The Article on the First Word

Level 2Sounds Like členot na prviot zbor

When several words describe a noun, the article goes only on the first one: убавата стара куќа (the beautiful old house). The other words stay bare.

How It Works

In English, the sits in front of the whole phrase. In Macedonian, the article is an ending, and it attaches to the first word of the phrase only.

  • куќата (the house)
  • старата куќа (the old house)
  • убавата стара куќа (the beautiful old house)

Each time a word is added at the front, the article moves to that new first word. The noun and the words in the middle stay bare.

The first word does not have to be an adjective. Possessives take the article too: мојот нов телефон (my new phone), моите стари чевли (my old shoes). So do numbers: двете нови куќи (the two new houses).

A word like многу (very) does not count, because it is not an adjective. The article goes on the next word: многу старата куќа (the very old house).

Words for this and that, such as овој, never take the article, and the words after them stay bare too: овој нов телефон (this new phone). See This and That.

For the article forms on adjectives, such as новиот, see The Article on Adjectives.

Examples (5)

  1. Убавата стара куќа е во центарот.

    The beautiful old house is in the centre.

    Only убавата has the article; стара and куќа stay bare.

  2. Мојот нов телефон е црн.

    My new phone is black.

    The possessive мој comes first, so it takes the article.

  3. Двете нови куќи се големи.

    The two new houses are big.

    The number comes first, so двете carries the article.

  4. Каде се моите стари чевли?

    Where are my old shoes?

    Моите has the article; стари and чевли do not.

  5. Големиот зелен парк е близу.

    The big green park is nearby.

    With two adjectives, only the first one takes the article.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the article on every word.

    убавата старата куќата
    убавата стара куќа

    The article appears only once, on the first word.

  • Putting the article on the noun instead of the first word.

    мој нов телефонот
    мојот нов телефон

    The possessive is the first word, so it takes the article and the noun stays bare.

How It Connects

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

The Article on the First WordLevel 2

Learn This First

The first-word rule generalizes the article on adjectives.