PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions are words that can not function independently as any part of the sentence, and their main function is relational. They indicate the temporal, spatial or logical relationship between nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and phrases with other words in a sentence. The most used preposition in Macedonian is на (na) which have several grammatical functions and meanings. Samples:
- Јана е на училиште. (Jana e na uchilishte.) - Jana is at school.
- На Божик. (Na Bozhik.) - At Christmas.
- На масата. (Na masata.) - On the table.
- Тоа го кажав на шега. (Toa go kazhav na shega.) - I said it as a joke.
- Ќе одам на пливање. (Kje odam na plivanje.) - I will go to swim ("to take a swim").
- На кого му го кажа тоа? (Na kogo mu go kazha toa?) - To whom did you tell it?
- Му кажав на Петар. (Mu kazhav na Petar.) - I told (to) Petar.
- Ова е колата на Петар. (Ova e kolata na Petar.) - This is the Petar's car (the car of Petar).
- Академија на науките. (Akademija na naukite.) - Academy of Sciences.
The preposition во (vo) and в (v).
- в is always used before nouns without definite articles: Се качив в кола. (I got in the car.) or Однеси го в кујна. (Bring it into the kitchen.) But, in Skopje, in their jargon they often use во instead в, which is gramatically wrong.
- во is used before definite nouns: Се качив во колата на татко ми. (I got into my father's car.) or Во кујната готвам разни нешта. (In my kitchen I cook different things.)
- Before geographical names is used во: Во Скопје. Во Македонија. (In Skopje. In Macedonia.). Sometimes, espetially in the poetry, в can be used too: В Македонија. (In Macedonia.)
- во is used when telling time: Во пет часот. (At five o`clock.)
- во is used before days and months: Во среда. Во март. (On Wednesday. In March.)
- в is used before days and months when we talk about a coming up day or month: В недела не работам. (On the coming up Sunday I don't work.) But, if we say 'Во недела не работам.' or 'Во недели не работам.' it means "I don't work on Sundays.'
Prepositions in Macedonian are: на (at, on, to, of etc.), за (for, about, on), од (from, since), до (to, next to), в/во (in, into, on, at), со (with), без (without), пред (before, in front of), зад (behind), над (above, over) etc.
Samples:
Книгата е на масата. - The book is on the table.
Автор на книгата. - Author of the book.
Книгата е за тебе. - The book is for you.
Книгата е во чантата. The book is in the bag.
Книгата на Елена е во чантата. - Elena's book is in the bag. (literally: 'The book of Elena is...')
Елена е со мене. - Elena is with me.
VERBS
Verbs are words that show action, event or state of being. Every sentence has a verb. In Macedonian, the verbs are inflected, they modify their beginnings or endings according to the grammatical cathegories: person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice etc. They agree with the subject in person, number and gender.
Samples:
пие - to drink (3rd person singular, present time)
пивне; се напие - to take a drink
допие - to finish the drink
(се) запиe - to booze
испие - to drink up
Ти пиеш фанта. - You drink Fanta.
Елена пие кока-кола. - Elena drinks Coca-Cola.
Вие пиете пепси. - We drink Pepsi.
Ти пиеше фанта. - You were drinking Fanta.
Елена пиеше кока-кола. - Elena was drinking Coca-Cola.
THE VERBS СУМ (TO BE) and ИМАМ (TO HAVE)
In Macedonian, the verbs сум (sum) and имам (imam) are used as main, but also auxiliary (helping) verbs. In the tables below you can see all the forms of those two verbs in Present Simple Tense, Past Simple Tense, and Future Simple Tense.
| СУМ - TO BE | |||
| Singular | Present Tense | Past Tense | Future Tense |
| сум - I am | бев - I was | ќе бидам - I shall be | |
| си - you are | беше - you were | ќе бидеш - you will be | |
| е - he/she/it is | беше - he/she/it was | ќе биде - he/she/it will be | |
| Plural | сме - we are | бевме - we were | ќе бидеме - we shall be |
| сте - you are | бевте - you were | ќе бидете - you will be | |
| се - they are | беа - they were | ќе бидат - they will be | |
The negative form of the verb сум (to be) in present and past tenses is formed by adding the negative particle не (no, not) to the verb form. Samples: не сум (I'm not), не е (it's not), не беше (you/he/she/it weren't/wasn't). The negative form of the verb сум (to be) in future tense is formed by using the construction нема да (literal meaning: "hasn't to"). Sample: нема да бидат (they won't be).
| ИМАМ - TO HAVE | |||
| Singular | Present Tense | Past Tense | Future Tense |
| имам - I have немам - I don't have |
имав - I had немав - I didn't have |
ќе имам - I shall have ќе немам - I shall not have |
|
| имаш - you have немаш - you don't have |
имаше - you had немаше - you didn't have |
ќе имаш - you will have ќе немаш - you won't have |
|
| има - he/she/it has нема - he/she/it doesn't have |
имаше - he/she/it had немаше - he/she/it didn't have |
ќе има - he/she/it will have ќе нема - he/she/it won't have |
|
| Plural | имаме - we have немаме - we don't have |
имавме - we had немавме - we didn't have |
ќе имаме - we shall have ќе немаме - we shall not have |
| имате - you have немате - you don't have |
имавте - you had немавте - you didn't have |
ќе имате - you will have ќе немате - you won't have |
|
| имаат - they have немаат - they don't have |
имаа - they had немаа - they didn't have |
ќе имаат - they will have ќе немаат - they won't have |
|
SAMPLES (conversational)
Through this dialog you can learn how some personal, possessive and demonstrative pronouns, prepositions, and verb tenses, can be used in an everyday communication. Elena will introduce her American friend Peter to you...
| Dialog 2 | Elena and Peter | |
 |
Здраво! Ова е мојот пријател Питер. Тој е од Америка. | Hello! This is my friend Peter. He is from the USA. |
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Здраво! Јас сум Питер и сакам да научам македонски. | Hello! I am Peter and I like to learn Macedonian. |
|
Минатото лето тој беше во Македонија и го посети Охрид. | The last summer he was in Macedonia and he visited Ohrid. |
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Да. Охрид е прекрасен град, и самата околина е полна со интересни места за посета. | Yes. Ohrid is a wonderful town, and the area itself is full of interesting places to visit. |
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Питер има сестра. Следната година тој и сестра му ќе го посетат Дојран. | Peter has a sister. The next year he and his sister will visit Dojran. |
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Ќе ја посетиме и Преспа исто така. | We will visit Prespa too. |