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Serbo-Croatian is aSouth Slavic language that, like most otherSlavic languages, has an extensive system ofinflection. This article describes exclusively the grammar of theShtokavian dialect, which is a part of theSouth Slavic dialect continuum[1] and the basis for theBosnian,Croatian,Montenegrin, andSerbian standardvariants of Serbo-Croatian.[2] "An examination of all the major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system."[3]
Pronouns, nouns, adjectives and some numeralsdecline (change the word ending to reflect case, the grammatical category and function) whereas verbsconjugate for person and tense. As in other Slavic languages, the basic word order issubject–verb–object (SVO), but the declensions show sentence structure and so word order is not as important as in more analytic languages, such as English or Chinese. Deviations from the standard SVO order are stylistically marked and may be employed to convey a particular emphasis, mood or overall tone, according to the intentions of the speaker or writer. Often, such deviations will sound literary, poetical or archaic.
Nouns have threegrammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) that correspond, to a certain extent, with the word ending. Accordingly, most nouns with -a are feminine, -o and -e neuter, and the rest mostly masculine but with some feminine. The grammatical gender of a noun affects the morphology of other parts of speech (adjectives, pronouns, and verbs) attached to it. Nouns are declined into seven cases:nominative,genitive,dative,accusative,vocative,locative, andinstrumental, albeit with considerablesyncretism (overlap) especially in the plural.
Verbs are divided into two broad classes according to theiraspect, which can be eitherperfective (signifying a completed action) orimperfective (action is incomplete or repetitive). There are seventenses, four of which (present,perfect,future I and II) are used in contemporary Serbo-Croatian, and the other three (aorist,imperfect andpluperfect) used much less frequently. The pluperfect is generally limited to written language and some more educated speakers, and the aorist and imperfect are considered stylistically marked and rather archaic. However, some nonstandard dialects make considerable (and thus unmarked) use of those tenses. Aorist and pluperfect are typically more used in villages and small towns of Serbia than in standard language, even in villages close to the Serbian capital Belgrade. In some parts of Serbia, the aorist can even be the most common past tense.[4]
All Serbo-Croatian lexemes in this article are spelled in accented form in theLatin alphabet as well as inIjekavian andEkavian (with Ijekavian bracketed) when these differ. SeeSerbo-Croatian phonology.
Serbo-Croatian makes a distinction between three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) seven cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative, instrumental) and two numbers (singular and plural).
The dative and locative cases mostly coincide; however, in some nouns they have a differentpitch accent:grȃd — grȃdu — grádu, stvȃr — stvȃri — stvári.
Serbo-Croatian has three main declensional types, traditionally called a-type, e-type and i-type respectively, according to their genitive singular ending.
This type reflectsProto-Slavic o-stems, and is characterized by the endings (-o), (-e), or zero (-Ø) in the nominative singular, and (-a) in genitive singular. It includes most of the masculine and all of the neuter nouns.
The category ofanimacy is important for choosing of accusative singular of o-stems, and of personal pronouns. Animate nouns have the accusative case like the genitive, and inanimate nouns have the accusative case like the nominative. This is also important for adjectives and numerals that agree with masculine nouns in case.
This type has two sets of case endings: one for masculine, and the other for neuter gender:
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The zero ending -Ø is for masculine nouns that end in a consonant in the nominative singular. Most masculine monosyllabic and some bisyllabic words receive an additional suffix -ov- or -ev- throughout the plural (bor – borovi 'pine',panj – panjevi 'stump').
The choice of -o- and -e- endings in the nominative, vocative and instrumental singular, as well as the plural suffix -ov-/-ev-, is governed by the stem-final consonant: if it is a "soft" (chieflypalatal consonant –c, č, ć, đ, j, lj, nj, š, ž, št, and sometimesr), -e- endings are used, and -o endings otherwise; however, there are exceptions.
Some loanwords, chiefly of French origin, preserve the ending vowel (-e, -i, -o, -u) as part of the stem; those ending in -i receive an additional epenthetic -j- suffix in oblique cases:kàfē – kafèi 'café',pànō – panòi 'billboard',kànū – kanùi 'canoe',tàksi – taksiji 'taxi'. They are always of masculine gender; loanwords ending in -a are typically of thee-declension class (feminine); neuter nouns are basically aclosed class.
Masculine nouns belonging to this declension class are those that are nothypocorisms, and do not end in -a, which undergo e-type declension.
