имав / немав
Had and Did Not Have
The past of има (has) is имав, имаше, имаше, имавме, имавте, имаа, and the past of нема is немав, немаше, немаше, немавме, немавте, немаа.
How It Works
Possession. The endings are the imperfect endings:
имав, имаше, имаше, имавме, имавте, имаа
немав, немаше, немаше, немавме, немавте, немаа
Имавме голема куќа. Немав време.
There was. As in the present, existential има has no subject and stays in the he or she form, even before a plural noun: Имаше многу луѓе (There were many people), Немаше леб (There was no bread).
Not не имав. As in the present, the negative is one word: немав, never не имав.
Someone was not there. With a short pronoun, немаше can say that a person was missing: Го немаше дома (He was not at home). See го нема.
Examples (6)
- Вчера имав многу работа.
Yesterday I had a lot of work.
- Немав време да ти се јавам.
I did not have time to call you.
Нема gives the single word немав.
- Имаше многу луѓе на плоштадот.
There were a lot of people in the square.
Word by Word: Had many people on the-square.
Existential имаше stays singular before a plural noun.
- Во продавницата немаше леб.
There was no bread in the shop.
- Кога бевме мали, имавме куче.
When we were little, we had a dog.
- Немаа пари за кино.
They did not have money for the cinema.
The they-form of немав is немаа.
Common Mistakes
Making existential има plural.
Имаа многу луѓе на концертот.Имаше многу луѓе на концертот.To mean "there were many people", има stays in the he or she form. Имаа would mean "they had".
Negating има with a separate не.
Не имав време.Немав време.Не and има combine into one word: немав.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Had and did not have combine има and the imperfect.
Related Patterns
- Saying There Is or Is Not
Existential има in the present works like имаше in the past.
Level 1 - не + Past VerbThe Negative Past
Other past verbs are negated with a separate не.
Level 2 - го нема / ја немаSaying Someone Is Not Here
Нема with a short pronoun says someone is missing, also in the past.
Level 3 - бев / бешеPast Forms of Be
Бев is the other basic past verb for describing situations.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice имав / немав in Bubblegum
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