A secondary imperfective reopens an event that a perfective verb has already lexicalized. It makes that derived event available as an unfolding process, habit, or repeated series while retaining the prefix’s result, direction, or participant structure. Thus преписивати still means copy, not generic write, and записивати still means record or write down.
This page is about choosing these verbs in context. The suffixes and stem changes used to form them are covered on Forming Aspect Pairs: Suffixation; reproducing those charts here would obscure the more important usage question.
Three Members, Three Jobs
A derivational triplet often contains a simple imperfective, a prefixed perfective, and a secondary imperfective. The last two share the derived lexical event most closely.
| Family | Basic activity | Bounded derived event | Reopened derived event |
|---|---|---|---|
| писати — преписати — преписивати | write | copy once/to completion | be copying; copy repeatedly |
| писати — записати — записивати | write | record one item | be recording; record habitually |
| писати — потписати — потписивати | write | sign once | be signing; sign repeatedly |
| градити — изградити — изграђивати | build | build up or develop to a result | be building up/developing |
Compare one copying event:
Марта је преписала бројеве из старе табеле у нови образац.
Marta copied the numbers from the old table into the new form.
Док је Марта преписивала бројеве, колега је проверавао збир.
While Marta was copying the numbers, her colleague checked the total.
Perfective преписала је presents the transfer as complete. Secondary imperfective преписивала је enters that same copying event while it unfolds. Simple писала је would merely say that she was writing and would lose the source-to-copy relation.
Process: Looking Inside the Derived Event
Secondary imperfectives can describe one derived event in progress at a reference time.
Директорка сада потписује последњи уговор; сачекајте испред канцеларије.
The director is signing the final contract now; please wait outside the office.
Када сам ушао, Ана је записивала адресу на полеђини коверте.
When I came in, Ana was writing the address down on the back of the envelope. (male speaker)
The object may be singular and bounded in the real world. Imperfective aspect is still possible because the speaker takes an internal view of the signing or recording process. Secondary imperfective does not mean slowly; it means the derived event is open from the chosen viewpoint.
Now close those events:
Директорка је потписала последњи уговор и позвала следећег клијента.
The director signed the final contract and called in the next client.
Ана је записала адресу и вратила ми оловку.
Ana wrote the address down and returned my pen.
The lexical meanings remain signing and recording. Only viewpoint changes.
Repeated Bounded Occurrences as One Pattern
A secondary imperfective can group many potentially complete events into a larger habit, routine, or series. This is one of its central functions.
Секретар сваког петка потписује налоге за следећу недељу.
Every Friday the secretary signs the orders for the following week.
Током интервјуа новинарка је записивала сваку важну бројку.
During the interview the journalist wrote down every important figure.
Each order may receive a complete signature and each number may be fully recorded. The imperfective views the recurring series from inside as a practice rather than counting individual endpoints.
A distributive expression can instead foreground each bounded token with perfective:
Новинарка је записала по једну кључну реч за свако питање.
The journalist wrote down one key word for each question.
The phrase по једну distributes separate completed recording events. Repetition itself does not mechanically require imperfective; the question is whether the discourse profiles the recurring pattern or each bounded occurrence.
Simple and Secondary Imperfectives Are Not Freely Interchangeable
Consider writing during a meeting:
Писала је поруку колеги док је чекала почетак састанка.
She was writing a message to a colleague while waiting for the meeting to begin.
Записивала је закључке док су чланови одбора гласали.
She was recording the conclusions while the board members voted.
Both verbs are imperfective, but only записивала entails putting information on record. Replacing it with писала produces a broader claim and can obscure the institutional purpose.
The same applies to development:
Градили су кућу на ободу села.
They were building a house on the edge of the village.
Годинама су изграђивали мрежу локалних добављача.
For years they built up a network of local suppliers.
Изграђивати preserves a build-up or development result and is especially natural with systems, institutions, capacity, trust, and infrastructure. With a literal building, градити is often the neutral everyday choice, although actual lexical overlap can occur. Frequency and collocation matter as much as theoretical possibility.
Why писати — написати — написивати Is Not a Neutral Modern Triplet
Simple писати is the unmarked verb for engaging in writing and for writing habits. Perfective написати presents a completed written product. The apparent third member написивати needs a historical and dictionary warning: a larger Matica srpska dictionary records it with the label застарело (dated), while some contemporary descriptions state that modern писати — написати has no ordinary third member. Do not generate or recommend написивати as the neutral modern verb for repeated completed texts.
Сваке вечери пишем неколико редова у дневник.
Every evening I write a few lines in my journal.
За локални лист је писао кратке осврте на нове књиге.