According to the nominative singular forms they are divided in two classes:
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| Pattern 4 | Nouns ending in -k | Nouns ending in -g | Nouns ending in -h | |||
| Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | vòjnīk | vojníc-i | bùbreg | bùbrez-i | tr̀buh | tr̀bus-i |
| G | vojník-a | vojník-ā̄ | bùbreg-a | bȕbrēg-ā̄ | tr̀buh-a | tȑbūh-ā̄ |
| D | vojník-u | vojníc-ima | bùbreg-u | bùbrez-ima | tr̀buh-u | tr̀bus-ima |
| A | vojník-a | vojník-e | bùbreg-a | bùbreg-e | tr̀buh-a | tr̀buh-e |
| V | vȍjnīč-e | vojníc-i | bùbrež-e | bùbrez-i | tr̀buš-e | tr̀bus-i |
| L | vojník-u | vojníc-ima | bùbreg-u | bùbrez-ima | tr̀buh-u | tr̀bus-ima |
| I | vojník-om | vojníc-ima | bùbreg-om | bùbrez-ima | tr̀buh-om | tr̀bus-ima |
| Pattern 5 –Nouns ending in -(a)k | ||
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| N | čvór-a-k | čvórc-i |
| G | čvórk-a | čvȏr-ā-k-ā̄ |
| D | čvórk-u | čvórc-ima |
| A | čvórk-a | čvórk-e |
| V | čvȏrč-e | čvórc-i |
| L | čvórk-u | čvórc-ima |
| I | čvórk-om | čvórc-ima |
| Pattern 6 –Nouns ending in a palatal | ||||||
| Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | pȃnj | pánj-ev-i | sȗž-a-nj | sȗžnj-i | prȋšt | príšt-ev-i |
| G | pánj-a | pánj-ēv-ā̄ | sȗžnj-a | sȗž-ā-nj-ā̄ | príšt-a | príšt-ēv-ā̄ |
| D | pánj-u | pánj-ev-ima | sȗžnj-u | sȗžnj-ima | príšt-u | príšt-ev-ima |
| A | pȃnj | pánj-ev-e | sȗž-a-nj | sȗžnj-e | prȋšt | príšt-ev-e |
| V | pȃnj-u | pánj-ev-i | sȗžnj-u | sȗžnj-i | prȋšt-u | príšt-ev-i |
| L | pánj-u | pánj-ev-ima | sȗžnj-u | sȗžnj-ima | príšt-u | príšt-ev-ima |
| I | pánj-em | pánj-ev-ima | sȗžnj-em | sȗžnj-ima | príšt-em | príšt-ev-ima |
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Masculine nouns ending in -o or -e present a special case. They generally comprise personal names, hypocorisms and certain foreign-language borrowings.
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Neuter nouns end in -o, -e and -∅.
The finalo is always a suffix. Nouns which have at least two consonants (exceptst andzd) before the finalo have disappearinga in genitive plural.
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The noundȑvo can mean 'wood', in which case it is declined as above (without disappearing a); and 'tree', where it can be declined either as above (without disappearing a) or as animparisyllabic form below:
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When the nounsȍko andȕho mean 'eye' and 'ear', except after a number ending with two-to-four, their plurals are feminine; their plurals are neuter otherwise.
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Nounsčȕdo 'miracle',kȍlo 'wheel',nȅbo 'sky',tijêlo 'body' andȕho 'ear', in addition toparisyllabic form plurals without disappearinga, have imparisyllabic plurals formed by appending -es- to the base. These plurals are used differently. The nominative plural ofȕho isušèsa, and the nominative plural oftijêlo istjelèsa.
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The finale can be a suffix, so the noun is parisyllabic, and it can belong to the noun base, in which case the noun is not parisyllabic. The noun is parisyllabic if it ends with -je (exceptjáje in singular), -lje, -nje (exceptjȁnje), -će, -đe, -ce (exceptpȕce andtùce), -šte, -šće or -žđe. The nounsmôre andtlȅ are also parisyllabic. If a noun has at least two consonants before the finale, it has a disappearinga in genitive plural. This is not the case if the noun ends with -šte, -šće, -žđe or -je. Nouns representing living things do not have plural forms, but their plurality is marked with a collective noun formed with -ād (téle, n. sg.singulare tantum →tȅlād, f. sg.singulare tantum) or by using a noun formed with -ići (pȉle, n. sg.singulare tantum →pȉlići, m. pl.). The noundijéte 'child' is asingulare tantum and uses the collective noundjèca, f. sg.singulare tantum, but plural with verbs, instead of a plural form.
