Serbian Present Tense
Serbian present-tense endings are among the friendliest in the Slavic family: one set of personal endings, three theme vowels, no stress gymnastics. And because the ending announces the person, pronouns usually stay home.
One Set of Endings
Every Serbian verb, whatever its class, uses these person markers:
| Person | Ending | говорити → |
|---|---|---|
| ја | -м | говорим |
| ти | -ш | говориш |
| он / она | — | говори |
| ми | -мо | говоримо |
| ви | -те | говорите |
| они | -е / -у / -ју | говоре |
First person singular in -м is your anchor: имам (I have), знам (I know), радим (I work), говорим (I speak).
The Three Vowel Classes
Verbs differ only in the vowel before those endings — а, и, or е:
| Person | имати (have) — а | говорити (speak) — и | писати (write) — е |
|---|---|---|---|
| ја | имам | говорим | пишем |
| ти | имаш | говориш | пишеш |
| он/она | има | говори | пише |
| ми | имамо | говоримо | пишемо |
| ви | имате | говорите | пишете |
| они | имају | говоре | пишу |
Note писати's stem change (пис- → пиш-) — е-class verbs often shift a consonant, but once you know the ја form, the rest of the row follows mechanically.
Радим у Београду, али живим у Земуну.
I work in Belgrade, but I live in Zemun.
Note: Latin: Radim u Beogradu, ali živim u Zemunu. Two и-class verbs, no pronoun in sight.
Шта пијеш? Ја пијем кафу.
What are you drinking? I'm drinking coffee.
Note: Latin: Šta piješ? Ja pijem kafu. Serbian has one present tense — it covers both 'drink' and 'am drinking'.
Negating Verbs
Place не directly before the verb — always separate, except for the three fused verbs:
| Cyrillic | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| Не радим данас. | Ne radim danas. | I'm not working today. |
| Она не говори немачки. | Ona ne govori nemački. | She doesn't speak German. |
| нисам / немам / нећу | nisam / nemam / neću | I'm not / I don't have / I won't (fused) |
Да + Present: Serbian's Signature
Where English chains an infinitive — I want to learn — Serbian prefers да + present tense:
| Cyrillic | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|
| Хоћу да учим српски. | Hoću da učim srpski. | I want to learn Serbian. |
| Морам да радим. | Moram da radim. | I have to work. |
| Волим да читам. | Volim da čitam. | I love to read. |
| Могу да дођем сутра. | Mogu da dođem sutra. | I can come tomorrow. |
Both verbs conjugate: хоћу да учим is literally "I-want that I-learn". Serbian does have an infinitive (учити), and you'll meet it — but да + present dominates everyday speech, and choosing it is one of the clearest markers of Serbian as opposed to Croatian, which prefers želim učiti.
Хоћу да научим српски за годину дана.
I want to learn Serbian within a year.
Note: Latin: Hoću da naučim srpski za godinu dana. Both verbs carry the ја ending — 'I-want that I-learn'.
Hear the endings do their work — tap the speakers:
💬 Making evening plans
Шта радиш вечерас?
What are you doing tonight?
Ништа посебно. Зашто питаш?
Nothing special. Why do you ask?
Хоћеш да гледамо утакмицу код мене?
Do you want to watch the match at my place?
Може! Долазим око осам.
Sure! I'm coming around eight.
Common Mistakes
- Adding pronouns to every sentence. Ја радим, ја живим, ја говорим sounds like a robot. The -м already says "I" — drop ја unless you're contrasting.
- Using the infinitive after хоћу. English pulls you toward хоћу учити; everyday Serbian says хоћу да учим — and the second verb conjugates too: хоћеш да учиш, хоће да учи.
- Trusting the infinitive to predict the present. Писати gives пишем, not писам. Always learn the pair: infinitive + ја form.
- Translating "I am working" with бити. There's no ја сам радим — Serbian's one present tense does it all: радим.
- Forgetting они varies. They-forms end differently by class: имају, говоре, пишу. Learn each verb's они form with its row.
What You Can Do Now
You can say what you do, where you live and work, what you want, must, and love to do — and ask a friend the same. With Шта радиш? and Хоћу да… you can make actual plans in Serbian. Verbs of motion are next, and they build directly on these endings.