бев + L-Form

The Past Perfect

Level 4Sounds Like predminato vreme: bev + l-forma

To say something had happened before another past event, use бев + l-form: Кога стигнав, тие веќе беа заминале. (When I arrived, they had already left.)

How It Works

The past perfect, предминато време, puts one past event before another past event, like English had left.

Form: the past of сум (see сум во минато: бев; беше) plus the l-form (see л-форма: -л; -ла; -ло; -ле):

  • јас бев заминал / заминала — I had left
  • ти беше заминал / заминала — you had left
  • тој, таа беше заминал / заминала — he, she had left
  • ние бевме заминале · вие бевте заминале · тие беа заминале

Both parts agree: бев changes for the person, and the l-form changes for gender and number. It usually uses a perfective verb, but an imperfective one is also possible: бев читал (I had been reading).

Use: it marks the earlier of two past events. The later one is usually in the aorist:

  • Кога стигнав, тие веќе беа заминале. — When I arrived, they had already left.
  • Филмот веќе беше почнал кога влеговме. — The film had already started when we came in.

Words like веќе (already) and уште не (not yet) often go with it (see веќе; сѐ уште; уште не). It is also common in speech for something you had forgotten or not noticed: Бев заборавил дека денес е празник. (I had forgotten that today is a holiday.)

Unlike the reported forms, this tense is the speaker's own statement. The reported version uses бил instead: возот бил заминал (see бил + л-форма).

In everyday speech the past perfect often gives way to simpler forms when the order is already clear: the aorist with веќе, or имав with the verbal adjective, which stresses the result (see имав + -но).

Examples (5)

  1. Кога стигнав, тие веќе беа заминале.

    When I arrived, they had already left.

    Word by Word: When I-arrived, they already were left.

  2. Филмот веќе беше почнал кога влеговме во салата.

    The film had already started when we went into the hall.

    Word by Word: Film-the already was started when we-entered in hall-the.

  3. Таа ми рече дека веќе беше јадела.

    She told me she had already eaten.

    Word by Word: She to-me said that already was eaten.

    Јадела is feminine to agree with таа.

  4. Бев заборавил дека денес е празник.

    I had forgotten that today is a holiday.

    Word by Word: I-was forgotten that today is holiday.

  5. Кога се разбудивме, снегот веќе беше паднал.

    When we woke up, the snow had already fallen.

    Word by Word: When self we-woke, snow-the already was fallen.

Common Mistakes

  • Not matching бев to a plural subject.

    Кога стигнав, тие веќе беше заминале.
    Кога стигнав, тие веќе беа заминале.

    Бев changes for the person like the verb сум: тие takes беа.

  • Not matching the l-form to a female subject.

    Ана веќе беше заминал.
    Ана веќе беше заминала.

    The l-form agrees in gender and number with the subject: Ана takes заминала.

  • Using the aorist after бев instead of the l-form.

    Кога стигнав, тие веќе беа заминаа.
    Кога стигнав, тие веќе беа заминале.

    The second part of the past perfect is always the l-form (заминал, заминала, заминале), never an aorist form.

How It Connects

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бев + L-FormLevel 4The Past Perfect

Learn This First

The past perfect combines бев and the l-form.

Words in This Pattern