PRESENT TENSE
The verb tenses are one of the more complicated parts of Macedonian grammar. The verb has three elementary tenses: present, past, and future, and a large variety of verb tenses including the witnessed and nonwitnessed forms. Here we will present the Present Simple Tense, the Future Simple Tense, and three Past Tenses.
Verbs in Macedonian are divided into three groups according to their ending in 3rd person singular. Thus, there are a-verbs, е-verbs, and и-verbs.
Present tense expresses an action or situation that exists only now. It can also represent a widespread truth. The forms for the present tense are formed by adding -м/-ш/-ме/-те/-ат to the verb form in 3rd person singular (verb form in 3rd person singular + -м/-ш/-ме/-те/-ат).
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| гледам I watch, I'm watching |
гледаш you watch, you're watching |
гледа he/she watches, he/she is watching |
гледаме we watch, we're watching |
гледате you watch, you're watching |
гледаат they watch, they're watching |
| пеам I sing, I'm singing |
пееш you sing, you're singing |
пее he/she sings, he/she is singing |
пееме we sing, we're singing |
пеете you sing, you're singing |
пеат they sing, they're singing |
| носам I wear, I'm wearing |
носиш you wear, you're wearing |
носи he/she wears, he/she is wearing |
носиме we wear, we're wearing |
носите you wear, you're wearing |
носат they wear, they're wearing |
The negative paradigm is formed by using the negative particle не (no, not) followed by the forms for the present tense: не + present tense. Samples: носиш (you wear), не носиш (you don't wear).
FUTURE TENSE
Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the future. The forms for the future tense are formed by using of the particle ќе (shall/will) followed by the forms for the present tense (ќе + present tense).
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| ќе гледам I shall watch |
ќе гледаш you will watch |
ќе гледа he/she will watch |
ќе гледаме we shall watch |
ќе гледате you will watch |
ќе гледаат they will watch |
| ќе пеам I shall sing |
ќе пееш you will sing |
ќе пее he/she will sing |
ќе пееме we shall sing |
ќе пеете you will sing |
ќе пеат they will sing |
| ќе носам I shall wear |
ќе носиш you will wear |
ќе носи he/she will wear |
ќе носиме we shall wear |
ќе носите you will wear |
ќе носат they will wear |
The negative paradigm is formed by using the construction нема да (literal meaning: "hasn't to") followed by the forms for the present tense: нема да + present tense. Samples: ќе носиш (you will wear), нема да носиш (you will not wear).
PAST TENSE
Past tense expresses an action or situation that happened in the past. There are several simple and complex past tenses in Macedonian. Here we will present the Imperfect, the Aorist, and the Perfect.
| I M P E R F E C T - Минато определено несвршено време | |||||
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| гледав I was watching |
гледаше you were watching |
гледаше he/she was watching |
гледавме we were watching |
гледавте you were watching |
гледаа they were watching |
| пеев I was singing |
пееше you were singing |
пееше he/she was singing |
пеевме we were singing |
пеевте you were singing |
пееја they were singing |
| носев I was wearing |
носеше you were wearing |
носеше he/she was wearing |
носевме we were wearing |
носевте you were wearing |
носеа they were wearing |
| A O R I S T - Минато определено свршено време | |||||
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
| видов I saw |
виде you saw |
виде he/she saw |
видовме we saw |
видовте you saw |
видоа they saw |
| испеав I sung |
испеа you sung |
испеа he/she sung |
испеавме we sung |
испеавте you sung |
испеаја they sung |
| износив I wore |
износи you wore |
износи he/she wore |
износивме we wore |
износивте you wore |
износија they wore |
| P E R F E C T - Минато неопрделено време | |||||
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
сум гледал (masc.) |
си гледал (masc.) си гледала (fem.) си гледалo (neut.) you have/had watched; you have/had been watching |
гледал (masc.) гледала (fem.) гледалo (neut.) he/she/it has/had watched; he/she/it has/had been watching |
сме гледале we have/had watched; we have/had been watching |
сте гледале you have/had watched; you have/had been watching |
гледале they have/had watched, they have/had been watching |
| or, as a parallel form are used the има (have) constructions: | |||||
| имам гледано | имаш гледано | има гледано | имаме гледано | имате гледано | имаат гледано |
The past tenses negative paradigm is formed by using the negative particle не (no, not) followed by the verb forms for the past tenses: не + past tense. Samples: носеше (you wore), не носеше (you didn't wear); сум гледал (I have watched), не сум гледал (I haven't watched). The negative paradigm of има (have) constructions is formed replacing of има (have) with нема (haven't). Samples: имам гледано (I have watched), немам гледано (I haven't watched).