Most verbs end in -в, -, -, -вме, -вте, -а or -ја, and some take -ов, -е, -е, -овме, -овте, -оа.

The article goes only once, on the first word of the phrase: убавата стара куќа, мојот нов телефон. The words after it stay bare.

Use the imperfect for what was going on or what used to happen: Секое лето одевме на море. The endings are -в, -ше, -ше, -вме, -вте, -а.

Like English "I am leaving tomorrow", the present can describe a fixed plan when a time word shows the future: Утре одам во Охрид.

Most verbs come in pairs, such as чита and прочита. The imperfective verb looks at an action as ongoing or repeated, and the perfective verb presents it as one complete event.

Use the article for something already known (книгата), something unique (сонцето) and general statements (животот). Leave it off for something new, and with most names.

Nouns for people of a nationality have separate forms for a man, a woman and a group, all with a capital letter: Македонец, Македонка, Македонци. The adjective and the language name use a small letter: македонски.

Ајде, or ајдете for more people, with да and a we-form verb means let's: Ајде да одиме, Ајдете да јадеме.

The past forms of сум are бев, беше, беше, бевме, бевте and беа: Вчера бев дома, Каде беше?

Веќе (already) says something has happened, сѐ уште (still) says something is continuing, and уште не or сѐ уште не (not yet) says it has not happened. Веќе не means no longer.

A perfective verb in the present, such as купам or напишам, cannot describe what is happening now. It follows words such as да, ќе and ако: Сакам да купам леб.

Masculine nouns that end in a consonant and do not name people have a special count plural in -а after numbers and after колку and неколку. Everywhere else they use the ordinary plural.

Дома means both at home and to home, with no preposition. Places you go to for an activity use на and no article: на работа (at or to work), на училиште (at or to school), на факултет (at university).

За means for, as in подарок за мајка ми (a present for my mother), and about, as in Зборуваме за филмот (We are talking about the film). A pronoun after за takes its full form: за мене, за тебе.

To say someone knows how to do something, use знае да and a present verb with a personal ending: Знам да возам, Таа знае да готви.

Има in the past is имав, имаше, имаше, имавме, имавте, имаа, and нема gives немав. Имаше and немаше also mean "there was" and "there was not": Имаше многу луѓе.

Каков means what kind of or what is it like. It agrees with its noun: Каков е градот? Каква музика? Какво е времето? Какви книги?

Кај before a person means at their place or to their place: Сум кај Марко, Одам кај докторот. Кај нас means at our place or where we live, and кај can also mean by a landmark: кај мостот.

Ask Колку е часот? and answer Часот е пет. Minutes after the hour follow и, minutes before the next hour follow без, and во пет часот means at five o'clock.

To ask which one, use кој and make it match the noun: Кој автобус? Која книга? Кое куче? Кои јазици?

Seven very common nouns do not follow the regular plural patterns and are learned as pairs. They take plural adjectives and verbs, and their definite forms are луѓето, децата, браќата, очите, ушите, рацете and нозете.

With close family words, add a short pronoun after the noun: мајка ми (my mother), татко ти (your father), сестра му (his sister). The noun takes no article. Си means one's own.

The short direct object pronouns are ме, те, го (him or it), ја (her or it), нѐ, ве and ги (them). They come right before the verb: Те гледам, Го сакам, Ги купив.

Full pronouns are used after prepositions (за мене, со него) and for emphasis (Мене ме бара). They never replace the short pronoun before the verb.

Seven short pronouns mark who receives something: ми (to me), ти (to you), му (to him or it), ѝ (to her), ни (to us), ви (to you all or polite you) and им (to them).

Two short pronouns stand together in a fixed order: first the person who receives (ми, ти, му…), then the thing (го, ја, ги).

To say you like something, say it pleases you: Ми се допаѓа Охрид. With a plural thing the verb becomes plural: Ми се допаѓаат песните.

To say you need something, say it is needed to you: Ми треба помош. With a plural thing the verb becomes требаат: Ти требаат ли пари?

Can, must and should are може да, мора да and треба да + a present verb: Можам да пливам, Морам да одам, Треба да учиш. Треба never takes a personal ending here.

Set phrases for when you do not understand: Можете ли да повторите? (Could you repeat that?), Можете ли да зборувате побавно? (Could you speak more slowly?) and Извинете, не разбрав (Sorry, I did not catch that).

Macedonian marks the receiver with на: Му дадов книга на Марко. For a specific person the short pronoun before the verb is required too.

Say on a date with на and an ordinal number before the month: на петнаесетти август. Say in a year with во and the word година: во 2024 година.

