Macedonian grammar
The grammar of Macedonian is, in many respects, similar to that of some other Balkan languages, especially Bulgarian. Macedonian exhibits a number of grammatical features that distinguish it from most other Slavic languages, such as the elimination of case declension, the development of a suffixed definite article, and the lack of an infinitival verb, among others.
The first printed Macedonian grammar was published by Gjorgjija Pulevski in 1880.
Orthography
The Macedonian orthography encompasses the spelling and punctuation of the Macedonian language.Alphabet
The modern Macedonian alphabet was developed by linguists in the period after the Second World War, who based their alphabet on the phonetic alphabet of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, though a similar writing system was used by Krste Misirkov in the late 19th century. The Macedonian language had previously been written using the Early Cyrillic alphabet and later using Cyrillic with local adaptations from either the Serbian or Bulgarian alphabets.The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Macedonian alphabet, along with the IPA value for each letter:
The cursive version of the alphabet is slightly different:
Punctuation
marks are one or two part graphical marks used in writing, denoting tonal progress, pauses, sentence type, abbreviations, et cetera.Marks used in Macedonian include periods, question marks, exclamation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, hyphens, ellipses, different types of inverted commas and quotation marks, brackets , as well as apostrophes, solidi, equal signs, and so forth.
Syntax
The canonical word order of Macedonian is SVO, but word order is variable. Word order may be changed for poetic effect.Generally speaking, the syntactic constituents of the language are::
Morphology
Words, even though they represent separate linguistic units, are linked together according to the characteristics they possess. Therefore, the words in Macedonian can be grouped into various groups depending on the criteria that is taken into consideration. Macedonian words can be grouped according to the meaning they express, their form and their function in the sentence. As a result of that, there are three types of classification of the Macedonian words: semantic, morphological and syntactic classification.According to the semantic classification of the words, in the language there are eleven word classes: nouns, adjectives, numbers, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles, interjections and modal words.
Nouns, adjectives, numbers, pronouns and verbs belong to the open word class, whereas the prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, particles, interjections and modal words belong to the closed word class. This is the morphological classification of the words. Finally, there are two large groups according to the syntactic classification. The larger part of the words belong to group of lexical words, and such words are: nouns, adjectives, numbers, pronouns, verbs, adverbs and modal words. The prepositions, conjunctions, particles and interjections belong to the group of function words.
Nouns
Macedonian nouns belong to one of three genders and are inflected for number, and marginally for case. The gender opposition is not distinctively marked in the plural.The Macedonian nominal system distinguishes two numbers, three genders, case and definiteness. Definiteness is expressed by three definite articles pertaining to the position of the object which are suffixed to the noun.
Definiteness
The article is, as in Bulgarian, Albanian and Romanian. In Macedonian there is only the definite article. One feature that has no parallel in any other standard Balkan language is the existence of three definite articles pertaining to position of the object: medial and/or unspecified, proximal and distal.Examples:
- Јас го видов човекот : the subject, 'man', is either close to the interlocutor or its position is unspecified;
- Јас го видов човеков : the subject, 'man', is close to the speaker ;
- Јас го видов човекон : the subject, 'man', is far from both the speaker and the interlocutor.
Vocative case
Pronouns
Macedonian pronouns decline for case, i.e., their function in a phrase as subject, direct object, or object of a preposition.Based on their meaning and their function in a sentence, pronouns fall into one of the following categories:
| Types of pronouns | Examples |
| Demonstrative pronouns | ова, она, овде, таму |
| Indefinite pronouns | некој, нешто |
| Interrogative pronouns | кој, кого/ кому, што |
| Personal pronouns | јас, ти, тој, таа, тоа, ние |
| Possessive pronouns | мој, твој, нејзин, негов, наш |
| Relative pronouns | кој, којшто, што, чиј, чијшто |
| Reflexive pronoun and reciprocal pronouns | себе, сe |
| Universal pronouns | сите, секој, сешто, секаде |
Verbs
Macedonian has a complex system of verbs. Generally speaking Macedonian verbs have the following characteristics, or categories as they are called in the Macedonistics: tense, mood, person, type, transitiveness, voice, gender and number.According to the categorization, all Macedonian verbs are divided into three major subgroups: a-subgroup, e-subgroup and i-subgroup. Furthermore, the e-subgroup is divided into three more subgroups: a-, e- and i-subgroups. This division is done according to the ending of the verb in the simple present, singular, third person.
