Final Devoicing

Level 1Sounds Like obezzvučuvan̂e na kraǰot na zborot

Written леб, said lep. Written град, said grat. Add an ending and you hear the real letter: лебот, градот.

How It Works

The pairs: б → п, в → ф, г → к, д → т, ж → ш, з → с, ѓ → ќ, ѕ → ц, џ → ч.

Examples: леб (bread) sounds like lep, град (city) like grat, снег (snow) like snek, мед (honey) like met, мраз (frost) like mras, нож (knife) like nosh, and крв (blood) like krf.

How to check: add an ending. лебот, градот, снегот, ножот. See the definite article. Plurals work too: градови (cities).

Inside a word it is different: when two consonants meet inside a word, Macedonian usually writes the sound you hear. Сладок (sweet) has the forms слатка and слатки, and врапче (sparrow) is written with п. Only the change at the very end of a word is left out of the spelling.

Examples (5)

  1. Купи леб, те молам.

    Buy some bread, please.

    Леб is said lep, but written with б.

  2. Лебот е свеж.

    The bread is fresh.

    With the ending, you can hear the б.

  3. Скопје е голем град.

    Skopje is a big city.

    Град is said grat.

  4. Надвор паѓа снег.

    Snow is falling outside.

    Снег is said snek.

  5. Медот е сладок.

    The honey is sweet.

    Мед is said met; the ending in медот brings back the д.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing the sound you hear at the end of a word.

    Скопје е голем грат.
    Скопје е голем град.

    The spelling keeps the voiced letter. Say градот to hear it.

  • Keeping a voiced letter inside a word where the spelling shows the change.

    Тортата е сладка.
    Тортата е слатка.

    Inside a word the written letter follows the sound, so сладок becomes слатка. Only the end of a word keeps the voiced letter.

How It Connects

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

Final DevoicingLevel 1

Learn This First

Devoicing refines how the alphabet is read at the end of a word.