Ко другоме јаму копа, сам у њу пада warns that a scheme intended to harm someone else may rebound on the schemer. The image is concrete, but the grammar is compact and sophisticated: a free relative clause supplies a generic person, другоме marks the affected other in the dative, сам emphatically points back to the schemer, and у њу uses the accusative because the motion ends inside the pit.
The complete proverb
Ко другоме јаму копа, сам у њу пада.
Whoever digs a pit for someone else falls into it himself; what goes around comes around.
The first English rendering preserves the image. “What goes around comes around” is often the best pragmatic equivalent, although it is broader: the Serbian proverb specifically evokes malicious planning that brings about the planner’s own downfall.
Line-by-line annotation
Ко другоме јаму копа, сам у њу пада.
| Part | Form | Role |
|---|---|---|
| ко | nominative free-relative pronoun | “whoever”; subject of копа |
| другоме | dative singular of substantivized други | “for another person / to another’s detriment” |
| јаму | accusative singular of јама | direct object of копа |
| копа | 3rd-person singular present, imperfective | “digs / is digging” in a generic statement |
| сам | nominative masculine singular intensifier | “himself / that very person,” coreferential with ко |
| у њу | у
| motion into it; њу refers to јаму |
| пада | 3rd-person singular present, imperfective | generic recurring consequence: “falls” |
The relation between the clauses can be expanded as Онај ко другоме јаму копа, тај и сам у њу пада “The person who digs a pit for another is the very person who falls into it.” The proverb omits both correlates онај and тај, leaving a more forceful two-part line.
Ко means “whoever”
In a question, ко? means “who?” Here it introduces a free relative: ко другоме јаму копа means “whoever digs a pit for another.” The whole first clause identifies the generic participant who is understood again in the main clause.
Ко другима неправедно приписује кривицу, лако изгуби њихово поверење.
Whoever unfairly blames others can easily lose their trust.
Ко обећа помоћ, треба и да одржи реч.
Whoever promises help should keep their word too.
English normally adds whoever, anyone who, or a singular they. Serbian needs no noun meaning “person”: the ко clause itself fills that role. See ко and шта for their interrogative and relative uses.
Why другоме is dative
The adjective-pronoun други “other, second” is used substantivally here: другоме means “to/for another person.” The dative presents that person as the affected party or intended target of the pit-digging. English expresses this with for someone else, while Serbian can use a bare dative.
Не прави другоме проблем који ни сам не желиш.
Do not create a problem for someone else that you would not want yourself.
Помогла је другоме, иако њој нико није помогао.
She helped someone else, although no one helped her.
Both другоме and the shorter другом are standard dative singular forms in appropriate contexts. The quoted headword uses другоме; changing it when you claim to quote this version is unnecessary. The dative’s broader roles are covered under dative recipients and affected participants.
Сам points the consequence back
The word сам is not the first-person verb “I am” here. It is a masculine singular intensifier meaning “himself” or “that person personally.” It agrees with the generic human referent introduced by ко and creates the proverb’s reversal: the plotter does not merely cause a fall; he himself falls.
Хтео је да искључи конкурента, а на крају је сам изгубио место.
He wanted to exclude his rival, but in the end he himself lost his position.
Она је сама признала да је погрешила.
She herself admitted that she had made a mistake.
With a feminine referent the intensifier would be сама, and with a plural referent сами/саме. The proverb keeps masculine singular сам because generic ко conventionally controls singular masculine agreement when no specific woman or group is named. This is grammatical generic agreement, not a claim that the warning concerns only men.
У њу: destination, not location
The feminine pronoun њу refers back to јаму. After у, the accusative marks an endpoint of motion: someone falls into the pit. If the proverb described a person already located in the pit, Serbian would use locative у њој.
Лопта је упала у дубоку рупу.
The ball fell into a deep hole. (destination: accusative)
Лопта је остала у дубокој рупи.
The ball remained in a deep hole. (location: locative)
English distinguishes into from in; Serbian marks the contrast through both the prepositional meaning and the case. The complete contrast appears on motion and direction with the accusative.
