Macedonian verbs

Last updated December 17, 2025

In Macedonian grammar, verbs describe the action of a given subject. Verbs inflect for aspect, tense, number, person, mood, and gender. Verb forms can also be subdivided into simple forms, which involve inflection of a single lexeme (word), and complex forms, which involve multiple lexemes joining together to suggest more complex shades of meaning.

Simple verb forms

Present tense

The Present tense (сегашно време, segašno vreme) 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:

The forms of the Present simple in Macedonian are made by adding suffixes to the verb stems. In the following tables are shown the suffixes that are used in Macedonian and one example for each verb subgroup.

	singular	plural
1.	− ам − am	− ме − me
2.	− ш − š	− те − te
3.	∅	− ат − at

Note: ∅ indicates a zero ending.

	A-subgroup гледа (see)	I-subgroup носи (carry)	E-subgroup јаде (eat)
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:

Јас јадам леб. (Jas jadam leb., 'I eat bread.')

Додека тој јаде, ти чисти ја собата. (Dodeka toj jade, ti čisti ja sobata., 'While he eats, you clean the room.')

Автобусот за Скопје тргнува во 5 часот. (Avtobusot za Skopje trgnuva vo 5 časot., 'The bus for Skopje leaves at 5 o'clock.')

Ако ја грееш водата, таа врие. (Ako ja greeš vodata, taa vrie., 'If you heat the water, it boils.')

Секој ден јас гледам сериски филм. (Sekoj den jas gledam seriski film., 'Every day I watch a serial film.')

Imperfect

The imperfect, or referred to as 'past definite incomplete tense' (минато определено несвршено време,minato opredeleno nesvršeno vreme), 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 (ako, 'if'), да (da, 'to') or ќе (ḱe, 'will'). 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:

The suffixes used to make the Imperfect are:

	singular	plural
1.	− в − v	− вме − vme
2.	− ше − še	− вте − vte
3.	− ше − še	− а / − jа* − a / − ja

* - The suffix -ja is used for verbs of I- and E-subgroups where the word stem ends on vowel,
for example mie - mieja (wash - were washing), pee - peeja (sing - were singing).

	A-subgroup гледа (see)	I-subgroup лови (hunt)	E-subgroup јаде (eat)
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:

Јас ловев зајаци. (Jas lovev zajaci., 'I was hunting rabbits.')

Ако не брзаше, ќе немаше грешки. (Ako ne brzaše, ḱe nemaše greški., 'If you weren't rushing, you would not make mistakes.')

Да ми помогнеше малку? (Da mi pomogneše malku?, 'What about helping me a bit?')

Секој ден стануваше во 7 часот и готвеше кафе. (Sekoj den stanuvaše vo 7 časot i gotveše kafe., 'He was getting up every day at 7 o'clock and making coffee.')

Aorist

The aorist, also known as 'past definite complete tense' (минато определено свршено време, minato opredeleno svršeno vreme), is a verb form that is used to express past finished and completed action or event, with or without the speaker's 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:

The formation of the aorist for most verbs is not complex, but there are numerous small subcategories which must be learned. While all verbs in the aorist (except сум) take the same endings, there are complexities in the aorist stem vowel and possible consonant alternations.

	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 (wash - washed)

The following tables show the paradigm of the aorist for all three major verb subgroups and their divisions:

	A-subgroup прочита (read)	I-subgroup I-division прати (send)	I-subgroup E-division оздрави (heal)	I-subgroup A-division издржи (hold on)
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 (stand up)	E-subgroup E-division сотре (wipe out)	E-subgroup O-division дојде (come)	E-subgroup without vowel измие (wash)
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:

Ние прочитавме книга. (Nie pročitavme kniga, 'We read a book.')

Го положив ли испитот, те честам пијачка. (Go položiv li ispitot, te čestam pijačka., 'Should I pass the exam, I'll treat you to a drink.')

Една вечер спав надвор. (Edna večer spav nadvor., 'One night I slept outside.')

Complex verb forms

Perfect of perfective verbs

The Macedonian tense минато неопределено свршено време (minato neopredeleno svršeno vreme, 'past indefinite complete tense'), 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 (pročita, 'read'):

	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:

"I have read the book"

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 (minato neopredeleno nesvršeno vreme, 'past indefinite incomplete tense') 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 (read):

	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:

"I have been reading the book"

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 (ḱe, 'will') 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 (nema + da) or just не (ne) before the verb pattern, whereas the interrogative form is made by adding the question word дали (dali), 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 (ima, 'have') + да ('da', 'to') + present simple form of the verb.

	игра (igra, play) affirmative	носи (nosi, bring) ne-negation	везе (veze, embroider) 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 :

Some of these mentioned rules, can be recognized in the following examples:

Јас ќе одам во Скопје. (Jas ḱe odam vo Skopje) – I will go to Skopje.

Јас отидов во визбата и што ќе видам, сето вино истекло на подот. (Jas otidov vo vizbata i što ḱe vidam, seto vino isteklo na podot., 'I went to the basement and, lo and behold, all of the wine was spilled on the floor.')

Ќе ме слушаш и ќе траеш. (Ḱe me slušaš i ḱe traeš., 'You will listen to me and you will say no words.')

Колку е стар твојот дедо? Ќе да има 70 години. (Kolku e star tvojot dedo? Ḱe da ima 70 godini., 'How old is your granddad? He'd have to be [at least] 70 years old.')

Ќе направам сѐ само да се венчам со Сара. (Ḱe napravam sè samo da se venčam so Sara., 'I'd do anything just to marry Sara.')

Ќе одиш на училиште и крај! (Ḱe odiš na učilište i kraj!, 'You will go to school, and that’s it!')

Future-in-the-past

Future-in-the-past is expressed by means of the same clitic ќе (ḱe, 'will') and past tense forms of the verb:

ќе	доjдеше
ḱe	dojdeše
will (clitic)	he came (imperfective aspect) 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. (Te otepav, štom te fatam., 'I have killed you, when I get you')
Те фатам ли, те казнив. (Te fatam li, te kazniv., 'As soon as I grab you, I have punished you')

In this respect, Macedonian is different from Bulgarian: Macedonian is consistent in the use of ќе as a clitic, whereas the equivalent Bulgarian construction involves the inflection of the clitic for tense, person and number as a regular verb (щях да дойда, 'I would [have] come'; щеше да дойде, 'he would [have] come').

References

^ Бојковска, Стојка; Минова-Ѓуркова, Лилјана; Пандев, Димитар; Цветковски, Живко (December 2008). Саветка Димитрова (ed.). Општа граматика на македонскиот јазик. Скопје: АД Просветно Дело. OCLC 888018507.
^ Christina E. Kramer (1999), Macedonian: A Course for Beginning and Intermediate Students (1st ed.). The University of Wisconsin Press.
^ Tomić, O. (2003) "Genesis of the Balkan Slavic Future Tenses" in Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics: The Ottawa Meeting 2003 (Michigan : Michigan Slavic Publications).

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.