Future tense in Serbian language and prepositions

This is the easiest tense because you only need to memorize forms of the verb HTETI – to want. We already considered this verb in previous lessons, but in the future tense it will have a bit different form.

Formulas of the future tense

There are three variants of forming the future tense, the first and second are equal:

Variant 1: (pronoun) + HTETI + verb in infinitive

Variant 2: (pronoun)+ HTETI + da + verb conjugated with appropriate pronoun

And now let’s consider the conjugation of the verb HTETI in the future tense with examples.

ZNATI – to know

Variant 1	Variant 2
Ja ću znati	Ja ću da znam	I will know
Ti ćeš znati	Ti ćeš da znaš	You will know
On, ona će znati	On, ona će da zna	He, she will know
Mi ćemo znati	Mi ćemo da znamo	We will know
Vi ćete znati	Vi ćete da znate	You will know
Oni će znati	Oni će da znaju	They will know

And also, we have to consider interrogative and negative forms.

Variant 3: infinitive stem with the appropriate form of HTETI instead of ending

POKUŠATI  – to try/to attempt, stem POKUŠA-

Variant 3
(Ja) pokušaću	I will try
(Ti) pokušaćeš	You will try
(On, ona) pokušaće	He, she will try
(Mi) pokušaćemo	We will try
(Vi) pokušaćete	You will try
(Oni, one, ona) pokušaće	They will try

This variant is equal to the two previous ones. But this one is used without pronouns. However, a pronoun can be used if we want to emphasize who performs the action — in that case use Variant 1 or 2: Pokušaću – I will try, usual expression; Ja ću pokušati – I will try, emphasizing that I will try and not someone else.

Examples

Šta ćeš da radiš sutra? – What will you do tomorrow?

Probaću da uradim nešto – I will try to do something

Ja ću to popraviti večeras – I will fix it this evening

Ona neće da zna – She will not know

Mi nećemo da zapamtimo ovo pravilo – We will not memorize this rule

Da li ćete spremati večeru? – Will you prepare the dinner?

Da li ćemo ići u pozorište večeras? – Will we go to the theater tonight?

David će da prevede tekst sutra – David will translate the text tomorrow

Šta ćete raditi ako imate milion dinara? – What will you do if you have a million dinars?

Ona će biti na poslu do osam sati – She will be at work until 8 o’clock

Kada ćeš posetiti svoju baku? – When will you visit your grandma?

Vocabulary

raditi(imp.)/uraditi(perf.) – to do/to work popravljati(imp.)/popraviti(perf.) – to fix pamtiti – to remember zapamtiti – to memorize prevoditi – to translate posao – work/job pozorište – theater baka – grandma

spremati – to prepare večera – dinner večeras – this evening pravilo – rule nešto – something sutra – tomorrow osam – eight (8) sat – hour

Serbian prepositions

K	To
Do	To
U	In, to
Od	from
Iz	From, out of
S	From, with
Unutar	Inside
Ispred	In front of
Na	On
Nad	Above
Pod	Under
Između	Between
Preko	Over, across
Kroz	through

Exercises

Use future tense

1. Ja ______________ za tobom (TRČATI – to run) – I will run after you
2. Ona ______________ u bazenu (PLIVATI – swim) – She will swim in the pool (bazen – pool)
3. Moja porodica ______________ u vikendici (BITI – to be) – My family will be in the country house (porodica – family, vikendica – country house)
4. Dete ______________ na podu (PUZATI – to crawl) – The child will crawl on the floor (dete – child, pod – floor)
5. Hoćeš da mi ______________? (POMOĆI – to help) – Will you help me?
6. Gde ______________ sutra? (IĆI – to go) – Where will you go tomorrow?
7. ____________ pivo! (PITI – to drink) – I won’t drink beer!
8. Šta ____________________ kada završiš fakultet? (RADITI – to do) – What will you do when you finish university?
9. Da li vaša deca ___________________ u školu danas? (IĆI – to go) – Will your children go to school today?
10. Kako ____ to _________________ na nas? (UTICATI – to affect) – How will it affect us?
11. Ko ___________________ ovaj proizvod? (KUPITI – to buy) – Who will buy this product?
12. Novinar _______________ članak za naš časopis (NAPISATI – to write) – The journalist will write an article for our magazine
13. ___________________ film sa celom porodicom (GLEDATI – to watch) – We will watch the film with the whole family
14. Vi _____________________ negde ovog leta? (PUTOVATI – to travel) – Will you travel anywhere this summer?
15. Da li ___________________ dug uskoro? (PLATITI – to pay) – Will you pay the debt soon?

Answers

1: ću trčati/ću da trčim, 2: će plivati/će da pliva, 3: će biti, 4: će puzati/će da puza, 5: pomogneš, 6: ćeš ići/ćeš da ideš, 7: neću piti, 8: ćeš raditi/ćeš da radiš, 9: će ići, 10: će to uticati, 11: će kupiti/će da kupi, 12: će napisati/će da napiše, 13: gledaćemo, 14: ćete putovati/ćete da putujete, 15: ćeš platiti/platićeš