Aspect and the generic present
Both копа and пада are imperfective presents. They do not report two actions happening before the speaker’s eyes. In a proverb, the present is generic: whenever someone engages in this kind of plotting, this is the characteristic consequence. Imperfective aspect presents копати as an unfolding scheme and падати as the recurrent outcome encoded by the maxim.
Кад год покушава да понизи колеге, на крају сам испадне непрофесионалан.
Whenever he tries to humiliate his colleagues, he ends up looking unprofessional himself.
The widespread variant сам у њу упада uses imperfective упадати, which makes entry into the pit more explicit. Forms with другом instead of другоме also circulate. The title version with пада is an established standard form; a learner should recognize the variants but not splice them together while claiming an exact quotation. Comparable pit-digging sayings occur in older and international traditions, so the line should be described as a proverb, not confidently assigned to a single modern author.
Discourse and register
The saying is neutral, recognizable, and often used in moral or ironic commentary. It can close a story whose ending already demonstrates reversal. Said directly to a person during a conflict, it can sound accusatory—almost a prediction that they deserve punishment.
Сакрио је важан документ да би осрамотио колегиницу, али је истрага открила његову поруку — ко другоме јаму копа, сам у њу пада.
He hid an important document to embarrass his colleague, but the investigation uncovered his message—what goes around comes around.
— Мислиш ли да му кажем ову пословицу? — Не сада; звучало би као претња, а не као савет.
— Do you think I should quote that proverb to him? — Not now; it would sound like a threat, not advice.
Reusing the passage
Task 1: expand the free relative
Add explicit correlates without changing the basic meaning.
Онај ко другоме јаму копа, тај и сам у њу пада.
The one who digs a pit for another is the one who falls into it himself.
The expanded form is useful for analysis, but the established proverb is shorter.
Task 2: switch destination to location
Replace the motion verb with a state verb and change у њу to у њој.
После пада, остао је у њој док није стигла помоћ.
After the fall, he remained in it until help arrived.
Task 3: paraphrase the lesson
Зло које припремаш другоме може на крају погодити тебе.
The harm you prepare for someone else may ultimately strike you.
This paraphrase gives the meaning without pretending to be the fixed quotation.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ко другог јаму копа, сам у њу пада.
Incorrect for the intended meaning—другог is accusative/genitive; the affected person in the proverb is dative другоме.
✅ У стандардној верзији стоји датив: „Ко другоме јаму копа, сам у њу пада.“
The standard version uses the dative: ‘Whoever digs a pit for another falls into it himself.’
❌ Ко другоме јаму копа, сам у њој пада.
Wrong case for direction—у њој means ‘in it’; falling into it requires accusative у њу.
✅ Пошто кретање завршава у јами, кажемо у њу.
Because the movement ends inside the pit, we say у њу.
❌ Ко другоме јаму копа, себе у њу пада.
Incorrect reflexive form—падати is intransitive, and the emphatic subject is сам, not object себе.
✅ Сам наглашава да последица погађа управо онога ко је копао.
Сам emphasizes that the consequence strikes the very person who was digging.
❌ Ко другоме јаму копа, неко други у њу пада.
This reverses the proverb’s point—the same schemer is the one who suffers the consequence.
✅ Смисао изреке је да се злонамеран план враћа ономе ко га је направио.
The saying means that a malicious plan rebounds on the person who made it.
Key Takeaways
- Ко… is a free relative meaning “whoever…” and identifies a generic person.
- Другоме is dative: the pit is maliciously prepared for someone else.
- Intensifier сам sends the consequence back to that same person.
- У њу is accusative because it marks motion into the pit; location would be у њој.
- Imperfective presents копа and пада state a recurring, timeless pattern rather than one event.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Interrogative Pronouns: ko, što, kojiA1 — Question pronouns 'who', 'what', 'which' and their cases.
- Dative: The Indirect ObjectA2 — The recipient/beneficiary role — 'to/for someone'.
- Accusative for Motion and DirectionA2 — Prepositions of destination that take the accusative.
- What the Imperfective MeansB1 — Process, repetition, duration, and general statements.
- Serbian ProverbsB2 — A collection of proverbs and their grammar.