Plural in -ови / -еви

One-Syllable Masculine Plurals

Level 1Sounds Like množina na -ovi; -evi

A short masculine noun of one syllable usually adds -ови in the plural: град → градови, воз → возови.

How It Works

Add -ови. This is the usual plural for masculine nouns with one syllable:

  • град → градови (cities)
  • леб → лебови (loaves of bread)
  • воз → возови (trains)
  • парк → паркови (parks)
  • стол → столови (chairs)
  • син → синови (sons)

Add -еви after a soft consonant. When the noun ends in a soft sound such as ж, ш, ч or ј, the ending becomes -еви:

  • нож → ножеви (knives)
  • клуч → клучеви (keys)
  • кош → кошеви (baskets)

A final ј. The ј is not written before -еви: крај → краеви (regions), чај → чаеви (teas).

Short nouns that just add -и. A few one-syllable nouns take the ordinary -и, the same as longer nouns: маж → мажи (men), заб → заби (teeth), гост → гости (guests), коњ → коњи (horses). Learn these with the word. Longer nouns usually just add -и too: see Plural of Masculine Nouns.

With the article. Add -те to the plural: градовите (the cities), ножевите (the knives). See The Definite Article.

After numbers. For counting things, masculine nouns use a special count form: два града, три ножа. See Count Forms After Numbers.

A few common nouns are irregular, such as брат → браќа. See Irregular Plurals.

Examples (6)

  1. Скопје и Охрид се убави градови.

    Skopje and Ohrid are beautiful cities.

    Град → градови.

  2. Ножевите се во фиоката.

    The knives are in the drawer.

    Нож ends in the soft ж, so the plural is ножеви, and -те adds the article.

  3. Каде се клучевите?

    Where are the keys?

    Клуч → клучеви, with the article -те.

  4. Возовите за Битола се бавни.

    The trains to Bitola are slow.

  5. Во кафулето има различни чаеви.

    The café has different kinds of tea.

    Чај → чаеви: the ј blends into the ending.

  6. Во салата седат мажи и жени.

    Men and women are sitting in the hall.

    Маж is one of the few short nouns that just add -и.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding only -и to a one-syllable noun that takes -ови.

    Во Скопје има многу парки.
    Во Скопје има многу паркови.

    Most one-syllable masculine nouns add -ови: парк → паркови.

  • Using -ови after a soft consonant.

    Каде се ножовите?
    Каде се ножевите?

    After a soft consonant such as ж, ш, ч or ј, the ending is -еви: нож → ножеви.

  • Adding -ови to a short noun that just takes -и.

    Во салата има многу мажови.
    Во салата има многу мажи.

    A few short nouns, such as маж, заб and гост, take the ordinary -и. Learn them with the word.

How It Connects

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Plural in -ови / -евиLevel 1One-Syllable Masculine Plurals

Learn This First

The -ови plural is an extension of the -и plural.