He used to write short reviews of new books for the local paper.
Both are ordinary modern writing routines. If a text uses dated написивати, context may support an iterative reading involving produced texts, but learners should recognize it rather than adopt it as their default. For a productive secondary imperfective with this root, compare записати — записивати, преписати — преписивати, or потписати — потписивати.
Прочитавати has a different status: it is an attested secondary imperfective of прочитати, but it is marked by distribution and context. Plain читати remains normal for everyday reading activity.
На семинару студенти прочитавају по један роман недељно и предају кратак осврт.
In the seminar, students read one novel through each week and submit a short review.
The form is appropriate in this structured, distributive (academic) context. In casual speech about reading before bed, читати is the natural choice.
Instructions and Procedures
Procedural language often uses secondary imperfectives because it describes recurring steps rather than one command.
Током обуке записујте датум сваке провере у електронски образац.
During training, record the date of each inspection in the electronic form. (plural/polite instruction)
Не потписујте документе док не проверите број предмета.
Do not sign documents until you check the case number. (plural/polite instruction)
The imperfective imperatives establish ongoing or repeated procedure. A perfective command would target one bounded result:
Потпишите овај примерак на последњој страни.
Sign this copy on the last page. (plural/polite command)
A Dialogue Where the Bare Root Fails
— Шта радиш са старим уговорима? — Преписујем датуме у нову евиденцију. — Значи, не пишеш нове уговоре? — Не, само преносим податке.
— What are you doing with the old contracts? — I’m copying the dates into the new register. — So you’re not writing new contracts? — No, I’m only transferring data.
Only преписујем identifies the source-based transfer. Generic пишем would not answer the contrast clearly.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Preserve the Prefix
Choose between писати, записивати, and преписивати for writing an original email, recording measurements, and copying an address.
Пишем имејл клијенту. — Записујем резултате мерења. — Преписујем адресу са рачуна.
I am writing an email to a client. — I am recording the measurements. — I am copying the address from the bill.
Task 2: Pattern or Individual Endpoint?
Describe a weekly signing routine, then one completed signature today.
Сваког понедељка потписује путне налоге. — Данас је потписао последњи налог у девет сати.
Every Monday he signs travel orders. — Today he signed the final order at nine.
Common Mistakes
Treating the secondary imperfective as a slower action
❌ Преписивати значи преписати нешто веома споро.
Incorrect—преписивати opens or repeats the copying event; it does not encode speed.
✅ Преписивала је бројеве брзо, али пажљиво.
She was copying the numbers quickly but carefully.
Replacing every simple imperfective
❌ Пред спавање увек прочитавам без одређеног циља.
Unnatural for the intended casual reading habit—прочитавати foregrounds repeated completion and lacks support here.
✅ Пред спавање увек читам без одређеног циља.
Before going to sleep, I always read without any particular goal.
Dropping the derived lexical meaning
❌ Потписивати и писати значе исто јер су оба несвршена.
Incorrect—потписивати means sign, not write generically.
✅ Док је директор потписивао уговор пред сведоцима, адвокат је читао завршну клаузулу.
While the director was signing the contract before witnesses, the lawyer was reading the final clause.
Assuming repetition always blocks perfective
❌ Уз израз по један мора увек да стоји несвршени глагол.
Incorrect—по један can distribute separate bounded perfective events.
✅ Сваког дана је записао по једну нову идеју.
Every day he wrote down one new idea.
Key Takeaways
- Secondary imperfectives reopen a derived event without deleting its prefix meaning.
- They express an ongoing derived process, a habit, or a series of repeated events.
- Simple and secondary imperfectives may overlap, but they differ in lexical content, collocation, and frequency.
- A plausible-looking third member is not automatically a neutral modern word: написивати is dated/disputed, whereas прочитавати is attested but context-sensitive.
- Formation belongs in suffix charts; usage depends on retained meaning, endpoint, discourse viewpoint, and register.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Forming Aspect Pairs: Suffixation and Secondary ImperfectivesB2 — Building imperfectives from perfectives with -ava-/-iva-/-ja-.
- Forming Aspect Pairs: PrefixationB1 — How perfectives are built by adding a prefix.
- Aspectual Pairs versus Related VerbsB1 — A focused guide to aspectual pairs versus related verbs in Serbian.
- Habituality, Iteration, and AspectB1 — A focused guide to habituality, iteration, and aspect in Serbian.
- Learning Aspect from DictionariesA2 — A focused guide to learning aspect from dictionaries in Serbian.
- Aspect and QuantificationC1 — Advanced coverage of aspect and quantification in Serbian.