оди во / оди на

Going Somewhere

Level 1Sounds Like odi vo; odi na

To say where you are going, put во or на after оди: Одам во Скопје. · Одиме на пазар. For home, say only Одам дома.

How It Works

The verb оди. Its present forms are одам, одиш, оди, одиме, одите, одат (see Present Tense of I-Verbs). It means go and also am going, so Одам во Скопје can describe a trip right now or a plan.

Во: into a place.

  • cities and countries: во Скопје, во Охрид, во Македонија
  • buildings you go inside: во хотел, во ресторан, во банка

На: to an activity, event or open place.

  • things you go to do: на работа, на училиште, на кафе, на кино
  • events: на концерт, на свадба
  • open places: на пазар, на море, на планина

Some pairs are fixed and simply need to be learned, just as English says to work but to the office. Many of the everyday ones are in Home Work and School.

Home is special. Дома already means home or to home, so it takes no preposition: Одам дома.

No case endings. If you know Serbian, Russian or Polish, note that the noun stays exactly as it is: во Скопје, на работа. The same two words also say where something is, as in Being Somewhere.

Examples (6)

  1. Одам во Скопје.

    I'm going to Skopje.

    Word by Word: Go-I in Skopje.

    Cities take во.

  2. Одиме на пазар.

    We're going to the market.

    Word by Word: Go-we on market.

    A market is an open place you go to shop, so it takes на.

  3. Одам дома.

    I'm going home.

    Word by Word: Go-I home.

    Дома needs no preposition at all.

  4. Одиме на кафе.

    We're going for a coffee.

    Word by Word: Go-we on coffee.

    На + a drink or meal names an outing: going out for coffee.

  5. Марко оди на работа.

    Marko goes to work.

    Word by Word: Marko goes on work.

  6. Одите на море?

    Are you going to the seaside?

    Word by Word: Go-you on sea?

    На море means to the seaside, usually for a holiday.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding a preposition before дома.

    Одам во дома.
    Одам дома.

    Дома already contains the meaning home or to home. Use it on its own.

  • Using на with a city.

    Одам на Скопје.
    Одам во Скопје.

    Cities and countries take во, because you go into them.

  • Using the Serbian preposition у.

    Одам у Скопје.
    Одам во Скопје.

    У is Serbian. The Macedonian word is во.

How It Connects

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

оди во / оди наLevel 1Going Somewhere

Learn This First

Going somewhere uses the и-verb present.

Words in This Pattern

одидома