-те / -та

Articles in the Plural

Level 2Sounds Like člen vo množina: -te; -ta

The plural article depends on how the plural ends. -и plurals take -те: жени → жените. -а plurals take -та: села → селата.

How It Works

First make the plural, then add the article. The last letter of the plural decides which article you use.

Plurals ending in -и take -те:

  • жени → жените (the women)
  • градови → градовите (the towns)
  • книги → книгите (the books)

Plurals ending in -а take -та:

  • села → селата (the villages)
  • деца → децата (the children)
  • кучиња → кучињата (the dogs)

Note that деца ends in -а, so it takes -та even though it means people. A few plurals end in -е instead. Most of them take -те: раце → рацете (the hands), нозе → нозете (the legs). The one common exception is луѓе (people), which takes -то: луѓето.

If the phrase starts with an adjective, the article goes on the adjective. Adjective plurals end in -и, so they always take -те: малите деца (the little children). See The Article on the First Word.

Examples (6)

  1. Жените пеат.

    The women are singing.

    Жени ends in -и, so it takes -те.

  2. Книгите се на масата.

    The books are on the table.

    Книги ends in -и: книгите.

  3. Селата се убави во пролет.

    The villages are beautiful in spring.

    Села ends in -а, so it takes -та.

  4. Децата играат во паркот.

    The children are playing in the park.

    Деца ends in -а: децата.

  5. Кучињата лаат цела ноќ.

    The dogs bark all night.

    The -иња plural ends in -а: кучињата.

  6. Луѓето се многу љубезни.

    The people are very kind.

    Луѓе is the exception and takes -то.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -те for every plural.

    селате
    селата

    Села ends in -а, so it takes -та.

  • Choosing the article by meaning instead of by the ending.

    децате
    децата

    Деца means people, but it ends in -а, so it takes -та.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-те / -таLevel 2Articles in the Plural

Learn This First

Plural articles need the singular article and the plurals.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

-те-та