Put не in front of a past verb. If short pronouns stand before the verb, не goes in front of them: Не го видов, Не ми рече. With има, не joins the verb: немав.

Некој means someone, нешто something, некаде somewhere and некогаш sometime or once: Некој те бара, Сакам нешто да ти кажам.

Put нели at the end of a sentence to ask for agreement: Убаво е, нели? It can also start the question: Нели зборуваш англиски?

To say that something will not happen, replace ќе with нема да: Ќе дојдам → Нема да дојдам. Нема да never changes; only the verb shows the person.

Say don't with немој or немојте, then да and a present verb: Немој да доцниш, Немојте да пушите. Не with a command also works for many verbs: Не плачи.

Negative words such as никој, ништо, никаде and никогаш still need не before the verb: Никој не дојде, Ништо не знам.

Но marks a real contrast and или offers a choice: Сакам да дојдам, но немам време; Чај или кафе?

When an adjective carries the article, the masculine form adds -иот: новиот. The other forms add the usual article: новата, новото, новите.

Овој (оваа, ова, овие) means this. Тој (таа, тоа, тие) means that, near you or already known. Оној (онаа, она, оние) means that over there.

Од ... до gives a start and an end point, in space (од Скопје до Охрид) or in time (од осум до пет, од понеделник до петок). The nouns do not change their endings.

After a comparative, use од before a noun or pronoun (поголем од тебе) and отколку before a clause or another phrase: Подобро е денес отколку вчера.

Add по- for more and нај- for most, written as one word: голем → поголем → најголем, добро → подобро → најдобро.

Прв, втор, трет, четврти, петти and the rest agree like adjectives and take the article: првиот ден, втората улица.

Order events with прво (first), потоа (then, after that), тогаш (then, at that moment) and на крајот (in the end, finally): Прво ручавме, потоа прошетавме.

Пред две години means two years ago, and за три дена means in three days. За can also give the time a task took: Го прочитав за еден час. Both words come before the time expression.

These five prepositions place things: пред (in front of), зад (behind), над (above), под (under) and до (next to). The noun after them keeps its form and usually takes the article: под масата.

"Want to do" is сака + да + a present-tense verb with a person ending: Сакам да одам. The second verb can even have a different subject: Сакам да дојдеш.

Секој means each or every, сите means all or everyone, and сѐ means everything: Секој ден, Сите дојдоа, Сѐ е во ред.

Name your transport with со and the vehicle, with no article: со автобус, со воз, со кола, со авион. To say on foot, use the single word пешки.

Уште еден means one more and друг means a different one: Уште едно кафе, ве молам; Дај ми друга книга.

To say a glass of water or a kilo of apples, put the measure word directly before the noun: чаша вода, килограм јаболка, парче леб. Nothing links the two words.

Често (often), обично (usually), секогаш (always), понекогаш (sometimes), ретко (rarely) and никогаш (never) describe habits. For habits they take imperfective verbs, and никогаш needs не: Никогаш не доцнам.

Чиј means whose. It matches the thing that is owned: Чиј е телефонот? Чија е книгата? Чие е детето? Чии се клучевите?

To ask what happened, use a question word with the aorist: Што направи вчера? Каде отиде? To ask where someone was, use беше: Каде беше?

Put ќе before a verb in its present form to talk about the future: Ќе одам утре. The verb keeps its normal person ending, and ќе stays the same for everyone.

After ќе and да, сум becomes бидам: Ќе бидам дома. Сакам да бидам лекар. The forms are бидам, бидеш, биде, бидеме, бидете, бидат.

Adding -ов (masculine), -ва (feminine), -во (neuter) or -ве (plural) to a noun means "this … here": градов, книгава, селово, куќиве.

Adding -он (masculine), -на (feminine), -но (neuter) or -не (plural) to a noun means "that … over there": човекон, куќана, селоно, планинине.

Besides -от, -та, -то, -те, nouns can take the near article -ов, -ва, -во, -ве or the far article -он, -на, -но, -не: куќава (this house), куќана (that house over there).

The perfective names one finished action, and its imperfective partner with -ува or -а names a habit or an action in progress: стане → станува, продаде → продава.

A few very common pairs look quite different: доаѓа / дојде (come), наоѓа / најде (find), оди / отиде (go), вели / рече (say), дава / даде (give) and зема / земе (take).

A prefix turns many imperfective verbs into their perfective partners: чита → прочита, прави → направи, учи → научи, пие → испие, јаде → изеде.