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Thepluralia tantum nounsvráta,ústa andplúća can have the suffix -ijū in genitive plural:vrátijū,ústijū,plúćijū. The only neuter noun ending in -a isdȍba/dôba:
This type reflects Proto-Slavic a-stems, and is characterized by the ending -a in nominative singular and -ē in genitive singular. It contains most of the feminine nouns, and a small number of masculines.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -a | -e |
| Genitive | -e | -a |
| Dative/Locative | -i | -ama |
| Accusative | -u | -e |
| Vocative | -o/a | -e |
| Instrumental | -om | -ama |
This type reflects Proto-Slavic i-stems, and is characterized by the zero ending in nominative singular and -i in genitive singular. It contains the rest of feminine nouns, i.e., those that are not contained in the e-type nouns (a-stems).
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | - | -i |
| Genitive | -i | -i |
| Dative/Locative | -i | -ima |
| Accusative | - | -i |
| Vocative | -i | -i |
| Instrumental | -i/ju | -ima |
Some nouns appear only in the plural form and do not have a singular variant (seeplurale tantum). The gender of these nouns is either feminine (e.g.hlače 'trousers',gaće 'pants',grudi 'chest') or neuter (e.g.kola 'car',leđa 'back',usta 'mouth').[5]
Serbo-Croatian allows deletion of the subject pronoun, because the inflected verb already contains information about its subject (seepro-drop language).[6] Example:
(Note: The words in the brackets represent shorter, unstressed versions of the pronouns that are often used instead of longer, stressed versions. Those unstressed versions, however, only occur in genitive, accusative and dative.)
| Case | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. (m/f/n) | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ja | ti | on / ona / ono | mi | vi | oni / one / ona |
| Genitive | mene (me) | tebe (te) | njega (ga) / nje (je) / njega (ga) | nas | vas | njih (ih) |
| Dative | meni (mi) | tebi (ti) | njemu (mu) / njoj (joj) / njemu (mu) | nama (nam) | vama (vam) | njima (im) |
| Accusative | mene (me) | tebe (te) | njega (ga) / nju (ju) / njega (ga) | nas | vas | njih (ih) |
| Vocative | – | ti | – | – | vi | – |
| Locative | meni | tebi | njemu / njoj / njemu | nama | vama | njima |
| Instrumental | mnom | tobom | njim / njom / njim | nama | vama | njima |
Some of the declensions for adjectives are the same as for nouns:velikakuća (sing. fem. nom.),velikukuću (sing. fem. acc.). Others differ:velikog stana (sing. masc. gen.),jednimklikom 'with one click' (sing. masc. instrum.).
| Case | singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine indefinite | masculine definite | feminine | neuter indefinite | neuter definite | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
| Nominative | Ø | -i | -a | -o | -o | -i | -e | -a |
| Genitive | -a | -og/-oga | -e | -a | -og | -ih | -ih | -ih |
| Dative | -u | -om/-omu/ome | -oj | -u | -om/-omu/ome | -im/-ima | -im/-ima | -im/-ima |
| Accusative | Ø/-a* | -i/-og/-oga* | -u | -o | -o | -e | -e | -a |
| Vocative | Ø | -i | -a | -o | -o | -i | -e | -a |
| Locative | -u | -om/-omu/-ome | -oj | -u | -om/-omu/-ome | -im/-ima | -im/-ima | -im/-ima |
| Instrumental | -im | -im | -om | -im | -im | -im/-ima | -im/-ima | -im/-ima |
* same as nominative if a word is marking inanimate object; same as genitive if a word is marking animate object.
| Case | singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine indefinite | masculine definite | feminine | neuter indefinite | neuter definite | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
| Nominative | velik | veliki | velika | veliko | veliko | veliki | velike | velika |
| Genitive | velika | velikog, velikoga | velike | velika | velikog, velikoga | velikih | velikih | velikih |
| Dative | veliku | velikom, velikomu, velikome | velikoj | veliku | velikom, velikomu, velikome | velikim, velikima | velikim, velikima | velikim, velikima |
| Accusative | velik | veliki | veliku | veliko | veliki | velike | velike | velika |
| Vocative | velik | veliki | velika | veliko | veliko | veliki | velike | velika |
| Locative | veliku | velikom, velikomu, velikome | velikoj | veliku | velikom, velikomu, velikome | velikim, velikima | velikim, velikima | velikim, velikima |
| Instrumental | velikim | velikim | velikom | velikim | velikim | velikim, velikima | velikim, velikima | velikim, velikima |
Nouns modified by numerals are in the genitive case. As a vestige of the dual number, 2, 3, and 4 take the genitive singular, and 5 and above take the genitive plural.
