луѓе / деца / браќа
Irregular Plurals
човек → луѓе (people), дете → деца (children), брат → браќа (brothers). Four body parts too: очи, уши, раце, нозе.
How It Works
The irregular plurals:
- човек (person, man) → луѓе (people) → луѓето
- дете (child) → деца → децата
- брат (brother) → браќа → браќата
- око (eye) → очи → очите
- уво (ear) → уши → ушите
- рака (hand, arm) → раце → рацете
- нога (leg, foot) → нозе → нозете
Agreement: all of these take plural adjectives and verbs: добри луѓе, Браќата работат. (See also збирни именки: лисје; камење.)
The article: most plurals take -те and plurals in -а take -та, as in член во множина: -те; -та. Луѓе is the one to remember: its definite form is луѓето.
Body parts: Macedonian often uses the article where English says my or your: Ги измив рацете. (I washed my hands.) Pain is expressed with ме боли: Ме болат нозете.
Two more masculine nouns change their stem in the plural: ветер → ветрови (winds) and оган → огнови (fires).
Examples (6)
- Децата играат во паркот.
The children are playing in the park.
Word by Word: Children-the play in park-the.
- На плоштадот имаше многу луѓе.
There were a lot of people in the square.
Word by Word: On square-the had many people.
- Моите браќа живеат во Битола.
My brothers live in Bitola.
Word by Word: My-the brothers live in Bitola.
- Имаш убави очи.
You have beautiful eyes.
Word by Word: You-have beautiful eyes.
- Ги измив рацете пред ручек.
I washed my hands before lunch.
Word by Word: Them washed-I hands-the before lunch.
Macedonian uses the article here where English says my.
- Ме болат нозете.
My legs hurt.
Word by Word: Me hurt legs-the.
Common Mistakes
Making a regular plural of брат.
Моите брати живеат во Битола.Моите браќа живеат во Битола.Брат has the irregular plural браќа, with -та in the definite form: браќата.
Making a regular plural of рака.
Ги измив раките.Ги измив рацете.Рака and нога change the consonant in the plural: раце, нозе.
Giving луѓе the article -те.
Луѓете се љубезни.Луѓето се љубезни.The definite form of луѓе is луѓето.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Irregular plurals follow the regular ones.
Related Patterns
- Feminine Plural in -иPlural of Feminine Nouns
Рака and нога break the regular feminine pattern with раце and нозе.
Level 1 - -те / -таArticles in the Plural
The plural articles apply to these nouns too, except луѓето.
Level 2 - Collective Nouns
Браќа and деца take plural agreement, unlike singular collective nouns such as лисје.
Level 4 - ме болиSaying Something Hurts
Body-part plurals often come with ме боли: Ме болат нозете.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice луѓе / деца / браќа in Bubblegum
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