Short Pronouns After the Verbal Adverb

Level 4Sounds Like kratki zamenki po glagolski prilog

Before an ordinary verb, short pronouns come first: му го давам. With a verbal adverb they come after it: давајќи му го (giving it to him), гледајќи ја (watching her).

How It Works

Short pronouns (кратки заменки: ме; те; го; ја; нѐ; ве; ги and кратки заменки: ми; ти; му; ѝ; ни; ви; им) lean on a verb. Their position depends on the kind of verb form:

  • Before an ordinary verb form: Му го давам клучот. (I am giving him the key.)
  • After a command: Дај му го клучот! (Give him the key!) — see заповеден начин + кратка заменка.
  • After a verbal adverb: Давајќи му го клучот, рече... (Handing him the key, he said...)

The order inside the group does not change. The to-someone pronoun comes first and the object pronoun second, as in ми го; ти ја; му ги: објаснувајќи ни ја задачата (explaining the task to us).

Се and си follow too. Verbs that always take се keep it, but it moves behind the verbal adverb: се враќа → враќајќи се, се смее → смеејќи се, се облекува → облекувајќи се.

Doubling still happens. A definite object is doubled by a short pronoun as usual (удвојување на определен објект): читајќи го писмото, not читајќи писмото.

Negation goes before the verbal adverb, while the pronouns stay after it: не гледајќи ме (not looking at me).

Notice how a sentence can switch back: in Смеејќи се, ми ја подаде раката (Laughing, she held out her hand to me), се follows the verbal adverb, and ми ја comes before the ordinary verb подаде.

Examples (5)

  1. Давајќи му го клучот, рече: „Внимавај.“

    Handing him the key, he said, "Be careful."

    Word by Word: Giving him it key-the, said: "Be-careful."

    Му го comes after давајќи, in the usual to-someone + object order.

  2. Гледајќи ја низ прозорецот, се насмевна.

    Watching her through the window, he smiled.

    Word by Word: Watching her through window-the, himself smiled.

  3. Враќајќи се дома, купив леб.

    On my way back home, I bought bread.

    Word by Word: Returning myself home, I-bought bread.

    Се moves behind the verbal adverb: се враќам, but враќајќи се.

  4. Објаснувајќи ни ја задачата, наставничката пишуваше на таблата.

    While explaining the task to us, the teacher wrote on the board.

    Word by Word: Explaining us it task-the, teacher-the was-writing on board-the.

  5. Смеејќи се, ми ја подаде раката.

    Laughing, she held out her hand to me.

    Word by Word: Laughing herself, me it gave hand-the.

    Се follows смеејќи, but ми ја comes before the ordinary verb подаде.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting short pronouns in front of the verbal adverb.

    Му го давајќи клучот, рече „Внимавај“.
    Давајќи му го клучот, рече „Внимавај“.

    Short pronouns come before ordinary verb forms, but they follow a verbal adverb, just as they follow a command.

  • Leaving се in front of the verbal adverb.

    Се враќајќи дома, купив леб.
    Враќајќи се дома, купив леб.

    Се follows the same rule as the other short pronouns and comes right after the verbal adverb.

  • Dropping the doubling pronoun before a definite object.

    Читајќи писмото, заплака.
    Читајќи го писмото, заплака.

    A definite object such as писмото is doubled by a short pronoun. With a verbal adverb, that pronoun comes after it: читајќи го писмото.

How It Connects

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Short Pronouns After the Verbal AdverbLevel 4

Learn This First

Pronouns after the verbal adverb follow pronouns after commands.

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Patterns that build on this one.