Serbian often packages an action as a relatively general verb plus an action noun: донети одлуку “make a decision,” поставити питање “ask a question,” and пружити подршку “provide support.” The noun carries most of the lexical meaning, while the light verb contributes aspect, tense, agency, and a conventional way of viewing the event.
These combinations are usually transparent, but they are not freely assembled. English make, take, give, and have do not map onto one Serbian verb each. A combination may be grammatical word by word and still sound like a translation. Learn the verb, noun, aspect partner, and any following case frame as one unit.
The core combinations
| Collocation | Imperfective counterpart | Usual meaning |
|---|---|---|
| донети одлуку | доносити одлуке | make/reach a decision |
| поставити питање | постављати питања | ask/pose a question |
| предузети мере / кораке | предузимати мере / кораке | take measures/steps |
| пружити помоћ / подршку | пружати помоћ / подршку | provide help/support |
| поднети захтев / жалбу | подносити захтеве / жалбе | submit an application/appeal |
| преузети одговорност | преузимати одговорност | assume responsibility |
| нанети штету | наносити штету | cause damage |
| водити разговор / преговоре | — | conduct a conversation/negotiations |
После дуге расправе, одбор је донео једногласну одлуку о новом распореду.
After a long discussion, the committee made a unanimous decision about the new schedule.
Новинари су министарки поставили неколико питања о трошковима пројекта.
The journalists asked the minister several questions about the project's costs.
Општина је предузела хитне мере да би спречила даље загађење реке.
The municipality took urgent measures to prevent further pollution of the river.
The English verb changes across make a decision, ask a question, and take measures; Serbian changes too, but not along the same boundaries. Правити is perfectly natural in правити грешке and направити паузу, so the rule is not “never use правити.” The rule is that each noun selects its conventional partner.
Aspect belongs to the whole event
With many light-verb combinations, the verb supplies the aspectual contrast. Perfective донети одлуку presents a decision as reached; imperfective доносити одлуке presents a process, a repeated activity, or a general practice.
Директорка доноси важне одлуке тек пошто пажљиво размотри мишљење правне службе.
The director makes important decisions only after carefully considering the legal department's opinion.
Директорка је јутрос донела одлуку и одмах обавестила цео тим.
The director made the decision this morning and immediately informed the whole team.
The progressive English form does not automatically require imperfective, nor does English simple past automatically require perfective. What matters is whether the Serbian clause presents the event as unfolding/repeated or as reaching its boundary. The same contrast appears in подносити / поднети захтев, пружати / пружити помоћ, and предузимати / предузети кораке.
Сваког месеца подносимо извештај, а данас смо поднели и захтев за продужење рока.
Every month we submit a report, and today we also submitted a request to extend the deadline.
Some combinations lexicalize only one normal viewpoint. Водити преговоре is imperfective because it profiles negotiations in progress; their successful completion is more naturally expressed with another predicate such as завршити преговоре or постићи споразум.
Две стране већ недељама воде преговоре, али још нису постигле споразум.
The two sides have been conducting negotiations for weeks, but they have not yet reached an agreement.
The frame extends beyond verb and noun
The following complement is part of the collocation. Memorizing only обратити пажњу is incomplete: the full frame is обратити пажњу на + accusative. Likewise, learn донети одлуку о + locative, поднети жалбу на + accusative, пружити помоћ + dative, and вршити притисак на + accusative.
| Full frame | Example slot | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| обратити пажњу на + A | на рок | pay attention to the deadline |
| донети одлуку о + L | о жалби | decide on the appeal |
| поднети жалбу на + A | на решење | appeal the decision |
| пружити помоћ + D | повређеном путнику | help the injured passenger |
| извршити увид у + A | у документацију | inspect the documentation |
Молимо вас да обратите пажњу на нови рок за подношење пријава.
Please pay attention to the new application deadline.
Правна служба ће поднети жалбу на решење чим добије образложење.
The legal department will appeal the decision as soon as it receives the explanation.
Пролазници су повређеном бициклисти одмах пружили прву помоћ.
Passersby immediately gave first aid to the injured cyclist.
Coordination can expose hidden government. If two expressions require different prepositions, repeat what each one selects rather than forcing them into one shared phrase. The broader pattern is covered in coordination and government.