The Macedonian simple verb forms are:
- Present tense
- Imperfect
- Aorist
- Imperative
- Verbal l-form
- Verbal adjective
- Verbal noun
- Verbal adverb
- Perfect of imperfective verbs
- Perfect of perfective verbs
- Past perfect tense
- Future tense
- Future-in-the-past
- Future perfect tense
- Potential mood
- Have-construction
- Be-construction
- To-construction
Simple verb forms
Present tense
The Present tense is used to express present actions and actions that overlap with the moment of speaking and this meaning is expressed with the use of imperfective verbs. Besides that, the Present tense can be formed with the perfective verbs as well, but then it is not true present action, but more likely future in the past. Besides the present action, with the forms of present tense there is possibility to express:- past events - the forms are the same, but the meaning refers to certain past event. This usually occurs when telling stories or retelling events.
- future events - the forms are the same, but the meaning refers to the future. Usually, these types of events are time-table or schedule of tasks that are planned.
- general facts - expressing common knowledge that is always same.
- routines and habits
- expressing preparedness and events that occur at same time - the speaker expresses that he is ready to do certain tasks and expressing two actions that occur at the same time.
| singular | plural | |
| 1. | − ам − am | − ме − me |
| 2. | − ш − š | − те − te |
| 3. | ∅ | − ат − at |
Note: ∅ indicates a zero ending.
| A-subgroup гледа | I-subgroup носи | E-subgroup јаде | |
| Јас I | гледам gledam | носам nosam | јадам jadam |
| Ти You | гледаш gledaš | носиш nosiš | јадеш jadeš |
| Тој, таа, тоа He, she, it | гледа gleda | носи nosi | јаде jade |
| Ние We | гледаме gledame | носиме nosime | јадеме jademe |
| Вие You | гледате gledate | носите nosite | јадете jadete |
| Тие They | гледаат gledaat | носат nosat | јадат jadat |
Here are some examples where the usage of Present tense in Macedonian is applied:
Imperfect
The imperfect, or referred to as 'past definite incomplete tense', is used to express past actions where the speaker is a witness of it or took participation in it. In order to express such an action or state, imperfective verbs are used. Also, there is a possibility to express an action with perfective verbs, but then before the verb there should be some of these prepositions or particles: ако, да or ќе. It is important to mention that when perfective verbs are used, then there is expression of conditional mood, past-in-the-future or other perfective aspects, but not witnessed past actions. Besides the basic usage of the Imperfect, with this tense in Macedonian can be expressed and:- conditional mood - as it is mentioned with perfective verbs,
- weak command - usually a polite request,
- past actions that were repeated for some period
- preparedness - the speaker expresses that he is ready to do certain tasks.
| singular | plural | |
| 1. | − в − v | − вме − vme |
| 2. | − ше − še | − вте − vte |
| 3. | − ше − še | − а / − jа* − a / − ja |
for example mie - mieja, pee - peeja.
| A-subgroup гледа | I-subgroup лови | E-subgroup јаде | |
| Јас I | гледав gledav | ловев lovev | јадев jadev |
| Ти You | гледаше gledaše | ловеше loveše | јадеше jadeše |
| Тој, таа, тоа He, she, it | гледаше gledaše | ловеше loveše | јадеше jadeše |
| Ние We | гледавме gledavme | ловевме lovevme | јадевме jadevme |
| Вие You | гледавте gledavte | ловевте lovevte | јадевте jadevte |
| Тие They | гледаа gledaa | ловеа lovea | јадеа jadea |
As an exemplification of the mentioned usages, here are some sentences:
Aorist
The aorist, also known as 'past definite complete tense' , is a verb form that is used to express past finished and completed action or event, with or without speakers participation in it. The duration of the action that is expressed with the aorist can be long or short. For aorist, in Macedonian are used perfective verbs, but sometimes, though very rarely, in non-standard folk speech there may be usage of imperfective verbs. Besides this basic usage, the aorist also can be used to express:- future event - the form is standard aorist, but the meaning refers to the future, usually near future as a consequence of the previous action.
