Present Tense of Verbs in -е

Present Tense of E-Verbs

Level 1Sounds Like segašno vreme na e-glagoli

јаде (eat): јадам, јадеш, јаде, јадеме, јадете, јадат

How It Works

1. The endings (model: јаде, eat)

  • јас јадам – I eat
  • ти јадеш – you eat
  • тој / таа јаде – he / she eats
  • ние јадеме – we eat
  • вие јадете – you (all) eat
  • тие јадат – they eat

The I form ends in -ам, just like читам. The they form has one а: јадат, not јадаат.

2. The extra ј
When the stem ends in и or у, a ј appears before the а in the I and they forms:

  • пие (drink): пијам, пиеш, пие, пиеме, пиете, пијат
  • мие (wash): мијам … мијат

After a stem ending in е there is no ј:

  • пее (sing): пеам, пееш, пее, пееме, пеете, пеат
  • живее (live): живеам … живеат

3. Why you need the dictionary form
The I forms читам, јадам and одам all end in -ам, so the I form cannot tell you the group. The he or she form can: јаде ends in -е.

Examples (6)

  1. Јадам пица.

    I'm eating pizza.

    Word by Word: I-eat pizza.

  2. Што пиеш?

    What are you drinking?

    Word by Word: What you-drink?

  3. Пијам кафе.

    I'm drinking coffee.

    Word by Word: I-drink coffee.

    The stem ends in и, so ј appears: пијам.

  4. Каде живеете?

    Where do you live?

    Word by Word: Where you-live?

    The -ете ending fits polite Вие or a group.

  5. Тие пијат сок.

    They are drinking juice.

    Word by Word: They drink juice.

    The they form of пие also has ј.

  6. Децата пеат.

    The children are singing.

    Word by Word: Children-the sing.

    The stem of пее ends in е, so there is no ј.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the ј after и.

    Пиам кафе.
    Пијам кафе.

    When the stem ends in и, Macedonian writes and says ј before the ending: пијам, пијат.

  • Using the а-verb they ending.

    Тие јадеат.
    Тие јадат.

    Е-verbs end in -ат in the they form. The ending -аат belongs to а-verbs like читаат.

  • Adding ј after a stem that ends in е.

    Тие пејат.
    Тие пеат.

    The extra ј only comes after и or у. Пее gives пеам and пеат.

How It Connects

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

Present Tense of Verbs in -еLevel 1Present Tense of E-Verbs

Learn This First

The е-verb present builds on the а-verb pattern.

Words in This Pattern

јадепие