To name a woman, most person nouns add -ка: студент → студентка, пејач → пејачка. Nouns in -ник change к to ч: ученик → ученичка. A smaller group takes -ица: цар → царица, вдовец → вдовица.

Many masculine nouns ending in -ец, and a few others such as ветер, drop their last е when a plural ending is added: старци, Македонци, ветрови. Nouns in -ец keep the е before the article: старецот.

Nouns like пари (money), очила (glasses), панталони (trousers) and ножици (scissors) have no singular. Treat them as plural every time: Парите се во торбата, Каде ми се очилата?

To put a question with каде, што, кој or another question word inside a sentence, just keep the question word: Кажи ми каде живееш. Do not add дали or дека.

In a relative clause, кој (masculine), која (feminine), кое (neuter) and кои (plural) agree with the noun they describe. When the relative word is the object, a short pronoun repeats it before the verb.

Use што to add a clause about a noun: Книгата што ја читам е добра. Што never changes, but when it is the object, a short pronoun like го, ја or ги repeats it.

The l-form has four endings: -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter) and -ле (plural): читал, читала, читало, читале. Imperfective verbs build it from the imperfect and perfective verbs from the aorist, and a few change their stem: дојде → дошол, дошла, дошле.

In front of a normal verb, the short words always line up the same way: Ќе ти го донесам, Не ми го кажа, да не ми го кажуваш. The to-someone pronoun always comes before the object pronoun.

Verbal adjectives such as прочитан, отворен, напишан and поканет describe the result of an action. They take the adjective endings -а, -о and -и and agree with their noun: отворена врата.

The subject usually comes first when it is what you are talking about. When the whole event is news, or the subject is the new part, the verb often comes first and the subject follows it.

A verbal noun names an activity, like English reading or swimming: читање, пишување, пливање. It is made from imperfective verbs, ends in -ње, and is neuter, so it takes -то and neuter adjectives.

In a question about the action, ли follows the verb together with everything in front of it: Ти се допаѓа ли? Не ме препознаваш ли? After another fronted word, ли asks about that word instead.

Use ако and a present verb for a real condition: Ако дојдеш, ќе одиме во кино. The result can use ќе, the present or a command: Ако имаш време, јави ми се.

Без да says an action did not happen alongside another: Излезе без да каже збор. Наместо да says one action replaced another: Наместо да учи, спие. Both take да and a present verb.

Put би before the l-form to say what would happen or to ask politely: Би сакал кафе, Дали би можеле да ми помогнете? Би stays the same for every person.

Use затоа што or бидејќи to give a reason: Не дојдов затоа што бев болен, Бидејќи врнеше, останавме дома. Затоа што is also the usual answer to Зошто?

These three words tell how something is done: вака (like this, as I am showing), така (like that, as was just said) and онака (that other way). Така е means That is right.

To say that a known person or thing is missing, use го, ја or ги with нема: Ја нема мајка ми дома, Ги нема клучевите.

These four words describe where something is or where it goes without a noun: Децата се надвор, Качи се горе. To add a noun, use надвор од, внатре во or a preposition such as над or под.

Use господин for a man, госпоѓа for a woman and госпоѓица for a young or unmarried woman, before the surname: господин Петровски, госпоѓа Петровска. When calling someone, use the vocative: Господине Петровски, Почитувана госпоѓо.

To put a yes-or-no question inside a sentence, start the clause with дали: Ме праша дали сум слободен. Do not use ако, and keep the tense of the direct question.

Two with the article means both or the two: двата for masculine things, двете for feminine and neuter nouns, and двајцата for two men or a mixed pair. The noun after it has no article: двете сестри.

To count a group of men, or men and women together, use the people numbers: двајца студенти, тројца пријатели, четворица полицајци. They can also stand alone: Дојдоа петмина (Five people came).

Use дека after verbs of saying, thinking and knowing: Мислам дека е дома, Знам дека си уморен. Unlike English that, дека cannot be left out.

Додека + imperfective verb means while: Додека јадев, гледав телевизија. Додека не + perfective verb means until: Почекај додека не дојдам.

Што joins a feeling to its reason: Драго ми е што дојде (I'm glad you came), Жал ми е што доцнам (I'm sorry I'm late).

Both phrases mean during and are followed by a noun, usually with the article. За време на points to an event, and во текот на stresses a stretch of time.

За да + present verb expresses purpose: Учам македонски за да разговарам со баба ми. The verb after за да stays in the present form even in a story about the past.

И ... и means both ... and, или ... или means either ... or, and ниту ... ниту means neither ... nor. When ниту comes after the verb, не goes before the verb: Не сакам ниту чај ниту кафе.