Register: compact verb or official-sounding phrase?
Light-verb expressions often belong to neutral professional Serbian, but some are characteristically (formal/administrative). Извршити проверу, вршити уплату, извршити анализу occur in regulations and official notices. In ordinary prose, проверити, уплатити, анализирати are usually shorter and livelier.
Пре слања извештаја извршена је додатна провера свих износа.
Before the report was sent, an additional check of all amounts was carried out. (formal)
Пре него што пошаљеш извештај, провери још једном све износе.
Before you send the report, check all the amounts once more.
Do not replace every simple verb with вршити + noun to sound formal. That can produce bureaucratic padding. Conversely, a noun phrase can be useful when the noun needs an adjective or classification: извршити независну проверу foregrounds the type of check, while независно проверити organizes the information differently.
Водити разговор profiles an exchange in progress; обавити разговор presents it as a bounded task, often an interview or necessary consultation. Neither is a universal translation of English have a conversation.
Са сваким кандидатом водили смо кратак разговор, а до подне смо обавили свих шест разговора.
We had a short conversation with each candidate, and by noon we had completed all six interviews.
A workplace dialogue
— Да ли смо донели одлуку о понуди? — Не још. Прво треба да извршимо проверу трошкова и поставимо добављачу још два питања. — У реду, ја ћу преузети одговорност за проверу, а ти му пошаљи питања.
— Have we made a decision about the offer? — Not yet. First we need to check the costs and ask the supplier two more questions. — All right, I'll take responsibility for the check, and you send him the questions.
The dialogue shows three different selections: a decision is донета, a check is извршена in formal project language, and questions are постављена. The dative clitic му marks the recipient of the questions.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Choose the conventional light verb
Комисија је донела одлуку, предузела мере и пружила подршку запосленима.
The committee made a decision, took measures, and provided support to the employees. Answer: донети + одлуку, предузети + мере, пружити + подршку.
Task 2: Complete the government frame
Обратите пажњу на услове, а жалбу на коначну одлуку поднесите правној служби.
Pay attention to the conditions, and submit any appeal against the final decision to the legal department. Answer: на + accusative after both обратити пажњу and жалба; правној служби is the dative recipient.
Common Mistakes
Translating English “make” mechanically
❌ Управни одбор је направио одлуку без расправе.
Incorrect collocation — Serbian normally uses донети одлуку, not правити одлуку.
✅ Управни одбор је донео одлуку без расправе.
The management board made the decision without discussion.
Combining питати with a direct cognate object
❌ Хтела бих да вас питам једно питање о уговору.
Non-idiomatic calque — either ask the person directly or use поставити питање.
✅ Хтела бих да вам поставим једно питање о уговору.
I would like to ask you a question about the contract.
Choosing the wrong aspect for a completed step
❌ Јуче смо доносили коначну одлуку и одмах је објавили.
Wrong viewpoint for the intended completed event — доносили presents an ongoing or repeated process.
✅ Јуче смо донели коначну одлуку и одмах је објавили.
Yesterday we made the final decision and announced it immediately.
Dropping the selected preposition
❌ Обратите пажњу рок који пише на другој страни.
Incorrect — обратити пажњу selects на + accusative.
✅ Обратите пажњу на рок који пише на другој страни.
Pay attention to the deadline shown on the second page.
Key Takeaways
- Light verbs are lexically selected: донети одлуку, поставити питање, предузети мере.
- The verb commonly carries aspect: доносити presents process or repetition; донети presents a reached result.
- Learn the entire government frame, including на + accusative, о + locative, or a dative recipient.
- Formal извршити/вршити + noun often has a clearer simple-verb alternative.
- A plausible English-based combination can be grammatical yet non-idiomatic Serbian.
Now practice Serbian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Fixed Prepositional PhrasesB2 — Frozen preposition+noun expressions.
- Intensifier and Degree CollocationsC1 — Which intensifier goes with which word.
- Verbs with Fixed PrepositionsB1 — Verb + preposition combinations and their cases.
- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Why nearly every verb comes in an imperfective/perfective pair.
- Case in Coordination and Shared GovernmentC1 — Advanced coverage of case in coordination and shared government in Serbian.
- Common IdiomsB2 — High-frequency Serbian idiomatic expressions.