бев — Was / Were – Macedonian Lesson
Past Tense · Practical
бев — Was / Were in Macedonian
This free Macedonian lesson teaches бев — was / were as part of the Past Tense course on OpaLingo. Learn the Macedonian past tense and tell stories about what happened — "I went" (одев), "she ate" (јадеше), "we were" (бевме). Master past forms of бев, одев, јадев, работев, пиев, спиев, and купував. You'll learn 11 Macedonian words, including Јас бев (I was), Ти беше (You were), Тој беше (He was), Таа беше (She was), Ние бевме (We were), each with native audio pronunciation, interactive flashcards, and a quiz to check your progress. The Macedonian language — South Slavic, written in Cyrillic, and spoken by around 1.5 million people centred on North Macedonia — is one of the easier languages to read aloud: its 31-letter alphabet is fully phonetic, so each letter keeps the same sound in every word.
Vocabulary in this lesson
| Macedonian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Јас бев | Jas bev | I was |
| Ти беше | Ti beše | You were |
| Тој беше | Toj beše | He was |
| Таа беше | Taa beše | She was |
| Ние бевме | Nie bevme | We were |
| Тие беа | Tie bea | They were |
| Вчера бев дома. | Včera bev doma. | Yesterday I was at home. |
| Тој беше болен. | Toj beše bolen. | He was sick. |
| Бевме во Скопје минатата недела. | Bevme vo Skopje minatata nedela. | We were in Skopje last week. |
| Каде беше вчера? | Kade beše včera? | Where were you yesterday? |
| Беа на концерт. | Bea na koncert. | They were at a concert. |
Word by word
- Јас бев is the Macedonian for “I was”, pronounced “Jas bev”.
- Ти беше — pronounced “Ti beše” — means “You were” in English.
- Тој беше means “He was”. Say it as “Toj beše”, exactly as the Cyrillic is written.
- Таа беше translates to “She was” and is pronounced “Taa beše”.
- Ние бевме is the Macedonian for “We were”, pronounced “Nie bevme”.
- Тие беа — pronounced “Tie bea” — means “They were” in English.
- Вчера бев дома. means “Yesterday I was at home.”. Say it as “Včera bev doma.”, exactly as the Cyrillic is written.
- Тој беше болен. translates to “He was sick.” and is pronounced “Toj beše bolen.”.
- Бевме во Скопје минатата недела. is the Macedonian for “We were in Skopje last week.”, pronounced “Bevme vo Skopje minatata nedela.”.
- Каде беше вчера? — pronounced “Kade beše včera?” — means “Where were you yesterday?” in English.
- Беа на концерт. means “They were at a concert.”. Say it as “Bea na koncert.”, exactly as the Cyrillic is written.
How to practice бев — was / were in Macedonian
Work through the lesson in three passes: first listen to the native audio and repeat each word aloud, then test yourself with the flashcards, and finish with the quiz to confirm what stuck. Because Macedonian is spelled exactly as it sounds, reading the Cyrillic out loud doubles as pronunciation practice. Short, repeated reviews over several days are far more effective than a single long session — and since every OpaLingo lesson is free and tracks your progress on any device, picking up where you left off takes seconds.
Continue with more lessons in the Past Tense module, explore all Macedonian course modules, or practice with language games on OpaLingo.