Macedonian Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Macedonian grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Macedonian and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Macedonian and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Macedonian.

Prepositions - Macedonian - Pronunciation
and и [i]
above над [nad]
under под [pod]
before пред [pryed]
after по [po]
in front of пред [pryed]
behind зад [zad]
far from далеку од [dalyekoo od]
near во близина на [vo blizina na]
in во [vo]
inside внатре [vnatrye]
outside надвор (од) [nadvor (od)]
with со [so]
without без [byez]
about за, во врска со [za, vo vrska so]
between меѓу, помеѓу [myeѓoo, pomyeѓoo]
but но, ама [no, ama]
for за [za]
from од [od]
to кон, накај, за [kon, nakaј, za]

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Macedonian + Pronunciation
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] јадам без нож [јadam byez noʐ]
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] таа живее во близина на црквата [taa ʐivyeye vo blizina na tzrkvata]
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] тој е повисок од неа [toј ye povisok od nyea]
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] тој дојде со неговото мало куче (кученце) [toј doјdye so nyeguovoto malo koochye (koochyentzye)]
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] може да дојдете со мене? [moʐye da doјdyetye so myenye?]

Negation in Macedonian

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Macedonian + Pronunciation
I understand you [affirmative form] јас ве разбирам [јas vye razbiram]
I don't understand you [negation + verb] јас не ве разбирам [јas nye vye razbiram]
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] ова не е точниот збор [ova nye ye tochniot zbor]
don't leave me [imperative negation] не оставајте ме [nye ostavaјtye mye]
no problem [negation + noun] нема проблем [nyema problyem]

Negative Sentences - Macedonian + Pronunciation
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] јас не зборувам француски [јas nye zboroovam frantzooski]
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] таа не ја посети германија [taa nye јa posyeti guyermaniјa]
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] тој не може да нè види [toј nye moʐye da nè vidi]
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] зарем таа не може да игра шах? [zaryem taa nye moʐye da igura shakh?]
we will not come late [negation + future tense] ние нема да задоцниме [niye nyema da zadotznimye]

Questions in Macedonian

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Macedonian - Pronunciation
how? како? [kako?]
what? што? [shto?]
who? кој? [koј?]
why? зошто? [zoshto?]
where? каде? [kadye?]

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Macedonian + Pronunciation
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] каде живеете? [kadye ʐivyeyetye?]
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] дали таа зборува кинески? [dali taa zboroova kinyeski?]
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] колку е ова? [kolkoo ye ova?]
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] може ли да ви помогнам? [moʐye li da vi pomogunam?]
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] како е вашето име? [kako ye vashyeto imye?]

Adverbs in Macedonian

It's time to learn the adverbs in Macedonian. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Macedonian - Pronunciation
now сега [syegua]
yesterday вчера [vchyera]
today денес [dyenyes]
tonight вечерва [vyechyerva]
tomorrow утре [ootrye]
soon наскоро [naskoro]
quickly брзо [brzo]
slowly бавно [bavno]
together заедно [zayedno]
very многу [mnoguoo]
almost речиси [ryechisi]
always секогаш [syekoguash]
usually обично [obichno]
sometimes понекогаш [ponyekoguash]
rarely ретко [ryetko]
never никогаш [nikoguash]

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Macedonian + Pronunciation
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] дали сега ме разбирате? [dali syegua mye razbiratye?]
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ми треба помош веднаш [mi tryeba pomosh vyednash]
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] таа е многу интелигентна [taa ye mnoguoo intyeliguyentna]
I will always love you [verb + adverb] јас секогаш ќе те сакам [јas syekoguash kjye tye sakam]
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] може ли заедно да учиме германски? [moʐye li zayedno da oochimye guyermanski?]

Pronouns in Macedonian

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Macedonian. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Macedonian - Pronunciation
I јас [јas]
you ти / вие [ti / viye]
he тој [toј]
she таа [taa]
we ние [niye]
they тие [tiye]

Object Pronouns - Macedonian - Pronunciation
me мене/мене ме; мене ми [myenye/myenye mye; myenye mi]
you тебе/тебе те; тебе ти; вас/вас ве; вам ви [tyebye/tyebye tye; tyebye ti; vas/vas vye; vam vi]
him него/него го; нему/нему му [nyeguo/nyeguo guo; nyemoo/nyemoo moo]
her неа/неа ја; нејзе ѝ [nyea/nyea јa; nyeјzye ì]
us нас/нас нè; нам/нам ни [nas/nas nè; nam/nam ni]
them нив /нив ги; ним/ним им [niv /niv gui; nim/nim im]

Possessive Pronouns - Macedonian - Pronunciation
my мој [moј]
your твој / ваш [tvoј / vash]
his негов [nyeguov]
her нејзин [nyeјzin]
our наш [nash]
their нивен [nivyen]

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Macedonian + Pronunciation
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] јас сум ви пријател [јas soom vi priјatyel]
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] вие зборувате многу брзо [viye zboroovatye mnoguoo brzo]
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] тој има три кучиња [toј ima tri koochiњa]
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] таа зборува германски [taa zboroova guyermanski]
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] ние нема да задоцниме [niye nyema da zadotznimye]
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] тие купија млеко и леб [tiye koopiјa mlyeko i lyeb]

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Macedonian + Pronunciation
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] може ли да ми го кажете вашето име? [moʐye li da mi guo kaʐyetye vashyeto imye?]
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] јас ќе ви дадам пари [јas kjye vi dadam pari]
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] таа му напиша писмо [taa moo napisha pismo]
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] тие ја посетија неа вчера [tiye јa posyetiјa nyea vchyera]
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] може ли таа да ни помогне? [moʐye li taa da ni pomogunye?]
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] тој им даде храна [toј im dadye khrana]

Possessive Pronouns - Macedonian + Pronunciation
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] моето име е маја [moyeto imye ye maјa]
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] брат ти живее тука [brat ti ʐivyeye tooka]
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] мајка ѝ готви за нас [maјka ì guotvi za nas]
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] неговото хоби е читање книги [nyeguovoto khobi ye chitaњye knigui]
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] нашиот сон е да го посетиме париз [nashiot son ye da guo posyetimye pariz]
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] нивната куќа не е далеку [nivnata kookja nye ye dalyekoo]

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Macedonian - Pronunciation
this is my house ова е мојата куќа [ova ye moјata kookja]
that restaurant is far тој ресторан е далеку [toј ryestoran ye dalyekoo]
these apples are delicious овие јаболка се многу вкусни [oviye јabolka sye mnoguoo vkoosni]
those stars are shiny оние ѕвезди се сјајни [oniye dzvyezdi sye sјaјni]

I hope you learned a lot about the Macedonian grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!