| Digit | Serbo-Croatian | English | Digits | Serbo-Croatian | English | Digits | Serbo-Croatian | English | Digits | Serbo-Croatian (1) | Serbo-Croatian (2) | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | nula | zero | 10 | deset | ten | 20 | dvadeset (two <times> ten) | twenty | 200 | dv(j)esta / dv(j)esto | dvije stotine / dve stotine | two hundred |
| 1 | jèdan | one | 11 | jedanaest | eleven | 30 | trideset | thirty | 300 | tristo | tri stotine | three hundred |
| 2 | dvȃ | two | 12 | dvanaest | twelve | 40 | četrdeset | forty | 400 | četiristo | četiri stotine | four hundred |
| 3 | trȋ | three | 13 | trinaest | thirteen | 50 | pedeset | fifty | 500 | petsto | pet stotina | five hundred |
| 4 | čètiri | four | 14 | četrnaest | fourteen | 60 | šezdeset | sixty | 600 | šeststo | šest stotina | six hundred |
| 5 | pȇt | five | 15 | petnaest (same pattern as above) | fifteen | 70 | sedamdeset | seventy | 700 | sedamsto | sedam stotina | seven hundred |
| 6 | šȇst | six | 16 | šesnaest (same pattern as above) | sixteen | 80 | osamdeset | eighty | 800 | osamsto | osam stotina | eight hundred |
| 7 | sȅdam | seven | 17 | sedamnaest (same pattern as above) | seventeen | 90 | devedeset | ninety | 900 | devetsto | devet stotina | nine hundred |
| 8 | ȍsam | eight | 18 | osamnaest (same pattern as above) | eighteen | 100 | sto | hundred | 1000 | tisuća /hiljada | — | thousand |
| 9 | dȅvet | nine | 19 | devetnaest (same pattern as above) | nineteen |
Like those of other Slavic languages, Serbo-Croatian verbs have a property ofaspect: theperfective and theimperfective. Perfective indicates an action that is completed or sudden, while the imperfective denotes continuous, repeated, or habitual action. Aspect compensates for a relative lack of tenses compared with e.g. Germanic or Romance languages: the verb already contains the information whether the action is completed or lasting, so there is no general distinction between continuous and perfect tenses.
Slavic verbs in general are characterized by a relatively low number of stems, from which a wide variety of meanings is achieved by prefixation.
Theindicative has seven tenses:present,past,futures I and II,pluperfect, aorist and imperfect. The last two are not used often in daily speech(more often in Bosnia and Herzegovina than in Croatia and Serbia)[citation needed], especially the imperfect. The imperfect is considered archaic in speech and appears only in certain expressions like "Kako sezvaše" ("What was it called"). The aorist is often used to indicate that something has just now happened, for example "Ispadoše mi ključevi" ("My keys fell down").Its frequency depends on the speaker and the region. Southern Serbian and Montenegrin regions use it quite often whereas people in Belgrade use it only sometimes. Some regions may also use it referring to a remote event.[citation needed] The aorist form of the verb "otići" ("to go away") is often used to refer to an immediate future, for example "Odoh na spavanje" ("I'm going to sleep"). Like the present, the aorist and imperfect are formed through inflection, and the other tenses areperiphrastic:
Future tense can also be formed with (reduced) present ofhteti plus the conjunctionda and the present of the main verb, e.g.ćeš da kuvaš in Serbian, but this form is incorrect in Croatian. Also, whereas in Croatian it would beradit ćemo, in Serbian thet can be omitted and the verbs merged intoradićemo.