Иако begins a clause with a verb that states an obstacle: Иако беше уморен, дојде. The clause can come first or last, and сепак (still) can underline the contrast.

Use имам, имаш, има and the rest with a verb form ending in -но or -то to say what has been done: Имам прочитано три книги, Немам видено таков филм. The -но or -то form never changes.

Use ист (the same) with како and различен (different) with од: Имам ист телефон како тебе, Овој град е различен од Скопје. Both words change their ending to match the noun they describe.

Use кога to say when something happened or usually happens: Кога стигнав дома, веќе беше темно. The кога clause can come first or second. For the future, use кога ќе.

When a time clause talks about the future, put ќе after кога: Кога ќе стигнеш, јави ми се. The same happens after штом (as soon as) and откако (after).

The question word кој has an object form кого (Кого бараш? Со кого?) and a to-someone form кому, which comes with му: Кому му го даде? In everyday speech на кого му is more common than кому.

Say what hurts with an object pronoun + боли + the body part: Ме боли главата (My head hurts). A plural body part takes болат.

Many feelings use ми, ти, му… with е and an unchanging word: Ми е студено (I'm cold), Ми е жал (I'm sorry), Ми е драго (I'm glad).

Ми се спие, ми се јаде and ми се пие кафе describe an urge you feel. The person is a to-someone pronoun, and the verb does not take the person's ending.

Мисли changes meaning with the word after it: мислам дека ќе врне (I think it will rain), мислам на тебе (I am thinking of you), Што мислиш за филмот? (What do you think of the film?).

To compare amounts, use многу → повеќе → најмногу and малку → помалку → најмалку: Повеќе сакам чај, Најмногу ми се допаѓа морето.

Put над before a number for "more than", околу for "about" and до for "up to". The number and noun after them keep their usual forms, including the count form: околу пет дена.

Туку replaces a denied idea with the right one: Не е студент, туку професор. Use туку, not но, when the second part corrects the first.

Нека with a present verb means "let him, her or them" and gives permission, a mild instruction or a wish, usually about a third person.

Неколку counts a small number: неколку дена. Некои picks out some members of a group: Некои луѓе не јадат месо. Многумина and неколкумина stand alone and mean many people and a few people.

Низ means through (низ градот), преку means across or over (преку мостот) and кон means toward (кон морето). Преку also means via and, with seasons, during.

Од кога учиш македонски? asks how long; Учам веќе две години answers it. Where English says have been doing, Macedonian uses the present, because the situation is still going on.

For going, coming, leaving and coming back, use the imperfective for habits and timetables (Секој ден доаѓам со автобус) and the perfective for one trip (Вчера дојдов пешки).

Освен means except, as in Сите дојдоа освен него, or besides, as in Освен тоа, немам време. It usually comes before a noun or a full pronoun, and on its own it does not mean unless.

Откако introduces what happened first: Откако јадевме, излеговме. Пред да introduces what happened later and always takes a present-form verb: Пред да излезеш, заклучи ја вратата.

По has three everyday meanings: after a time or event (по ручекот), along or all around a place (по улицата, по градот), and by phone or mail (по телефон, по пошта). With verbs of going it also means to fetch: Одам по леб.

Покрај means beside, along or past, околу means around, меѓу means between or among, and спроти means opposite. Околу also means about with times and numbers.

Fractions are feminine nouns built from the ordinal numbers: третина from трет, четвртина from четврти. Count them like other feminine nouns, as in една третина and три четвртини, and add од for part of a group: половина од платата.

Помага, верува, се јавува, честита and благодари take ми, ти, му, ѝ… and на before a named person: Му помагам на брат ми.

Поради and заради put a cause before a noun: Поради дождот не излеговме. To give a reason with a verb, use бидејќи, затоа што or поради тоа што.

Премногу says there is more than you want: Премногу работиш. Доволно says there is as much as you need: Немам доволно време. Доста means quite or a fair amount, and Доста е! means That is enough!

Сакав да прашам нешто (I wanted to ask something) and Би сакал една соба (I would like a room) are gentler ways to ask for something than сакам.

Сам agrees with the person it describes: сам, сама, само, сами. With the article, самиот, самата, самото and самите stress that it is this very person or thing, like English himself or the very.

Свој (своја, свое, свои) means one's own and always refers back to the subject, so it keeps "his own car" apart from "another man's car".

Plural verbs with се often mean each other: Се сакаат (They love each other). With a preposition, Macedonian uses еден со друг or еден на друг: Зборуваат еден со друг.

