покрај / околу / меѓу / спроти

Beside Around and Between

Level 3Sounds Like pokraǰ; okolu; meǵu; sproti

These words show where something is compared with something else: Живеам спроти паркот. (I live opposite the park.) Седни меѓу нас. (Sit between us.)

How It Works

The four meanings:

  • покрај — beside, along, or past something: Шетам покрај реката. (I walk along the river.) Поминав покрај твојата куќа. (I walked past your house.)
  • околу — around, on every side: Децата седнаа околу масата. (The children sat around the table.)
  • меѓу — between two things or among several: меѓу Скопје и Охрид (between Skopje and Ohrid), меѓу пријателите (among friends). Помеѓу means the same.
  • спроти — opposite, facing: Поштата е спроти банката. (The post office is opposite the bank.)

With pronouns: after a preposition, use the full pronoun, not the short one: меѓу нас, покрај мене, околу него, спроти неа (see долги заменки: мене; тебе; него; неа).

Other common uses:

  • околу with a time or a number means about: околу пет часот (at about five), околу сто луѓе (about a hundred people). See бројни изрази: над; околу; до. It can also mean about a topic of dispute: Се скараа околу парите. (They argued about the money.)
  • меѓу also links people in a relationship: меѓу нас кажано (between you and me).
  • спроти before a holiday means on the eve of it: спроти Нова година (on New Year's Eve).
  • покрај тоа means besides that, and и покрај means despite (see и покрај + именка).

For in front of, behind, above, under and next to, see пред; зад; над; под; до.

Examples (6)

  1. Живеам спроти паркот.

    I live opposite the park.

    Word by Word: I-live opposite park-the.

  2. Седни меѓу нас.

    Sit between us.

    Word by Word: Sit between us.

    After a preposition the full pronoun нас is used, not the short ни.

  3. Децата седнаа околу масата.

    The children sat down around the table.

    Word by Word: Children-the sat-down around table-the.

  4. Секое утро шетам покрај реката.

    Every morning I walk along the river.

    Word by Word: Every morning I-walk along river-the.

  5. Поминав покрај твојата куќа вчера.

    I walked past your house yesterday.

    Word by Word: I-passed beside your-the house yesterday.

  6. Дојди околу пет часот.

    Come at about five o'clock.

    Word by Word: Come around five hour-the.

    With a clock time, околу means about.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a short pronoun after the preposition.

    Седни меѓу ни.
    Седни меѓу нас.

    Short pronouns such as ни, ме and го only go with verbs. After меѓу, покрај, околу or спроти, use the full form: нас, мене, него.

  • Joining меѓу with до, as in од ... до.

    Селото е меѓу Скопје до Велес.
    Селото е меѓу Скопје и Велес.

    Меѓу links its two points with и. The pair од ... до is a different pattern for a starting point and an end point.

How It Connects

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

покрај / околу / меѓу / спротиLevel 3Beside Around and Between

Learn This First

Beside and around follow positions in space.

Words in This Pattern

покрајоколуспроти