новиот / новата

The Article on Adjectives

Level 2Sounds Like člen kaǰ pridavki: noviot; novata

To say the with an adjective, add the article to the adjective. The masculine form adds -иот: нов → новиот. The others add the normal endings: новата, новото, новите.

How It Works

You know the article on nouns from The Definite Article: градот, куќата, селото, градовите. When an adjective comes first, the article goes on the adjective instead.

Three of the four forms simply add the article you already know:

  • нова → новата (feminine)
  • ново → новото (neuter)
  • нови → новите (plural)

The masculine form is different. It adds -иот, not just -от: нов → новиот, мал → малиот, голем → големиот, македонски → македонскиот.

Watch for a vowel that disappears. The masculine form добар has an а that the other forms do not have: добра, добро, добри. Build the article on that shorter stem: добриот. In the same way, тежок (тешка, тешко) becomes тешкиот. See Adjectives With a Disappearing Vowel for more of these.

The noun after the adjective stays bare: новиот телефон, never новиот телефонот. That rule is in The Article on the First Word.

Examples (6)

  1. Новиот телефон е многу брз.

    The new phone is very fast.

    Нов becomes новиот, and телефон stays bare.

  2. Каде е новата книга?

    Where is the new book?

    Нова simply adds -та.

  3. Добриот учител секогаш слуша.

    The good teacher always listens.

    Добар drops its а: добриот.

  4. Тешкиот куфер е мој.

    The heavy suitcase is mine.

    Тежок becomes тешкиот, like тешка.

  5. Малите деца спијат.

    The little children are sleeping.

    The plural мали adds -те.

  6. Македонскиот јазик не е тежок.

    Macedonian is not hard.

    Word by Word: The-Macedonian language not is hard.

    Adjectives in -ски also add -иот.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding only -от to a masculine adjective.

    новот телефон
    новиот телефон

    Masculine adjectives add -иот. Plain -от is for nouns, like телефонот.

  • Keeping the vowel that drops.

    добарот учител
    добриот учител

    Build the article on the short stem you see in добра and добри.

  • Forgetting the sound change in тежок.

    тежокиот куфер
    тешкиот куфер

    The other forms are тешка, тешко and тешки, so the article form is тешкиот.

How It Connects

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новиот / новатаLevel 2The Article on Adjectives

Learn This First

The article on adjectives combines the article and agreement.

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Patterns that build on this one.