пре- / раз- / до- / из-

Verb Prefixes and Meaning

Level 5Sounds Like prefiksi i značen̂e: pre-; raz-; do-; iz

A prefix does two things: it makes the verb perfective and it changes the meaning. пише (write) gives препише (copy out), допише (finish writing) and more.

How It Works

Two jobs at once. Adding a prefix to an imperfective verb gives a perfective verb (see aspect pairs with prefixes), but often the meaning changes too. Each prefix has a few typical meanings:

  • пре-: across or over (премине cross), again or differently (препише copy out, прекрои recut), too much (пресоли oversalt).
  • раз- / рас-: apart or into pieces (раздели divide, расече cut up), undoing (разврзе untie), fully (раскаже tell, recount in full; распродаде sell out), and becoming (разбуди wake up, се разболи fall ill).
  • до-: to the end (допише finish writing, дочита finish reading), reaching a place (донесе bring), in addition (доплати pay extra, досипе top up).
  • из- / ис-: out (изнесе carry out, извади take out, see motion verbs with prefixes), completely (испие drink up, избрише wipe off).

Spelling. Раз- and из- change to рас- and ис- before a voiceless consonant such as к, п, т, ч or ф: раскаже, распродаде, испие, искине. Before a voiced consonant or a vowel they stay: раздели, изнесе.

Imperfective partners. Prefixed verbs are perfective. Their imperfective partners usually add -ува: препишува, раскажува, допишува, изнесува (see imperfectives from prefixed verbs).

Learn them as words. Prefix meanings are a strong hint, not a rule. Разбере means "understand", which you could not guess from раз- and бере (pick). Check a dictionary for each new verb. Two more useful prefixes are covered in doing something for a while and starting an action.

Examples (6)

  1. Препиши го текстот во тетратката.

    Copy the text into your notebook.

    Word by Word: Copy-out it text-the into notebook-the.

  2. Дедо ни раскажа како се запознал со баба.

    Grandpa told us how he met Grandma.

    Word by Word: Grandpa to-us told how self met with grandma.

  3. Ќе го допишам писмото вечерва.

    I will finish writing the letter tonight.

    Word by Word: Will it finish-write letter-the tonight.

  4. Изнеси го ѓубрето, те молам.

    Take out the trash, please.

    Word by Word: Carry-out it trash-the, you I-ask.

  5. Внимавај да не ја пресолиш супата.

    Be careful not to oversalt the soup.

    Word by Word: Watch to not it over-salt soup-the.

  6. Ја испи целата чаша вода.

    She drank up the whole glass of water.

    Word by Word: It drank-up whole-the glass water.

    Из- is written ис- before п.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the з of раз- or из- before a voiceless consonant.

    Разкажи ми што се случи.
    Раскажи ми што се случи.

    Before к, п, т, ч and other voiceless consonants, раз- is written рас- and из- is written ис-.

How It Connects

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

пре- / раз- / до- / из-Level 5Verb Prefixes and Meaning

Learn This First

Prefixes and meaning follow imperfectives from prefixed verbs.

Words in This Pattern

пре-