Се + a he, she or they verb form says that something is done without naming who does it: Како се пишува тоа? The verb agrees in number with its subject: се продава стан, се продаваат станови.

Verbs like се смее, се плаши, се надева and се сеќава always carry се. Without it they either do not exist or mean something else.

The reflexive pronoun points back to the subject: се goes before the verb, себе follows prepositions such as за and со, and себеси adds emphasis.

Си is the to-oneself partner of се: Си купив нова кола (I bought myself a new car), Си ја мие косата (She washes her hair).

Смеам ли да влезам? asks for permission, and Тука не смее да се пуши says that smoking is not allowed here.

The preposition always opens the relative clause. Кого refers to a person; кој, која, кое and кои agree with the noun; што follows a preposition when it refers back to тоа, нешто or сѐ.

Use the present of сум with the l-form to say what you have done or experienced: Сум бил во Охрид, Дали си јадел ајвар? In the he, she and they forms there is no сум, and those forms often mean that the speaker only heard about the event.

Put a verbal adjective after сум to say what state something is in after an action: Писмото е напишано, Вратата беше отворена. The verbal adjective agrees with the subject.

Сѐ with a comparative means "more and more" or "-er and -er": Сѐ подобро зборуваш македонски, Денот станува сѐ подолг.

Time words with the near article name the current period and need no preposition: Утрово станав рано, Вечерва одиме на кино, Годинава учам македонски.

Question word + да + present verb asks for advice or a decision: Каде да одиме? It works on its own and inside a sentence: Не знам што да кажам.

Штом links an action that follows immediately after another: Штом стигнав, ти се јавив. For the future use штом ќе: Штом ќе стигнам, ќе ти се јавам. It can also mean since: Штом велиш дека е добро, ќе го пробам.

Add -ост or -ство to name an idea or state: младост (youth), можност (chance), пријателство (friendship), детство (childhood).

Add -ски or -ен to a noun to describe what something belongs to or is made of: градски автобус (city bus), дрвена маса (wooden table).

Use the imperfect (врнеше, седев, читаше) for scenes, ongoing actions and habits, and the aorist (излеговме, влезе, тропна) for the events that happen one after another. Swapping them changes what is background and what happens.

Write Македонец and Скопје with a capital letter, but македонски, понеделник and јануари with a small one.

Лисје, камење and трње name many things as one group. Say лисјето with -то, use a plural verb in careful speech, and never put them after a number.

Contrast words need a comma in front of them: Јас пијам кафе, а сестра ми пие чај (I drink coffee, and my sister drinks tea).

Add -че, -ичка or -енце to make a word mean "little" or to show warmth: градче (small town), куќичка (little house), детенце (little child).

When сите or двете is the object, add the short pronoun before the verb, and usually with секого too: Ги знам сите одговори.

A full pronoun such as мене, тебе, него or неа goes with its short pronoun to set one person against another: Тебе те бараат, не мене.

The endings -ач and -тел turn a verb into a word for a person: возач (driver), учител (teacher). Their plurals end in -и: возачи, учители.

Perfective verbs have an imperfect, but it appears only after words such as ќе, да, ако and кога ќе: Ќе дојдеше, но се разболе; Да дојдеше порано, ќе го видеше.

Start with a known object to make it the topic, and keep its short pronoun before the verb: Филмот го гледавме минатата недела.

After a noun for a place, start the describing clause with каде што. After a noun for a time, use кога: годината кога се родив.

Put the right form of чиј (чиј, чија, чие, чии) and the owned noun right after the owner: писателот чии книги ги читам.

A past event you only heard about is told with the l-form, and in the he, she and they forms there is no сум: бил, дошол, заминала. It works like adding "I hear" or "they say" to the sentence.

Reported statements start with дека. The verb usually keeps the tense of the original words, and only the person changes: Рече дека е уморна.

For a single past event, choose the aorist (дојде) or, for сум, its simple past (беше) when you saw it or stand behind it, and the bare l-form (дошол, бил) when you heard it from someone or worked it out from clues.

Short pronouns follow a verbal adverb, just as they follow a command: давајќи му го (giving it to him), гледајќи ја (watching her).

Add -јќи to the imperfect stem of an imperfective verb to say what the subject was doing at the same time: Одејќи по улицата, сретнав пријател.

Use ами after a negative to give the right version (Не е тоа, ами ова), or to begin a casual reply: Ами, не знам (Well, I don't know).

Ask, beg, demand, allow or forbid someone to do something with the verb, the person and да + present: Не ми дозволуваат да излегувам доцна.

The past perfect is the past of сум (бев, беше, беа) plus the l-form. It shows that something had already happened before another past moment, like English had left.

