dobijati / dobiti (to get/receive) | Serbian Grammar

Добијати — добити is one of Serbian’s broadest everyday pairs. Its core meaning is receive or obtain, but it also covers getting a job or grade, winning a match, catching an illness, and acquiring a new state or property. The received or acquired result is normally accusative; its source commonly follows од + genitive.

Principal forms

The imperfective inserts -ја-: добијати — добијам. Perfective добити unexpectedly has ј in the present and imperative, but not in the infinitive or l-participle.

Form	Imperfective добијати	Perfective добити
present	добијам, добијаш, добија, добијамо, добијате, добијају	добијем, добијеш, добије, добијемо, добијете, добију
l-participle	добијао, добијала, добијали	добио, добила, добили
imperative	добијај, добијајмо, добијајте	добиј, добијмо, добијте
Future I	добијаћу	добићу

The perfective imperative is grammatically regular but less frequent than forms used in requests such as Могу ли да добијем…?. Ordinary spelling has no accent marks.

Сваког понедељка добијамо нови распоред за ту недељу.

Every Monday we receive a new schedule for that week.

Јутрос сам добила званичну потврду о пријему.

This morning I received official confirmation of receipt. (female speaker)

The first receipt recurs; the second is one attained result.

💡

Keep the three perfective stems together: добити — добијем — добио/добила. The ј appears in the present and imperative, not in the infinitive or l-participle.

Receiving something from someone

The thing received is accusative: добити поруку, пакет, новац, одговор. The source is од + genitive: од колеге, од банке, од родитеља.

Добили смо детаљна упутства од организатора конференције.

We received detailed instructions from the conference organizer.

Да ли си добио моју поруку од синоћ?

Did you get my message from last night? (male addressee)

The object can become an accusative clitic.

Улазнице су стигле мејлом; добила сам их пре сат времена.

The tickets arrived by email; I received them an hour ago. (female speaker)

The pronoun их follows the normal rules described under object pronouns in practice.

Do not use a dative for the source. Dative can mark a beneficiary in a wider sentence, but the sender or origin after добити is normally expressed with од.

Obtaining a result, opportunity, job, or grade

Добити is broader than English receive. It can mean obtain or be granted something through a decision, process, or evaluation.

После другог разговора је добио посао у развојном тиму.

After the second interview, he got a job on the development team.

Добила је дозволу да ради од куће два дана недељно.

She received permission to work from home two days a week.

Син је добио петицу из математике и одмах нас позвао.

Our son got the top grade in mathematics and called us immediately.

The subject receives the result; Serbian does not need an equivalent of English get given. Примити overlaps with receive but often foregrounds accepting, admitting, or formally taking delivery: примити пацијента, госта, пошиљку. Broad everyday добити foregrounds the resulting possession or outcome.

Winning and gaining

Serbian can say добити утакмицу, меч, партију for win a contest. The opponent may also be the direct accusative object, especially in conversational and sports language: добити Новака, добити Босну и Херцеговину. With the contest named, use против + genitive: добити утакмицу против Италије. The verb победити likewise takes the defeated opponent directly and is the unambiguous neutral verb for “defeat.”

Наш тим је добио утакмицу после продужетака.

Our team won the match after extra time.

Добити на + locative means gain in a dimension such as time, value, weight, or importance.

Новим распоредом смо добили на времену, али не и на квалитету.

With the new schedule, we gained time, but not quality.

This construction does not use a direct object for the gained dimension. Learn добити нешто and добити на нечему as distinct frames.

Illness, symptoms, and new states

The pair also describes acquiring a condition: добити температуру, грип, осип, главобољу. English may say get, catch, or develop.

Дете је током ноћи добило високу температуру.

The child developed a high fever during the night.

Some uses are figurative or informal. Добити по носу means get hit or receive a reprimand (informal); добити корпу means be rejected romantically (informal). These are lexical expressions, not models for ordinary government.

Questions and polite service requests

Могу ли да добијем…? is a neutral polite way to request an item or information in a service encounter. It literally asks whether the desired result can be obtained.

Могу ли да добијем копију рачуна на мејл, молим вас?

Could I get a copy of the receipt by email, please?

This is polite through the modal frame and молим вас, not because добити itself is a politeness verb.

Reflexivity and impersonal uses

Ordinary добијати — добити is not lexical reflexive. A se-construction can be passive or impersonal: Овај резултат се добија множењем “This result is obtained by multiplication.”

Коначна сума се добија сабирањем све три ставке.

The final total is obtained by adding all three items.

Here сума is subject and controls добија. Do not add се when saying that a person received a message.

💡

Ask what English get means in context. Receipt, permission, a grade, victory, illness, and change of measure all allow добити, but movement (“get to work”) and possession (“have”) require other Serbian verbs.

Micro-dialogue

— Јеси ли добила одговор из амбасаде? — Јесам, добила сам термин за следећи четвртак.

— Did you get a reply from the embassy? — Yes, I got an appointment for next Thursday. (female addressee and speaker)

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Add the source

Say that you received a recommendation from your professor.

Добила сам препоруку од професора.

I received a recommendation from my professor. (female speaker)

Task 2: Contrast repeated and single receipt

Обавештења добијам сваког петка, али ове недеље нисам добио ниједно.

I receive notifications every Friday, but this week I didn’t receive any. (male speaker)

Common Mistakes

Dropping ј from the perfective present

❌ Ако добим потврду данас, послаћу вам је.

Incorrect—the perfective present is добијем, not добим.

✅ Ако добијем потврду данас, послаћу вам је.

If I receive the confirmation today, I’ll send it to you. (formal or plural addressee)

Presenting one attained result as an open process

❌ После јучерашњег разговора добијао сам посао у банци.

Incorrect for one successful outcome—the job was obtained, so perfective добио is required.

✅ После јучерашњег разговора добио сам посао у банци.

After yesterday’s interview, I got a job at the bank. (male speaker)

Marking the source as a bare dative

❌ Добио сам банци нову картицу.

Incorrect—the source is expressed with од + genitive: од банке.

✅ Добио сам нову картицу од банке.

I received a new card from the bank. (male speaker)

Translating every English “get” with добити

❌ Сваког јутра добијам на посао у осам.

Incorrect—movement to a destination requires стижем or долазим, not добијам.

✅ Сваког јутра стижем на посао у осам.

Every morning I get to work at eight.

Key Takeaways

Learn добијам versus добијем, and perfective добио/добила without ј.
The result received is accusative; the source is од + genitive.
Добити covers receipt, outcomes, victories, and acquired conditions, but not every meaning of English get.
Ordinary transitive добити нешто is distinct from passive or impersonal нешто се добија.

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