го нема / ја нема

Saying Someone Is Not Here

Level 3Sounds Like go nema; ǰa nema

For someone who is not there, Macedonian says "him there-isn't": Го нема Марко. (Marko isn't here.) · Ги нема клучевите. (The keys are gone.)

How It Works

A known person or thing. Use this pattern for someone or something definite that you expected to find: Го нема Марко на работа. · Ја нема чантата! (The bag is gone!) · Ги нема клучевите. A named noun is a name or carries the article, and the pronoun repeats it, as in удвојување на определен објект.

Compare plain нема. има; нема за постоење says whether something exists at all: Нема леб. (There's no bread.) With a pronoun you talk about a particular thing being gone: Го нема лебот. (The bread is gone.)

Other tenses. The past is немаше: Те немаше вчера на часот. (You weren't in class yesterday.) The future is нема да + pronoun + има: Нема да ја има на забавата. (She won't be at the party.) The positive uses има: Го има во секоја продавница. (You can find it in every shop.)

Not the same as "doesn't have". With a person as the subject, нема means does not have (see има; нема): Марко нема кола. (Marko has no car.) To say that Marko is away, keep the pronoun: Марко го нема.

Examples (6)

  1. Го нема Марко.

    Marko isn't here.

    Word by Word: Him there-isn't Marko.

  2. Ја нема мајка ми дома.

    My mother isn't home.

    Word by Word: Her there-isn't mother my home.

  3. Ги нема клучевите! Каде ги ставив?

    The keys are gone! Where did I put them?

    Word by Word: Them there-isn't keys-the! Where them I-put?

  4. Те немаше вчера на часот.

    You weren't in class yesterday.

    Word by Word: You there-wasn't yesterday at class-the.

  5. Нема да ја има на забавата.

    She won't be at the party.

    Word by Word: There-won't that her there-is at party-the.

  6. Го нема лебот. Кој го изеде?

    The bread is gone. Who ate it?

    Word by Word: It there-isn't bread-the. Who it ate?

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the pronoun when a person is absent.

    Марко нема дома.
    Марко го нема дома.

    Without го, нема reads as "does not have", so the sentence sounds like Marko lacks something at home. To say he is not home, use го нема.

  • Making нема plural.

    Ги немаат клучевите.
    Ги нема клучевите.

    You want to say that the keys are gone. Нема stays unchanged in this pattern; Ги немаат клучевите means "They don't have the keys."

How It Connects

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

го нема / ја немаLevel 3Saying Someone Is Not Here

Learn This First

Saying someone is not here combines нема and object pronouns.

Words in This Pattern