In this lesson, we will learn how to conjugate Serbian verbs in the present tense. The verb is the basis of any language, and the learning process should begin from it. First of all, we will consider the conjugation of regular Serbian verbs, and in the next lesson, we will consider modal and irregular verbs.
Verb conjugation in the present tense
There are 3 conjugations in the Serbian language, and there are subgroups in each of them.
Conjugation 1
Verbs that end in [-i] with pronouns On, Ona (he, she), and in [-e] with Oni, One, Ona (they). There are subgroups in these conjugations in the present tense: verbs that have infinitive endings [-iti] and [-eti].
Group [– iti]
RADITI – to do/to work
| Ja radim | I do/work |
| Ti radiš | You do/work |
| On, ona radi | He, she does/works |
| Mi radimo | We do/work |
| Vi radite | You do/work |
| Oni, One, Ona rade | They do/work |
Group [-eti]
SEDETI – to sit
| Ja sedim | I sit |
| Ti sediš | You sit |
| On, ona sedi | He, she sits |
| Mi sedimo | We sit |
| Vi sedite | You wit |
| Oni, one, one sede | They sit |
Conjugation 2
Verbs that end in [-a] with On, Ona, and [-aju] with Oni, One, Ona.
Group [–ati]
PITATI – to ask
| Ja pitam | I ask |
| Ti pitaš | You ask |
| On, ona pita | He, she asks |
| Mi pitamo | We ask |
| Vi pitate | You ask |
| Oni, one, ona pitaju | They ask |
ZNATI – to know. Let’s conjugate this verb with negation
| Ja ne znam | I don’t know |
| Ti ne znaš | You don’t know |
| On, Ona ne zna | He, She doesn’t know |
| Mi ne znamo | We don’t know |
| Vi ne znate | You don’t know |
| Oni, One, Ona ne znaju | They don’t know |
Conjugation 3
Verbs that end in [-e] with On, Ona, and [-u] with On, Oni, One. Most of the verbs of this group have irregular stems.
In this conjugation there is consonant change before ending:
K – Č,
G – Ž,
H – Š,
S – Š,
Z – Ž,
ET – EĆ
Group [-ati]
How to identify Conjugation 3 if there is a subgroup [-ati] in Conjugate 2 too? Here is the answer: If you see one of these consonants (K, G,H, S, Z, T) before ending in infinitive form – this is conjugation 3:
KAZATI – to say, change Z – Ž, stem KAŽ-;
PISATI – to write, change S – Š, stem PIŠ-;
ZNATI – to know, no change, this is verbs from Conjugation 2, not 3!
Let’s conjugate KAZATI – to say:
| Ja kažem | I say |
| Ti kažeš | You say |
| On, Ona kaže | He, she says |
| Mi kažemo | We say |
| Vi kažeti | You say |
| Oni, One, Ona kažu | They say |
Group – [-ovati]
This group exists in all Slavic languages (if I am not mistaken), at least exists is in Polish and Russian languages.
In Serbian present tense, we must cut off –OVATI and add –UJ to form the stem. Look at the conjugation of the verb. Also
PUTOVATI – to travel, stem PUTUJ–
| Ja putujem | I travel |
| Ti putuješ | You travel |
| On, ona putuje | He, she travels |
| Mi putujemo | We travel |
| Vi putujete | You travel |
| Oni, one, ona putuju | They travel |
Group [-sti]
This is a special subgroup in this conjugation that consists mostly of irregular verbs.
JESTI – to eat, stem JED-
| Ja jedem | I travel |
| Ti jedješ | You travel |
| On, ona jede | He, she travels |
| Mi jedemo | We travel |
| Vi jedete | You travel |
| Oni, one, ona jedu | They travel |
Interrogative form
The interrogative form in the Serbian language is built by adding DA LI before the verb:
Da li ja igram? – Do I play? (igrati – to play)
Da li on putuje? – Does he travel? (putovati – to travel)
Da li oni vole? – Do they love? (voleti – to live)
And so on. But this form is not used with question words (see below).
Memorize these question words:
Šta? – what?
Ko? – who?
Gde? – where?
Kada? – when?
Zašto? – why? what for?
Koliko? – how much? how many?
If there is a question word in front of the verb, you don’t need to add “da li”. As well as in English.
Examples
Zašto ti učiš Srpski? – Why do you learn Serbian?
Da li studirate na fakultetu? – Do you(Vi) study in the faculty (university)?
Ko to kaže? – Who says that?
Zašto pitaš? – Why do you ask?
Da li ti zaboravljaš mnogo kada učiš Srpski jezik? – Do you forget a lot when you learn the Serbian language?
Da li živiš u Beogradu? – Do you live in Belgrade?
Ona čita knjigu – She reads a book
On radi u prodavnici – He works in a store
Maria pije kafu – Maria drinks coffee
Ti pevaš veoma dobro – You sing very well
Ova olovka piše loše – This pencil writes bad
Studiramo Engleski jezik na fakultetu – We study English at university
Zašto ne odgovarate na moje poruke? – Why you don’t answer my messages?
Zašto jedeš tako mnogo jabuka? – Why do you learn so many apples?
Vocabulary
| govoriti – to speak učiti – to learn studirati – to study zaboraviti – to forget odgovoriti – to answer raditi – to do/work pisati – to write pitati – to ask živeti – to live čitati – to read pevati – to sing piti – to drink kazati – to say | jesti – to eat fakultet / univerzitet – university mnogo – much/many/a lot jezik – language knjiga – book prodavnica – store kafa – coffee dobro – well lošo – bad jabuka – apple poruka – message tako – so olovka – pencil |
Exercises
Use the appropriate form of verbs in the present tense
- Ja _____________________da Srpski jezik nije težak (MISLITI – to think) – I think that Serbian language is not difficult
- Moja majka _________________ u školi (RADITI – to work) – My mom works at school
- Šta ti ______________? (CRTATI – to draw) – What are you drawing?
- Mi često _________________ muziku (SLUŠATI – to listen) – We often listen to music
- Učiteljica ________________ na školskoj tabli (PISATI – to write) – The teacher writes on the blackboard
- Mi __________________ jabuke svaki dan (JESTI – to eat) – We eat apples every day
- Da li ____________________ u Beogradu? (ŽIVETI – to live) – Do you (ti) live in Belgrade?
- Mara _____________ kafu (PITI – to drink) – Mara drinks coffee
- Ona ________________ veoma dobro (PEVATI – to sing) – She sings very good
- Naši roditelji ne ________________ Engleski (GOVORITI – to speak) – Our parents don’t speak English
- Zašto ne _______________ ovo? (ZNATI – to know) – Why don’t you remember it?
- Kada _______________________, mi _________________ mnogo slika (PUTOVATi – to travel, SLIKATI – to take a picture) – When we travel, we take a lot of pictures
- Dragan i Nevena _________________ veoma lepo (IGRATI– to dance / to play) – Dgaran and Nevena dance very nicely
- Koliko godina ________________ Srpski jezik? (Učiti – to learn) – How many years have you been learning Serbian?
Answers:
1: mislim; 2: radi; 3: crtaš; 4: slušamo; 5: piše; 6: jedemo; 7: živiš; 8: pije; 9: peva; 10: govore; 11: znaš, 12: putujemo; slikamo, 13: igraju, 14: učiš