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Aorist forms
The aorist form depends on the verb's infinitive root (the form without-ti, may be different from the present root). Case where the root ends in a vowel:
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | pomisli-h | pomisli-smo |
| 2nd | pomisli-Ø | pomisli-ste |
| 3rd | pomisli-Ø | pomisli-še |
The infinitive root may not be obvious from the infinitive if it ends in a consonant, because the root ending interacted with thet of-ti during the language's development. These were the sound changes:
| Starting combination | Result |
|---|---|
| z+t | st |
| t+t | st |
| d+t | st |
| k+t | ć |
| g+t | ć |
This is the source of infinitives with-ći instead of-ti (except ići). Roots of these kinds should then technically be known by heart, but they happen to be equal to the present root forms. An alternate aorist form is used with these verbs: an-o- is infixed in some cases, and-e is used in 2nd/3rd sg.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | pad-o-h | pad-o-smo |
| 2nd | pad-e | pad-o-ste |
| 3rd | pad-e | pad-o-še |
Before the front vowele, the velarsk andg regularly turn intoč andž respectively.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | stig-o-h | stig-o-smo |
| 2nd | stiž-e | stig-o-ste |
| 3rd | stiž-e | stig-o-še |
A verb with an irregular inf. root ending in a consonant. Correspondingly, the 2nd aorist form described is used:
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | dad-o-h | dad-o-smo |
| 2nd | dad-e | dad-o-ste |
| 3rd | dad-e | dad-o-še |
The use of this apparently extraneous (when compared to the infinitive)d has spread to other verbs, most notably verbs on-stati andznati.
Exemplarypostati (to become):
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | posta-h | posta-smo |
| 2nd | posta-Ø | posta-ste |
| 3rd | posta-Ø | posta-še |
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | posta-d-o-h | posta-d-o-smo |
| 2nd | posta-d-e | posta-d-o-ste |
| 3rd | posta-d-e | posta-d-o-še |
How to use the aorist?
It is used only with verbs of the perfective aspect
1: For actions that have just now happened, right before you talk about it (often with an emotional nuance):
Examples:
"Ujede me komarac" ("A mosquito bit me")
"Ode mi autobus" ("I missed the bus/The bus went away")
"Baš sadhtedoh da te nazovem" ("I just wanted to call you")
"Uništiše mi ovi moljci košulju" ("These moths destroyed my shirt")
"Pomislih na tebe" ("I have just thought about you")
2: One time actions that happened at some point in the past. This meaning of the aorist appears often in storytelling
"Bio sam u kući, kad neki ljudizakucaše na vrata.Ustadoh da vidim ko je" ("I was at home when someone knocked at the door. I got up to see who it is")
3: Actions that are just about to happen. Limited to certain verbs
"Odoh sad u školu" ("I'm going to school now")
"Pomresmo od gladi" ("We are starving")
Besides theindicative, Serbo-Croatian uses theimperative,conditional, and theoptative. Imperative forms vary according to the type of the verb, and are formed by adding the appropriate morpheme to a verbal stem. The conditional I (present) uses theaorist ofbiti plus perfect participle, while conditional II (past) consists of the perfect participle ofbiti, the aorist of the same verb, and the perfect participle of the main verb. Some grammars classify future II as a conditional tense, or even a mood of its own.
Optative is in its form identical to the perfect participle. It is used by speakers to express a strong wish, e.g.Živio predsjednik! 'Long live the president!',Dabogda ti se sjeme zatrlo! 'May God let your seed destroyed' (an archaic and dialectal curse), etc. The optative may be translated into English by an imperative construction, with set phrases (such as the already exemplified 'long live'), or by use of the modal verbmay.
Some authors[who?] suggest existence ofsubjunctive mood, realized asda plus the present of indicative, but most grammars treat it as present indicative.
Verbalaspect is distinguished in English by using the simple orprogressive (continuous) forms. 'He washed the dishes' indicates that the action was finished; 'He was washing the dishes' indicates that the action was ongoing (progressive). Serbo-Croatian, like all Slavic languages, has the aspect built into the verbs, rather than expressing it with different tenses.
To compare the meanings of the different aspects with verbal aspect in English, one should know three basic aspects: completed (may be called preterite, aorist, or perfect according to the language in question), progressive (on-going but not completed yet, durative), and iterative (habitual or repeated). English uses one aspect for completed and iterative and another for progressive. Serbo-Croatian uses one for completed and another for iterative and progressive.
