čestitati (to congratulate) | Serbian Grammar

Честитати means “congratulate” or, with a conventional occasion, “wish someone a happy ….” Its central grammar is честитати некоме: the person receiving the congratulations is dative. The achievement can then appear as на + locative, while birthdays and major holidays are commonly direct accusative objects.

High-value forms

Честитати has a regular present in -ам. It is biaspectual: the same form can describe repeated congratulating or one bounded congratulatory act. Context supplies the viewpoint; there is no everyday aspect partner that must replace it.

Form	Serbian	Typical value
infinitive	честитати	to congratulate
present	честитам, честиташ, честита	I/you/he or she congratulate(s)
present plural	честитамо, честитате, честитају	we/you/they congratulate
past participle	честитао, честитала, честитали	congratulated
imperative	честитај, честитајмо, честитајте	congratulate!
Future I	честитаћу / ћу честитати	I will congratulate

The first-person present is also a performative: saying Честитам! performs the act, much like English Congratulations!.

Честитам, заслужила си ово унапређење!

Congratulations—you earned this promotion! (female addressee)

Сваке године честитамо комшијама славу.

Every year we wish our neighbors a happy patron-saint’s day.

The first example is a single bounded act; the second is habitual. That contrast demonstrates the verb’s two-aspect behavior. A rare or playful prefixed form such as почеститати is not the neutral perfective counterpart learners need.

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Learn честитати as biaspectual, then let time expressions and discourse show whether the act is repeated or completed. Do not invent a compulsory prefix merely because English uses one verb.

The recipient is dative

The person or group addressed is the recipient of good wishes, so Serbian marks that participant with dative. A noun appears as Ани, колеги, родитељима; an unstressed pronoun appears as ми, ти, му, јој, нам, вам, им.

Честитали смо Ани на новом послу.

We congratulated Ana on her new job.

Нисам ти још честитао рођендан — срећан рођендан!

I haven’t wished you a happy birthday yet—happy birthday! (male speaker)

English places the person directly after congratulate, but Serbian does not make that person an accusative object. Compare this with the broader pattern on verbs with the dative.

When the recipient is already clear, it can be omitted: Честитам на победи! is complete. With a pronoun, the dative clitic occupies the normal early clitic position.

Колеге су ми честитале чим сам ушла у канцеларију.

My colleagues congratulated me as soon as I entered the office. (female speaker)

After the first constituent Колеге, the cluster is су ми: the auxiliary clitic precedes the pronominal clitic. In Честитале су ми, the same internal order remains visible even though the cluster follows the participle.

Achievement: на + locative

Use на + locative for the basis or occasion of congratulations: an achievement, result, engagement, wedding, birth, award, or success. The noun after на is locative because this is not motion toward a destination.

Председница жирија честитала је добитницима на награди.

The jury chair congratulated the winners on the award.

Честитам вам на одлично организованој изложби.

I congratulate you on an excellently organized exhibition. (formal or plural addressee)

The pattern can combine both arguments: честитати + dative recipient + на + locative occasion. Do not translate English on mechanically in unrelated constructions; it belongs to this established frame.

Conventional occasions: bare accusative

For a birthday, New Year, Christmas, a family patron saint’s day, or another conventional greeting, Serbian often treats the occasion as the thing wished and places it directly in the accusative.

Честитала сам баки осамдесети рођендан.

I wished Grandma a happy eightieth birthday. (female speaker)

Желимо да вам честитамо Нову годину и пожелимо добро здравље.

We would like to wish you a happy New Year and good health.

Capitalization follows the name of the holiday: Нова година and Божић, but the common noun рођендан is lowercase. With an achievement, на + locative is usually clearer: честитати на дипломирању, not an English-shaped direct object meaning “congratulate graduation.”

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Use this compact map: person = dative; achievement = на + locative; birthday or named holiday = often bare accusative.

Clitics and the perfect

The recipient pronoun is an ordinary dative clitic. In a perfect-tense cluster, the auxiliary comes before it: смо му, су јој, сте им.

После утакмице смо им честитали на фер игри.

After the match, we congratulated them on their fair play.

Јесте ли јој већ честитали веридбу?

Have you already congratulated her on her engagement? (plural or formal addressee)

Because честитати is not a lexical se-verb, third-person је is retained: Она му је честитала, unlike a reflexive perfect such as Она му се јавила.

Micro-dialogue

— Чуо сам да си положила правосудни испит. Честитам ти! — Хвала, баш ми је лакнуло.

— I heard you passed the bar exam. Congratulations! — Thanks, I’m really relieved. (male then female speaker)

The exam can also be named explicitly: Честитам ти на положеном правосудном испиту. In conversation, once the achievement has been mentioned, the shorter performative is more natural.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Build the full frame

Congratulate your colleagues on a successful presentation. Use dative plural plus на + locative.

Честитам колегама на успешној презентацији.

I congratulate my colleagues on the successful presentation.

Task 2: Put the clitics in order

Say that you congratulated him yesterday, using the masculine singular perfect.

Јуче сам му честитао.

I congratulated him yesterday. (male speaker)

Common Mistakes

Making the recipient accusative

❌ Честитам тебе на победи.

Incorrect—the recipient of честитати is dative, not accusative.

✅ Честитам ти на победи.

Congratulations on your victory.

Using accusative after на for an achievement

❌ Честитамо вам на велики успех.

Incorrect—на naming the basis for congratulations governs locative here: великом успеху.

✅ Честитамо вам на великом успеху.

We congratulate you on your great success. (formal or plural addressee)

Copying the English preposition onto a birthday wish

❌ Честитам ти на рођендану!

Incorrect for the ordinary birthday greeting—the conventional occasion is normally a bare accusative object.

✅ Честитам ти рођендан!

Happy birthday!

Misordering the auxiliary and recipient clitic

❌ Колеге ми су честитале после састанка.

Incorrect—the perfect auxiliary precedes the dative pronoun in the clitic cluster: су ми.

✅ Колеге су ми честитале после састанка.

My colleagues congratulated me after the meeting.

Key Takeaways

Честитати has one regular paradigm and can function as either imperfective or perfective.
Put the recipient in dative: честитати некоме.
Use на + locative for an achievement and often bare accusative for a birthday or holiday.
Keep clitics in their cluster: честитали су ми, смо им честитали.

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