да + Imperfect for Regret
Wishes About the Past
Да + imperfect on its own means "if only": Да знаев! (If only I had known!) Да бев таму! (If only I had been there!)
How It Works
Macedonian has two kinds of wishes with да:
- Да + present wishes for something that can still happen (да за желби: да си жив и здрав): Да си жив и здрав! (Long life and good health to you!)
- Да + imperfect wishes for something that did not happen or cannot happen: Да знаев! (If only I had known!)
Regret about the past: Да дојдев порано! (If only I had come earlier!) Да не го кажев тоа! (If only I hadn't said that!)
An impossible present: Да имав повеќе време! (If only I had more time!) Да можев да летам! (If only I could fly!)
With барем. Барем (at least) adds disappointment about something small that did not happen: Барем да ми се јавеше! (If only he had at least called me!) See барем; дури; баш; токму.
Forms. Use the imperfect: знаев, бев, имав. Perfective verbs take their imperfect form (дојдев, кажев, јавеше), as explained in имперфект од свршени глаголи. Put не and short pronouns between да and the verb: Да не го кажев!
You can add a result to turn the wish into a full condition: Да знаев, ќе ти кажев. (If I had known, I would have told you.) For regrets about what someone ought to have done, see требаше да; можеше да.
Examples (6)
- Да знаев!
If only I had known!
Word by Word: If I-knew!
- Да бев таму!
If only I had been there!
Word by Word: If I-was there!
- Да имав повеќе време!
If only I had more time!
Word by Word: If I-had more time!
This wish is about the present.
- Да не го кажев тоа!
If only I hadn't said that!
Word by Word: If not it I-said that!
Кажев is the imperfect of the perfective каже; the aorist would be кажав.
- Барем да ми се јавеше!
If only he had at least called me!
Word by Word: At-least if me himself called!
- Да можев да летам!
If only I could fly!
Word by Word: If I-could to I-fly!
Common Mistakes
Using the present for a regret about the past.
Да дојдам порано!Да дојдев порано!Да дојдам порано! sounds like a plan ("Let me come earlier!"). For "If only I had come earlier!", use the imperfect дојдев.
Using the aorist after да.
Да дојдов порано!Да дојдев порано!Дојдов is the aorist, which never follows да. Use the imperfect дојдев.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Wishes about the past follow unreal conditions.
Related Patterns
- да for WishesWishes with Да
Да with the present makes wishes that can still come true.
Level 4 - Perfective Verbs in the Imperfect
Explains forms like дојдев and кажев.
Level 4 - требаше да / можеше даShould Have and Could Have
Another way to express regret: Требаше да дојдам порано.
Level 4 - барем / дури / баш / токмуEmphasis Particles
Барем often strengthens this kind of wish.
Level 5
Words in This Pattern
Practice да + Imperfect for Regret in Bubblegum
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