Aspect is the most challenging part of Serbo-Croatian grammar. Although aspect exists in all other Slavic languages, learners of Serbo-Croatian who already know even one of several other Slavic languages may never learn to use aspect correctly, though they will be understood with only rare problems. While there are bi-aspectual verbs as well, primarily those derived by adding the suffix-irati or-ovati, the majority of verbs not derived in such a manner are either perfective (svršeni) or imperfective (nesvršeni). Almost all of the single aspectual verbs are part of a perfective–imperfective pair of verbs. When learning a verb, one must learn its verbal aspect, and the other verb for the opposite verbal aspect, e.g.prati 'to do washing' (imperfective) goes withoprati 'to wash' (perfective). The pairing, however, is not always one to one: some verbs simply don't have a counterpart on a semantic level, such asizgledati 'seem' orsadržati 'contain'. In others, there are several perfective alternatives with slightly different meanings.
There are two paradigms concerning formation of verb pairs. In one paradigm, the base verb is imperfective, such asprati 'to wash'. In this case the perfective is formed by adding aprefix, in this caseo, as inoprati. In the other paradigm, the root verb is perfective, and the imperfective is formed either by modifying the root:dignuti→dizati 'to lift', or adding aninterfix:stati→stajati 'to stop', 'to stand'.
A pattern which often arises can be illustrated withpisati 'to write'.Pisati is imperfective, so a prefix is needed to make it perfective, in this casena-:napisati. But if other prefixes are added, modifying the meaning, the verb becomes perfective:zapisati 'to write down' orprepisati 'to copy by hand'. Since these basic verbs are perfective, an interfix is needed to make them imperfective:zapisivati andprepisivati. In some cases, this could be continued by adding a prefix:pozapisivati andisprepisivati which are again perfective.
There are threeconjugations of verbs:
| Person | čitati | prati (irregular) | vidjeti (-jeti or -iti) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| First person | čitam | čitamo | perem | peremo | vidim | vidimo |
| Second person | čitaš | čitate | pereš | perete | vidiš | vidite |
| Third person | čita | čitaju | pere | peru | vidi | vide |
As in most other Indo-European languages including English, theIndo-European copula ('to be') is used as an auxiliary verb. It is universally irregular, because conjugations of twoproto-forms*h1es- (>Englishis) and*bʰuH- (>Englishbe) merged, producing mixed paradigms: the former being used in the present, and the latter in the other tenses. In Serbo-Croatian, however, there are two present forms surviving:jesam ('I am') andbudem ('I be'). Because of that dualism, some grammars (chiefly Serbian ones) treatjesam as adefective verb having only present tense. Others treat these forms as two realizations of the same irregular verbbiti,jesam being imperfective andbudem perfective.[7]
Jesam has the following conjugation in the present tense. It has long andclitic (short) forms (without leadingje), while its negative form is written as one word, unlike other verbs (compare Englishis–isn't). The short and the negative forms are used as auxiliary, while the long form ismarked.[7]
| Pronoun | Present | Present (negative forms) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long (stressed) form | Short (unstressed) form | ||
| jа (I) | jesam | sam | nisam |
| ti (you) | jesi | si | nisi |
| on, ona, ono (he, she, it) | jest(e) | je | nije |
| mi (we) | jesmo | smo | nismo |
| vi (you pl.) | jeste | ste | niste |
| oni, one, ona (they) | jesu | su | nisu |
Thecopulative use of the verbјеsam matches that of the verb 'to be' in English (e.g. Heis a student – Onје učenik), of course, in the present tense only. The 'true' forms present of the verbbiti, (budem) have a limited use (in formation of the future exact tense, or inconditional clauses referring to the future, e.g.ako budem –if I am).[7]
Verbbiti is conjugated as follows:
| Pronoun | Present | Future | Past tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | perfect | aorist | imperfect | pluperfect | ||
| jа (I) | budem | ću biti / biću / bit ću | budem bio/bila | sam bio/bila; bio/bila sam | bih | bijah / bejah / beh | bio/bila sam bio/bila |
| ti (you) | budeš | ćeš biti / bićeš / bit ćeš | budeš bio/bila | si bio/bila; bio/bila si | bi | bijaše / bejaše / beše | bio/bila si bio/bila |
| on, ona, ono (he, she, it) | bude | će biti / biće / bit će | bude bio/bila/bilo | je bio/bila/bilo; bio/bila/bilo je | bi | bijaše / bejaše / beše | bio/bila/bilo je bio/bila/bilo |
| mi (we) | budemo | ćemo biti / bićemo / bit ćemo | budemo bili/bile | smo bili/bile; bili/bile smo | bismo | bijasmo / bejasmo / besmo | bili/bile smo bili/bile |
| vi (you pl.) | budete | ćete biti / bićete / bit ćete | budete bili/bile | ste bili/bile; bili/bile ste | biste / beste | biјaste / bejaste / beste | bili/bile ste bili/bile |
| oni, one, ona (they) | budu | će biti / biće / bit će | budu bili/bile | su bili/bile/bila; bili/bile/bila su | bi / biše | biјahu / bejahu / behu | bili/bile/bila su bili/bile/bila |
The conjugation system ofregular verbs is rather complex. There are several classes of verbs distinguished according to certain features verbs within a class share.
