Macedonian conjugation

Synthetic series

The synthetic series consists of three simple tenses—the present, imperfect and aorist—and the imperative mood.

Present tense

1, 2 The syllabic thematic vowel и changes to the non-syllabic ј when preceding inflectional suffixes which begin with a vowel.

Past tenses

Imperfect

Aorist

''а''–group

''и''–group

3 An intrusive /j/ occurs between /i/ and /a/.

''е''–group

4 An intrusive /j/ occurs between /i/ and /a/.

Imperative mood

Non-finite series

The non-finite series consists of the verbal л-form, verbal adverb, verbal noun and verbal adjective.

• The verbal л-form occurs in two forms: one based on the imperfect stem and one based on the aorist stem. The verbal л-form inflects for gender and number.

• The verbal adverb is an invariant form, based on the imperfect stem with the addition of the suffix -јќи; ex. викајќи.
• The verbal noun is based on the imperfect stem of imperfective verbs with the addition of the suffix -ње; ex. одење. The verbal noun inflects for number and case as with other nouns.
• The verbal adjective is based on the aorist stem when the stem ends in /a/. Otherwise, the imperfect stem is used. It is formed by adding -/t/ to the end of the stem where the vowel is preceded by -/n/ or -/ɲ/, otherwise -/n/ is used; for example, покани 'to invite' has the verbal adjective поканет 'invited', and дојде 'to come' has the verbal adjective дојден 'arrived'. The verbal adjective inflects for number, gender and case as with other adjectives.

Analytic series

The analytic series consists of compound tenses and the conditional mood. It is further divided into the сум-series, беше-pluperfect series and има-series.

''Сум''-series

• The сум-aorist is formed using the present tense of сум (inflecting for person, and dropped in 3P sg. and 3P pl.) and the aorist verbal л-form.
• The сум-imperfect is formed using the present tense of сум (inflecting for person, and dropped in 3P sg. and 3P pl.) and the imperfect verbal л-form

''Беше''-pluperfect series

• The беше-aorist is formed using the aorist of сум (inflecting for person) and the aorist verbal л-form.
• The беше-imperfect is formed using the imperfect of сум (inflecting for person) and the imperfect verbal л-form.

''Има''-series

• The има-perfect is formed using the present tense of има (inflecting for person) and the neuter sg. verbal adjective.
• The имаше-pluperfect is formed using the imperfect of има (inflecting for person) and the neuter sg. verbal adjective.
• The имал-perfect is formed using the present tense of сум (inflecting for person, and dropped in 3P sg. and 3P pl.), the verbal л-form of има and the neuter sg. verbal adjective.

Conditional mood

The conditional mood is formed using the invariant particle би with the verbal л-form. Imperfective and perfective verbs typically use the imperfect and aorist verbal л-forms, respectively.

Bibliography

• Koneski, B. (1996), Граматика на македонскиот јазик ['A Grammar of the Macedonian Language'] (Macedonian), Skopje: Prosvetno Delo Inc.
• Friedman, V. A. (2001), Macedonian, SEELRC: Duke University.
• Lunt, H. G. (1952), A Grammar of the Macedonian Literary Language, Skopje.
• Foulon–Hristova, J. and Poposki, A. (1998), Grammaire pratique du macédonien ['A Practical Grammar of Macedonian'] (French), Paris: Langues & mondes, l'Asiatthèque.