сака да + Present Tense

Wanting to Do Something

Level 2Sounds Like saka da + segašno vreme

There is no to-form in Macedonian. Say Сакам да спијам — literally I want that I sleep.

How It Works

English says I want to sleep, with the to-form. Macedonian has no such form. It links the verbs with да and gives the second verb its own present-tense ending:

  • Сакам да спијам. — I want to sleep.
  • Сакаш ли да одиме во кино? — Do you want to go to the cinema?
  • Таа сака да учи македонски. — She wants to learn Macedonian.

Same or different person: the second ending decides who acts. Сакам да дојдам is I want to come; Сакам да дојдеш is I want you to come.

Short pronouns go between да and the verb: Сакам да те видам. · Не сакам да го гледам тој филм. Не comes before сака: Не сакам да одам.

Which verb after да: for one complete action, the perfective partner is common: Сакаме да купиме нова кола. For an ongoing or repeated activity, use the imperfective: Сакам да учам секој ден. See свршен глагол по да; ќе; ако.

The same да link follows other verbs too: може да; мора да; треба да and знае да.

Examples (6)

  1. Сакам да спијам.

    I want to sleep.

    Word by Word: I-want that I-sleep.

  2. Сакаш ли да одиме во кино?

    Do you want to go to the cinema?

    Word by Word: You-want question that we-go to cinema?

    The second verb is одиме (we go), because the speaker means going together.

  3. Сакам да дојдеш на забавата.

    I want you to come to the party.

    Word by Word: I-want that you-come to the-party.

  4. Таа сака да учи македонски.

    She wants to learn Macedonian.

    Word by Word: She wants that she-learns Macedonian.

  5. Не сакам да го гледам тој филм.

    I don't want to watch that film.

    Word by Word: Not I-want that it I-watch that film.

  6. Сакаме да купиме нова кола.

    We want to buy a new car.

    Word by Word: We-want that we-buy new car.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out да between the two verbs.

    Сакам спијам.
    Сакам да спијам.

    Two verbs cannot stand side by side here. Да is the link that replaces the English "to".

  • Using the dictionary form for the second verb when you mean yourself.

    Сакам да спие.
    Сакам да спијам.

    Сакам да спие is a real sentence, but it means "I want him or her to sleep". To say "I want to sleep", the second verb needs your own ending -м.

  • Putting the short pronoun before да.

    Сакам го да видам.
    Сакам да го видам.

    The pronoun belongs to the second verb, so it goes between да and that verb.

How It Connects

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

сака да + Present TenseLevel 2Wanting to Do Something

Learn This First

Wanting to do something combines сака and да + present.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

сака