Би требало да gives gentle advice or states an expectation: Би требало да се одмориш (You ought to rest), Возот би требало да стигне до пет.

Adjectives such as браон, беж, розе and informal супер never change; the noun after them carries the gender, number and article.

Learn motion verbs in pairs: влезе / влегува (go in), излезе / излегува (go out), помине / поминува (pass), премине / преминува (cross).

To say you saw or heard someone doing something, name the person with a short pronoun and add како + present: Ги слушам децата како пеат.

Learn these adjectives together with their preposition: Горд сум на тебе; Таа е заинтересирана за уметност.

Да with the imperfect expresses regret or a wish that cannot come true: Да знаев! (If only I had known!), Да бев таму! (If only I had been there!)

Да or ако with the imperfect sets up an unreal condition, and ќе with the imperfect gives the result: Да имав време, ќе дојдев; Ако знаев, ќе ти кажев.

Start with да and a present verb to wish someone well: Да ти е со среќа! (Good luck with it!)

Number words in -ина give an approximate amount: десетина (about ten), дваесетина (about twenty), стотина (about a hundred).

Use доколку instead of ако in formal texts. It works like ако: a present verb follows it, even for the future.

Put дури и before the surprising word, and use дури и да + a present verb for "even if".

Learn these verbs together with their preposition, because it often differs from English: Сѐ зависи од времето; Се сеќаваш ли на мене?

Put зарем at the start of a question when something surprises you or you doubt it: Зарем е веќе пет часот? (Is it really five o'clock already?)

Знае да can mean "tends to" or "sometimes does": Знае да доцни (He tends to be late), Зимата знае да биде студена (Winter can be cold).

Put и покрај before a noun to name an obstacle that did not stop the action. It is never followed directly by a verb.

Put имав, имаше, имавме, имавте or имаа before an unchanging -но or -то form to say something had been done by a past moment. The negative uses немав: Никогаш немав видено такво нешто.

To pass on a command or request, use да instead of дека, with a present verb for whoever should act: Кажи му да почека.

Put како да before a verb to say what something looks or sounds like, true or not: Изгледаш како да не си спиел.

Use како што + a clause for "as" in phrases like "as I said" and "do as I told you", and како што се for "such as".

Put кога би + l-form in the "if" half and би + l-form in the result to talk about something imagined: Кога би можела, би дошла.

Use колку in the first half and толку in the second to say that one thing grows or shrinks together with another.

Use колку before an adjective or a noun, and каков before a noun, to show a strong feeling: Каква убава куќа! (What a beautiful house!)

Add било before or after a question word to mean "any at all, it does not matter which": било кој, што било, каде било.

Put и да after a question word to say "no matter who, what or where": Каде и да одиш, јави ми се (Wherever you go, call me).

Use макар што or и покрај тоа што with a full clause to stress a real obstacle that did not change the result.

Можеби means maybe, веројатно probably and сигурно surely, and може да can also express possibility: Може да врне; Сигурно е дома.

Мора да can express a confident guess: Мора да е уморен (He must be tired), Мора да заборавила (She must have forgotten).

Say Не рече ни збор (He didn't say a single word), and use ниту пак to add another negative: Не дојде, ниту пак се јави.

Put од before a noun such as радост, глад, студ or страв to say what caused a reaction: Се тресеше од студ.

Use освен ако не + a present verb to name the one case that would change the plan: Ќе дојдам, освен ако не врне.

Put по before a number or amount to say that every person or item gets that same amount.

Start a formal letter with Почитуван господине Петровски, or Почитувана госпоѓо Николовска, and end it with Со почит, and your name.

Add -ува to a prefixed perfective to talk about the same action as a habit or in progress: препише → препишува.

Се with the third person singular of the verb talks about people in general, like English one, you or people: Кај нас се јаде доцна, Еднаш се живее. The verb stays singular.

Use според to name the source of an opinion or a piece of news, or the rule or plan that something follows.

To focus on what was done rather than who did it, use сум and the verbal adjective, which agrees with the subject: Мостот беше изграден пред сто години. Add од to name the doer.

Use така што after a comma to add what happened as a result, and толку + a describing word + што for "so ... that".

Use тоа што (or она што) for "what" and оној, онаа, оние што for "the one who" or "those who".

Требаше да means "should have" or "was supposed to", and можеше да means "could have": Требаше да дојдеш порано; Можеше да ми кажеш.

Put што before a по- form to ask for the most you can get: што побрзо, што повеќе, што поевтин.

