Prepositions are often one of the hardest concepts to master in a foreign language. These words are small but packed with meanings. In Macedonian, time concepts can be expressed through using no preposition or with one or more of several propositions.
Use no preposition when you are describing:
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- the duration of an action, but not focusing on completing that action or on its results. For example: Работам еден час. 'I work for one hour.' Note that the unit of measurement of time, in this case час, does not have an article at the end.
- a time period with adjectives like:
- овој, оваа, ова, овие 'this/these' or оној, онаа, она, оние 'that/those,' for example: Овој понеделник не работам. 'I don't work this coming Monday.'
- секој, секоја, секое, секои, 'every', used for events that happen on a regular interval, such as every minute, hour, day, Monday, week, month, etc. For example: Oдам на работа секој ден. 'I go to work every day.'
- a time period with adverbs like:
- наутро 'in the morning', попладне 'in the afternoon', навечер 'in the evening', дење 'during the day', and ноќе 'at night'. For example: Наутро пијам кафе. 'I drink coffee in the morning.'
- секогаш 'always', понекогаш 'sometimes', or никогаш 'never.' For example: Понекогаш одам а понекогаш возам автомобил. 'I sometimes walk and sometimes drive a car.'
Use во when you are describing:
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- the action starting at a specific time. For example: Појадувам во 8 часот. 'I eat breakfast at 8 o'clock.' Note that the unit of measurement of time, in this case час, does have an article at the end.
- the action occuring on a specific day (not date!), month, or year. For example: Работам во понеделник. 'I work on Monday.'
However, use на in front of the nouns пладне 'noon' and полноќ 'midnight'. For example: Легнувам на полноќ. 'I lie down at midnight.'
Use од when you are describing when the action begins and до when the action ends:
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- like English 'from' and 'to, until', for example: Работат од еден до пет часот. 'They work from 1 to 5 o'clock.' Note that the unit of measurement of time, in this case час, is definite.
- or by themselves, for example: На работа сум од еден часот. 'I'm starting work at 1 o'clock.' OR Работиме до 1 часот. 'We work until 1 o'clock.' Note that the unit of measurement of time, in this case час, does have an article at the end.
Use околу when you are giving an approximate time. Дома сум околу пет часот. 'I'm home around 5 o'clock.' Note that the unit of measurement of time, in this case час, does have an article at the end.
Use за when you are:
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- specifying that the action is completed or is planned on being completed and you are focusing on the achieved result or the lack of its achievement. For example: Можам да појадувам за пет минути. 'I can eat breakfast in 10 minutes.' Note that the unit of measurement of time, in this case минути, does not have an article at the end.
- specifying that the action will commence in a certain amount of time from now. For example: Доаѓам за пет минути. 'I'm coming in 5 minutes.' Note that the unit of measurement of time, in this case минути, does not have an article at the end.
Use пред to specify 'before' and по or после to specify 'after'. For example: Не легнувам пред полноќ. 'I don't lie down before midnight.' OR Не вечерам после 7 часот. 'I don't eat dinner after 7 o'clock.' In both cases, if using a unit of measurement of time, in this case час, it has an article at the end.