- condition - past condition
- general fact - rarely used, usually in popular proverbs.
| singular | plural | |
| 1. | − в − v | − вме − vme |
| 2. | ∅ | − вте − vte |
| 3. | ∅ | − а / − ја − a / − ja |
Note: ∅ indicates a zero ending. The suffix -ja is used for verbs of the I-division of I-subgroup and for the division of E-subgroup without vowel, i.e. izmi - izmija
The following tables show the paradigm of the aorist for all three major verb subgroups and their divisions:
| A-subgroup прочита | I-sugroup I-division прати | I-subgroup E-division оздрави | I-subgroup A-division издржи | |
| Јас I | прочитав pročitav | пратив prativ | оздравев ozdravev | издржав izdržav |
| Ти You | прочита pročita | прати prati | оздраве ozdrave | издржа izdrža |
| Тој, таа, тоа He, she, it | прочита pročita | прати prati | оздраве ozdrave | издржа izdrža |
| Ние We | прочитавме pročitavme | пративме prativme | оздравевме ozdravevme | издржавме izdržavme |
| Вие You | прочитавте pročitavte | пративте prativte | оздравевте ozdravevte | издржавте izdržavte |
| Тие They | прочитаа pročitaa | пратија pratija | оздравеа ozdravea | издржаа izdržaa |
| E-subgroup A-division стане | E-subgroup E-division сотре | E-subgroup O-division дојде | E-subgroup without vowel измие | |
| Јас I | станав stanav | сотрев sotrev | дојдов dojdov | измив izmiv |
| Ти You | стана stana | сотре sotre | дојде dojde | изми izmi |
| Тој, таа, тоа He, she, it | стана stana | сотре sotre | дојде dojde | изми izmi |
| Ние We | станавме stanavme | сотревме sotrevme | дојдовме dojdovme | измивме izmivme |
| Вие You | станавте stanavte | сотревте sotrevte | дојдовте dojdovte | измивте izmivte |
| Тие They | станаа stanaa | сотреа sotrea | дојдоа dojdoa | измија izmija |
In the following section are given some examples about the mentioned usage above:
Complex verb forms
Perfect of perfective verbs
The Macedonian tense минато неопределено свршено време, or referred to as 'perfect of perfective verbs', functions similarly as the English Present perfect simple. The forms of the Macedonian present perfect are formed with the forms of 'to be' in present tense plus the L-form of the conjuncted verb, which is always perfective. Important to note is that for third person singular there is no presence of the verb 'to be'. This form of the Macedonian perfect is sometimes called 'sum-perfect'. The conjugation of one perfective verb in Macedonian looks as the following one, which is the verb прочита :| singular | plural | |
| 1. | Јас сум прочитал Jas sum pročital | Ние сме прочитале Nie sme pročitale |
| 2. | Ти си прочитал Ti si pročital | Вие сте прочитале Vie ste pročitale |
| 3. | Тој прочитал Toj pročital Таа прочитала Taa pročitala Тоa прочиталo Toа pročitalо | Тие прочитале Tie pročitale |
As an example of this tense, the sentence "I have read the book" is taken and translated in Macedonian:
| Јаc | сум | ја | прочитал | книгата. |
| Jas | sum | ja | pročital | knigata. |
| I | am | it | read | book-the |
Macedonian developed an alternative form of the sum-perfect, which is formed with the auxiliary verb 'to have' and a verbal adjective in neutral, instead of the verb 'to be' and verbal l-form. This is sometimes called 'ima-perfect'.
| singular | plural | |
| 1. | Јас имам прочитано Jas imam pročitano | Ние имаме прочитано Nie imame pročitano |
| 2. | Ти имаш прочитано Ti imaš pročitano | Вие имате прочитано Vie imate pročitano |
| 3. | Тој има прочитано Toj ima pročitano Таа има прочитано Taa ima pročitano Тоa има прочитано Toа ima pročitano | Тие имаат прочитано Tie imaat pročitano |
There is a slight difference in meaning between 'sum-perfect' and 'ima-perfect'.