Ќе with the imperfect means "would" or "would have": Ќе дојдев, но бев болен (I would have come, but I was sick). It can also mean "was going to".

Ќе with the imperfect can tell what someone used to do, step by step: Секоја вечер ќе седнеше до прозорецот и ќе читаше.

Ќе имам, ќе имаш, ќе имаме and so on with the neuter verbal adjective means will have done. The negative is нема да имам: Нема да имам завршено до понеделник.

Many international words have familiar endings that tell you their gender. Nouns in -изам (туризам) and -ист (турист) are masculine, and nouns in -ција (информација) are feminine.

Leave towns and countries bare, but give the article to many rivers and regions and to plural mountain names: Скопје лежи на Вардарот; Алпите се високи.

Choose perfective commands for one action now, imperfective ones for rules, invitations and ongoing actions, and imperfective ones after не: Седни! but Седи, не станувај!

Use the far article to push something away in your mind as well as in space; it often sounds annoyed or dismissive: Пак викаат комшиине.

Add -иште to make something sound huge or unpleasant: кучиште (a big brute of a dog). These nouns are neuter: едно големо кучиште.

Use додека after a comma to compare one situation with another, much like а: Мојот брат сака планина, додека јас сакам море.

Repeat a claim in the l-form, with a doubting tone, to show you do not believe it: Болен бил! Вчера го видов на кафе.

To stress the new or contrasting part of a sentence, put it right before the verb and say it with extra stress. An indefinite object there has no short pronoun, but a definite object keeps its short pronoun as usual.

In conversation, Macedonian leaves out words that are clear from context. A yes-or-no question is often answered by repeating its verb, and a question word is often answered with a single word.

Describe habits with кога ќе, штом or ако plus a perfective verb: Штом ќе стигнам дома, ги соблекувам чевлите.

Put ми, ти, му, ѝ, ни, ви or им before the verb to show whose thing was affected; the thing takes the article: Ни ја украдоа колата.

Switch to the present tense to tell a past story vividly: Влегувам во собата, а таму нема никој. Use imperfective verbs, because a perfective present cannot stand alone.

When you pass on what you heard, each tense has its own reported form: Утре ќе дојдел means "He will come tomorrow, they say".

Use the l-form to react to a surprising discovery: Ова било вкусно! (This is delicious!) English uses the present tense here.

Verbs like организира and реагира serve as both aspects: Секоја година организираме концерт (repeated), Сакам да организирам забава (one event).

Put барем, дури, баш or токму right before the word you want to stress: барем еднаш (at least once), токму тоа (exactly that).

Без оглед на says that something will not change the result: Без оглед на времето, ќе одиме. Before a clause, add тоа: без оглед на тоа дали врне.

Use бил, била, било or биле with an l-form to pass on a "had done" event you heard about: Таа веќе била легнала (She had already gone to bed, apparently).

A multi-word preposition works like one preposition and is followed by a noun or a long pronoun: благодарение на тебе, во врска со писмото.

Во случај да + a present verb names something that might happen: Земи чадор во случај да врне. Before a noun, use во случај на: во случај на пожар.

Put да не and a present verb after се плаши or страв ми е for a feared event; use да не on its own for a worried question or a warning.

Да не беше + a noun or pronoun names what made the difference, and the result uses ќе + imperfect or немаше да: Да не беше ти, ќе се изгубев.

Use за- verbs to say an action suddenly began: Кога ја слушна веста, заплака. Штом заврна, влеговме внатре.

Значи sums up or checks what was said, затоа gives the result of a reason already stated, and според тоа draws a formal conclusion.

Put колку и да before a verb to say that even a large amount will not change the result: Колку и да е скапо, ќе го купам.

Колку што знам means "as far as I know", and колку што можам means "as much as I can".

Say what happened with се and the verb, and to whom with ми, ти, му and so on; the verb agrees with the thing: Ми се изгубија клучевите.

Use наводно for something you were told, изгледа дека for what the evidence suggests, and (ми) се чини дека for an impression.

Put не само before the first item and туку и before the added one; to join two actions, use не само што: Таа не само што пее туку и свири.

Use односно to restate or correct, имено to name exactly what you mean, and всушност to say what is really true.

Give one fact with освен што or покрај тоа што, then add another with и (also): Покрај тоа што работи, таа и студира. И покрај тоа што means despite instead.

Оти is common in speech for "that" and "because". In careful writing, use дека for "that" and бидејќи or затоа што for "because".

Па (well, so) fits most conversations. Бе, де and ма are for friends and family and sound rude to strangers or in formal situations.