The verb israditi (To work)
| Pronoun | Present | Future | Past tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | perfect | aorist | imperfect | pluperfect | ||
| ja (I) | radim | ću raditi | budem radio/la | sam radio/la; radio/la sam | radih | rad+jah>rađah | bio/la sam radio/la |
| ti (you) | radiš | ćeš raditi | budeš radio/la | si radio/la; radio/la si | radi | rad+jaše>rađaše | bio/la si radio/la |
| on, ona, ono (he, she, it) | radi | će raditi | bude radio/la/lo | je radio/la/lo; radio/la/lo je | radi | rad+jaše>rađaše | bio/la/lo je radio/la/lo |
| mi (we) | radimo | ćemo raditi | budemo radili/le | smo radili/le; radili/le smo | radismo | rad+jasmo>rađasmo | bili/le smo radili/le |
| vi (you pl.) | radite | ćete raditi | budete radili/le | ste radili/le; radili/le ste | radiste | rad+jaste>rađaste | bili/le ste radili/le |
| oni, one, ona (they) | rade | će raditi | budu radili/le/la | su radili/radile/radila; radili/le/la su | radiše | rad+jahu>rađahu | bili/le/la su radili/le/la |
| Pronoun | Present | Future | Past tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | perfect | aorist | imperfect | pluperfect | ||
| ja (I) | vidim | ću videti | budem video/la | video/la sam | videh | viđah | bio/la sam video/la |
| ti (you) | vidiš | ćeš videti | budeš video/la | video/la si | vide | viđaše | bio/la si video/la |
| on, ona, ono (he, she, it) | vidi | će videti | bude video/la/lo | video/la/lo je | vide | viđaše | bio/la/lo je video/la/lo |
| mi (we) | vidimo | ćemo videti | budemo videli/le | videli/le smo | videsmo | viđasmo | bili/le smo videli/le |
| vi (you pl.) | vidite | ćete videti | budete videli/le | videli/le ste | videste | viđaste | bili/le ste videli/le |
| oni, one, ona (they) | vide | će videti | budu videli/le/la | videli/le/la su | videše | viđahu | bili/le/la su videli/le/la |
| Pronoun | Present | Future | Past tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | perfect | aorist | imperfect | pluperfect | ||
| ja (I) | reknem | ću reći | budem rekao/la | rekao/la sam | rekoh | / | bio/la sam rekao/la |
| ti (you) | rekneš | ćeš reći | budeš rekao/la | rekao/la si | reče | / | bio/la si rekao/la |
| on, ona, ono (he, she, it) | rekne | će reći | bude rekao/la/lo | rekao/la/lo je | reče | / | bio/la/lo je rekao/la/lo |
| mi (we) | reknemo | ćemo reći | budemo rekli/le | rekli/le smo | rekosmo | / | bili/le smo rekli/le |
| vi (you pl.) | reknete | ćete reći | budete rekli/le | rekli/le ste | rekoste | / | bili/le ste rekli/le |
| oni, one, ona (they) | reknu | će reći | budu rekli/le/la | rekli/le/la su | rekoše | / | bili/le/la su rekli/le/la |
The present tense of "reći" is rare. It's replaced by the present tense of the verb "kazati". "Reći" is a verb of the perfective aspect and hence it doesn't have the imperfect tense.