Perfect of imperfective verbs
The English tense 'Present perfect continuous' functions similarly as the Macedonian tense минато неопределено несвршено време or known as 'perfect of imperfective verbs'. This perfect tense is formed similarly as the perfect of perfective verbs i.e. with the present tense forms of 'to be' and the L-form of the conjuncted verb, but this time the verb is imperfective. Important to note is that for third person singular there is no presence of the verb 'to be'. The conjugation of one imperfective verb in Macedonian looks as the following one, which is the verb чита :| singular | plural | |
| 1. | Јас сум читал Jas sum čital | Ние сме читале Nie sme čitale |
| 2. | Ти си читал Ti si čital | Вие сте читале Vie ste čitale |
| 3. | Тој читал Toj čital Таа читала Taa čitala Тоa читалo Toа čitalо | Тие читале Tie čitale |
As an example of this tense, the sentence "I have been reading the book" is taken and translated in Macedonian:
| Јаc | сум | ја | читал | книгата. |
| Jas | sum | ja | čital | knigata. |
| I | am | it | read | book-the |
Like the perfect of perfective verbs, Macedonian also developed an alternative form of the sum-perfect, which is formed with the auxiliary verb 'to have' and a verbal adjective in neutral, instead of the verb 'to be' and verbal l-form. This is sometimes called 'ima-perfect'.
| singular | plural | |
| 1. | Јас имам читано Jas imam čitano | Ние имаме читано Nie imame čitano |
| 2. | Ти имаш читано Ti imaš čitano | Вие имате читано Vie imate čitano |
| 3. | Тој има читано Toj ima čitano Таа има читано Taa ima čitano Тоa има читано Toа ima čitano | Тие имаат читано Tie imaat čitano |
There is also a slight difference in meaning between 'sum-perfect' and 'ima-perfect' regarding perfect of imperfective verbs. Ima-perfect usually denotes resultative meaning.
Future tense
With the forms of future tense in Macedonian are expressed actions that are planned to happen in future. Usually, when we speak about future, we mean expressing events that should happen soon, however, there is a special form in Macedonian to express future events from past perspective, or event that happened after some other event and this is treated as separate tense called 'Future-in-the-past'.The simple future tense is formed by adding the clitic ќе to the inflected present tense form of the verb. In this respect, both Macedonian and Bulgarian differ from other South Slavic languages, since in both the clitic is fixed, whereas in Serbo-Croatian it inflects for person and number. The negative form of the future tense in Macedonian is made by adding the particles нема да or just не before the verb pattern, whereas the interrogative form is made by adding the question word дали, also before the verb pattern. When we use the negative form nema da, there is not presence of the clitic ḱe. Usually, ḱe in English is translated with the modal verb 'will', and vice versa. When an event is expressed with the use of ḱe, then it is considered normal future, but there is a stronger future event as well which is made with the construction: има + да + present simple form of the verb.
| игра affirmative | носи ne-negation | везе nema da-negation | |
| Јас I | ќе играм ḱe igram | не ќе носам ne ḱe nosam | нема да везам nema da vezam |
| Ти You | ќе играш ḱe igraš | не ќе носиш ne ḱe nosiš | нема да везеш nema da vezeš |
| Тој, таа, тоа He, she, it | ќе игра ḱe igra | не ќе носи ne ḱe nosi | нема да везе nema da veze |
| Ние We | ќе играме ḱe igrame | не ќе носиме ne ḱe nosime | нема да веземе nema da vezeme |
| Вие You | ќе играте ḱe igrate | не ќе носите ne ḱe nosite | нема да везете nema da vezete |
| Тие They | ќе играат ḱe igraat | не ќе носат ne ḱe nosat | нема да везат nema da vezat |
Besides the main usage, the future tense is used to express:
- past events - expressing events that somehow refer to the future,
- orders - giving orders or commands to someone,
- prediction - predicting something,
- general facts - usually for proverbs or things that are considered as facts,
- events that repeat after some period,
- possibility - possible future events.
Future-in-the-past
Future-in-the-past is expressed by means of the same clitic ќе and past tense forms of the verb:| ќе | доjдеше |
| ḱe | dojdeše |
| will | he came He would come/he would have come. |
An interesting fact of vernacular usage of a past tense form of the verb which can be used in a future sense as well, although this construction is mostly limited to older speakers, and is used to describe the degree of certainty that some event will take place in the future or under some condition. This characteristic is shared with Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin and Serbian languages.
Examples:
- Те отепав, штом те фатам.
- Те фатам ли, те казнив.