Add по- to say you do something for a little while: Попладнето поспав малку. Ајде да поработиме уште половина час.

Learn what пре-, раз-, до- and из- add to a verb: препише (copy out), раскаже (tell in full), допише (finish writing), изнесе (carry out).

Сепак shows that something happened anyway, меѓутоа adds a contrast in a formal way, and напротив rejects an idea and gives the opposite.

Tell a folk tale or a story you only heard in the l-form, starting with Си имало едно време (Once upon a time there was).

Use со тоа што for "by" or "but note that", and при што, after a comma, for "in which" or "during which": Се случи несреќа, при што беа повредени двајца луѓе.

Say Тој е дојден or Таа е замината to describe the result of arriving or leaving; it is common in speech, while careful writing usually prefers other past forms.

Add -ов (or -ев) to masculine family words and names and -ин to words in -а; the adjective agrees with the thing owned: татковата куќа, сестрината свадба.

Put тоа before што or дека when a clause is the subject or follows a preposition; тоа што usually presents a known fact, тоа дека the content of a claim.

Што се однесува до means "as for" and turns to a new topic or to your own view: Што се однесува до мене, се согласувам. A pronoun after до takes the long form.

In poetry and folk songs the adjective can follow the noun: море сино, гора зелена. In everyday speech it comes first, except in a few set phrases such as Мајко мила!

Write a hyphen when you could put и between the two parts; only the last part changes for gender, number and the article.

Compound nouns join two roots with a linking о and are written as one word: водопад, земјотрес, главоболка. Само- (self-) builds words such as самодоверба.

Double definite objects in every style; relaxed speech sometimes also doubles an object with еден, but the standard does not.

In free indirect discourse, the narrator keeps the third person and the story's tenses, but the words, questions and feelings belong to the character. There is no verb of thinking and no дека, so the reader hears the character's voice inside the narration.

Poems and stories may put the verb, an adjective or a time phrase first and a known subject later; short pronouns still stay right before the verb.

Macedonian laws use a small set of fixed patterns: тој што ќе for whoever does something, ќе се казни со or се казнува со for the penalty, е должен да for duties, and phrases such as доколку поинаку не е определено со закон.

Choose никој or не ... сите to say clearly whether nobody did something or only some people did not.

Administrative and academic Macedonian names actions with nouns, using verbal nouns in -ње and phrases such as донесе одлука or изврши проверка. This sounds official, but plain verbs are easier to read.

Obligation looks ahead to something a person has to do; a conclusion looks at a present state or a past event, often with е or the l-form.

Macedonian nouns have lost their case endings, but a few old forms live on in set phrases such as Слава Богу and богами, and in pronouns such as кого and кому.

Official and academic writing describes nouns with verbal adjectives instead of full clauses. They agree and take the article like ordinary adjectives, and they often join an adverb such as горе, долу or ново into one word.

In a clause with дека, use the present for the same time as the main event, ќе for something later and a past form for something earlier.

Macedonian news keeps what an outlet confirms apart from what it passes on. Confirmed events use the aorist, statements come with a reporting verb such as изјави дека, and unconfirmed details use l-forms together with a named source.

Use a question to make a point: without не it usually means nobody or nothing, and with не or нели it usually means yes, of course.

Writers use -јќи forms to pack background actions into one sentence; in speech the same idea usually takes додека or и.

Signs, rules and official texts use a preposition plus a verbal noun, such as при влегувањето (on entering) or по завршувањето (after the end), where speech uses a clause with a verb.

Use а камоли after saying that something is not true or is hard, to add something even harder or less likely.

Three linking words that comment on a sentence; in writing they are usually set off with commas.

Имал, имала and имале with the neuter verbal adjective are the reported form of the have-perfect. They say that something has been done, and show that the speaker knows it from others or has worked it out.

To say what kind of person something is about, use оној што (or тој што) with a present-tense clause. It is the usual shape of definitions, rules and old sayings.

Official notices and reports keep the doer out of view. A process that is going on or repeats uses се with an imperfective verb, and a finished result uses сум with a verbal adjective.

A formal way to give a reason that everyone can see; before a noun, use со оглед на alone.

In the first person, сум бил plus the l-form of the main verb reports your own earlier action as a discovery: you were asleep, distracted or unaware when it happened.

A main clause can prepare a time, place, way or amount with a pointing word, and a relative clause then fills it in. Each pointing word has its own partner: тогаш with кога, онаму with каде што, така with како што, толку with колку што.

Ќе да makes a guess about the present or the past, much like мора да. It appears in literature and in the speech of some people and regions; the most neutral everyday choice is мора да.