Irregular verbs are more complex to conjugate than regular verbs, for example the verbmoći (can, to be able to)
| Pronoun | Present | Future | Past tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | perfect | aorist | imperfect | pluperfect | ||
| ja (I) | mogu | ću moći | budem mogao/la | sam mogao/la; mogao/la sam | mogoh | mogah | bio/la sam mogao/la |
| ti (you) | možeš | ćeš moći | budeš mogao/la | si mogao/la; mogao/la si | može | mogaše | bio/la si mogao/la |
| on, ona, ono (he, she, it) | može | će moći | bude mogao/la/lo | je mogao/la/lo; mogao/la/lo je | može | mogaše | bio/la/lo je mogao/la/lo |
| mi (we) | možemo | ćemo moći | budemo mogli/le | smo mogli/le; mogli/le smo | mogosmo | mogasmo | bili/le smo mogli/le |
| vi (you pl.) | možete | ćete moći | budete mogli/le | ste mogli/le; mogli/le ste | mogoste | mogaste | bili/le ste mogli/le |
| oni, one, ona (they) | mogu | će moći | budu mogli/le/la | su mogli/mogle/mogla; mogli/le/la su | mogoše | mogahu | bili/le/la su mogli/le/la |
This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(August 2017) |
Adverbs in Serbo-Croatian are, unlike nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns and numbers, and like prepositions, conjunctions, exclamations and particles, immutable words. Adverbs are, thus, immutable words given to verbs to determine the time, place, manner, cause, point and the amount of the action of the verb. There are seven types of adverbs in Serbo-Croatian:
Place adverbs (Serbo-Croatian:mjesni prilozi) answer the questions where? (gdje?), to where? (kamo?), which way? (kuda?), from where? (otkuda?, odakle?) and to where? (dokle?, dokud?).[8] Examples for each type are:
Temporal adverbs, orvremenski prilozi, answer the questions when? (kada?), from when? (otkad?), until when? (dokad?). Examples are:kada (when) – sada (now), tada (then), nikada (never), ponekad (sometimes), uvijek (always), jučer (yesterday), danas (today), sutra (tomorrow), prekosutra (the day after tomorrow), lani (last year), večeras (tonight), odmah/smjesta (now/at once), zatim (then), uskoro (soon), napokon (at last);otkad (from when) – odsad (from now on), oduvijek (from always – oduvijek sam te volio – I have (from) always loved you);dokad (until when) – dosad (until now), dogodine (next year).
Each preposition has an assigned case. If an inflectable word follows a preposition, the word is declined in the same case as the preposition's assigned case.
Genitive prepositions:
Dative prepositions:
Accusative prepositions:
Locative prepositions:
Instrumental prepositions:
Some prepositions fall in two or more cases. The ones that fall in both the accusative and locative cases, the preposition is accusative if it is dynamic and is locative if it is static. Dynamic means that the preposition shows motion while static does not.
Examples:
This section is empty. You can help byadding to it.(January 2011) |
Serbo-Croatian has a rich case structure that is reflected in the declension of nouns and adjectives. That allows for a great deal of freedom inword order. In English, for example, the word order shows a difference in meaning between "Man bites dog" and "Dog bites man". In Serbo-Croatian,Čovjek grize psa andČovjeka grize pas have the same word order, but the meanings are shown by the noun endings. Any order of the three constituents is grammatically correct, and the meaning is clear because of the declensions. However, the usual order is subject–verb–object, as in English.
Serbo-Croatian closely observesWackernagel's Law thatclitics (unstressed functional words) are placed in the second position in allclauses. The first element may be a single word or anoun phrase:Tajje čovjek rekao 'That man (has) said', orTaj čovjekje rekao. Multiple clitics are grouped in the following fixed order:
Relative clauses are frequent in modern Serbo-Croatian since they have expanded asattributes at the expense of theparticiples performing that function.[10]
upravo
just
Znam pacijenta koji je upravo ušao.
know:PRS.1SG patient:ACC.MSG which:NOM.MSG be:AUX.3SG just come_in:AP.MSG
'I know the patient who has just come in.'

The most frequentrelativizer is therelative pronounkoji. It has the greatest range ofantecedents, which, however, are mostly nouns or personal pronouns. Nouns are the word class with attributes, and the relative clause is most frequently an attributive clause. The frequency of theadjectival pronounkoji is greater than those relative pronouns that cannot have an antecedent noun (tko ʻwhoʼ and the declinable type ofšto 'what'). Also, it occurs much more frequently than other adjectival relative pronouns: in comparison with their specialized semantic functions such aspossessiveness (čiji 'whose'), quality (kakav 'what sort of') or quantity (koliki 'how large'), the pronounkoji has the broadest scope ofreference and identification with thereferent.