Adjectives
s agree with nouns in gender, number and definiteness with their noun and usually appear before it.Comparison
Adjectives have three degrees of comparison – positive, comparative and superlative. The positive form is identical to all the aforementioned forms. The other two are formed regularly, by prepending the particle по and the word нај directly before the positive to form the comparative and superlative, respectively, regardless of its comprising one or two words.| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| тежок | потежок | најтежок |
| долг | подолг | најдолг |
Macedonian only has one adjective that has an irregular comparative – многу.
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| многу | повеќе | најмногу |
A subtype of the superlative – the absolute superlative – also present in some other South Slavic languages and Romance languages, expresses the highest quality without comparison. It is formed by prefixing the particle пре to an adjective, roughly corresponding to the English 'very + adjective' or 'too + adjective' combinations.
Prepositions
are part of the closed word class that are used to express the relationship between the words in a sentence. Since Macedonian lost the case system, the prepositions are very important for creation and expression of various grammatical categories. The most important Macedonian preposition is на. Regarding the form, the prepositions can be: simple and complex. Based on the meaning the preposition express, they can be divided into:| Type | Prepositions | Example | Question words |
| prepositions of place | на , под , etc. | Топката е под масата. The ball is under the table. | They can be determined by the question word каде . |
| prepositions of time | ќе , во , etc. | Тој беше во Тетово во 1999. He was in Tetovo in 1999. | They can be determined by the question word кога . |
| prepositions of manner | на , со , etc. | Тој го кажа тоа со иронија. He said that with irony. | They can be determined by the question word како . |
| prepositions of quantity | многу , малку , etc. | Тој научи малку англиски зборови. He learned a few English words. | They can be determined by the question word колку . |
Having in mind the fact that the preposition "на" is the most frequently used in the language, it may be used to express different meaning:
- time, e.g. Штрковите на зима се преселуваат на југ.
- manner, e.g. Тој на шега го удри пријателот.
- purpose, e.g. Ние ќе одиме на скијање.
- possession, e.g. Таа е сестрата на Марко.
- comparison, e.g. Детено многу личи на брат му.
Particles
- particles used to emphasize something
- particles used to separate a person or an object from a larger group
- particles for joining things
- particles for quantity
- particles for exact determination of something
- particles for approximate determination of something
- particles for indication of something
- particles for negative sentences
- particles for interrogative sentences
- particles for imperative sentences
Numerals
| Symbol | Cardinal numeral | Cardinal numeral | Cardinal numeral |
| 0 | нула | нула | нула |
| 1 | еден | една | едно |
| 2 | два | две | две |
| 3 | три | три | три |
| 4 | четири | четири | четири |
| 5 | пет | пет | пет |
| 6 | шест | шест | шест |
| 7 | седум | седум | седум |
| 8 | осум | осум | осум |
| 9 | девет | девет | девет |
| 10 | десет | десет | десет |
| Symbol | Ordinal numeral | Ordinal numeral | Ordinal numeral |
| 0. | нулти | нулта | нулто |
| 1 | прв | прва | прво |
| 2 | втор | втора | второ |
| 3 | трет | трета | трето |
| 4 | четврти | четврта | четврто |
| 5 | петти | петта | петто |
| 6 | шестти | шестта | шестто |
| 7 | седми | седма | седмо |
| 8 | осми | осма | осмо |
| 9 | деветти | деветта | деветто |
| 10 | десетти | десетта | десетто |
Phraseology
The group of words that are used in the language as one unit, word construction, are called phraseological units or in Macedonian фразеологизми. The phraseological units have special linguistic characteristics and meaning. Within one sentence, the words may be joined together in order to create units of various types. For instance, the word nut can be combined with many adjectives, such as big nut, small nut etc. Moreover, the word nut can be combined with other parts of speech as well, such as with verbs as in the sentence I ate a nut.These types of combinations are led by the general principles of the phraseology, which states that the words in the sentences can be freely combined. Within these combinations or collocations, each word keeps its original meaning, so the meaning of the whole construction is equal to the meaning of its constituents.
Besides the word construction with loose connections, in Macedonian there are word constructions that are not freely combined, which means they are permanently combined together. As an illustration of these two types of connections are the following sentences, where the noun phrase "hard nut" is used:
- It is a hard nut and it cannot be cracked easily.
- We will be hard nut for our opponent.