овој / тој / оној

This and That

Level 2Sounds Like ovoǰ; toǰ; onoǰ

Macedonian has three words for this and that. Овој is near the speaker, тој is near the listener or already known, and оној is far from both: овој град, онаа куќа.

How It Works

Each of these words has four forms, like an adjective:

  • овој, оваа, ова, овие: this, these (near me)
  • тој, таа, тоа, тие: that, those (near you, or already known)
  • оној, онаа, она, оние: that, those (over there, far from us both)

Choose the form that matches the noun: masculine овој град, feminine оваа куќа, neuter ова кафе, plural овие луѓе.

The middle set is the same as the words for he, she, it and they from Subject Pronouns. Before a noun, тој means that: тој човек (that man). It is also the usual choice for something you both already know about.

In standard Macedonian, the noun after these words has no article: овој град, not овој градот. The article endings -ов and -он also point near and far on their own; you will meet them in The Near Article and The Far Article.

On their own, the neuter forms ова and тоа mean this and that thing: Ова е кафе. See Introducing Things.

Examples (6)

  1. Овој град е многу стар.

    This town is very old.

    Град is masculine, so the form is овој.

  2. Оваа куќа е наша.

    This house is ours.

    Куќа is feminine, so the form is оваа.

  3. Ова кафе е ладно.

    This coffee is cold.

    Кафе is neuter, so the form is ова.

  4. Тоа момче зборува англиски.

    That boy speaks English.

    Момче is neuter, so тој becomes тоа.

  5. Онаа куќа таму е многу стара.

    That house over there is very old.

    Онаа points to something far away.

  6. Кој е овој човек?

    Who is this man?

    The noun after овој has no article.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the masculine form with every noun.

    овој куќа
    оваа куќа

    Куќа is feminine, so the word must be feminine too.

  • Adding the article to the noun after овој.

    овој градот
    овој град

    In standard Macedonian, овој already points to the thing, so the noun stays bare. Овој градот is heard in casual speech but is not the standard form.

How It Connects

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

овој / тој / онојLevel 2This and That

Learn This First

Demonstratives build on ова е and on agreement.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern