Имати has two central constructions. Personal имам, имаш... + object means “have/possess,” while invariant third-singular има / нема + entity means “there is/are” or “there isn’t/aren’t.” English uses have in one and there be in the other; Serbian uses the same lexical material but different syntax.
Personal Paradigm
| Person | affirmative | negative |
|---|---|---|
| ја | имам | немам |
| ти | имаш | немаш |
| он / она / оно | има | нема |
| ми | имамо | немамо |
| ви | имате | немате |
| они / оне / она | имају | немају |
| Form | Shape |
|---|---|
| l-participle | имао, имала, имало; имали, имале, имала |
| perfect | имао сам / имала сам; имао је / имала је; имали су |
| Future I | имаћу, имаћеш, имаће, имаћемо, имаћете, имаће |
| conditional | имао бих / имала бих; имали бисмо... |
| imperative | имај, имајмо, имајте |
The present negative is fused: немам, not не имам. The imperative occurs in wishes and fixed encouragements such as имај стрпљења “have patience,” but possession itself is rarely something one simply commands.
Personal Possession: Subject Plus Object
The possessor is the grammatical subject. A definite or countable possessed item is normally a direct accusative object.
Имам заказан преглед у пола десет.
I have a scheduled appointment at nine thirty.
Наш стан има две спаваће собе и мали балкон.
Our apartment has two bedrooms and a small balcony.
Немамо слободан сто поред прозора, али имамо један на тераси.
We don’t have a free table by the window, but we have one on the terrace.
Negation does not automatically force every object into the genitive. A specific bounded object may stay accusative: немам ту књигу. Genitive is common with quantities, substances, indefinite plural entities, and partitive meaning: немам времена, немам новца, немам питања. See genitive under negation.
Немам довољно времена да данас завршим целу анализу.
I don’t have enough time to finish the entire analysis today.
Existential има / нема
When the construction introduces an entity at a place or in a situation, има and нема remain third-person singular regardless of English number.
У близини има једна добра пекара која ради целу ноћ.
There is a good bakery nearby that is open all night.
На овој линији има много путника после пет сати.
There are many passengers on this route after five o’clock.
У фрижидеру нема млека ни свежег поврћа.
There is no milk or fresh produce in the refrigerator.
Mass nouns, quantities, indefinite plurals, and negative existentials strongly favor genitive: има воде, има неколико места, има људи, нема струје. A presentational count singular may appear as има један/неки + nominative, especially in conversation: има један проблем.
Има један проблем: последњи аутобус је већ отишао.
There is one problem: the last bus has already left. (presentational)
Do not use existential има merely to locate a known definite item. Serbian normally uses бити or налазити се: Кључеви су на столу “The keys are on the table.” Existential на столу има кључева introduces some keys as new or non-specific.
Past and Future Existence Use бити
The invariant existential does not make past and future by changing personal имати to имао је / имаће. Standard existential time uses neuter singular било је / није било and биће / неће бити.
На састанку је било више питања него одговора.
There were more questions than answers at the meeting.
Следеће недеље неће бити наставе у петак.
There will be no classes next Friday.
By contrast, имао је три питања means that he personally had three questions, and имаће времена means that he will have time. The choice changes argument structure, not just tense.
Useful Constructional Frames
Имати + noun + да + present often means that someone has something to do, say, or ask. The noun names an available or pending item, not ownership.
Имам нешто важно да ти кажем после састанка.
I have something important to tell you after the meeting.
Имате ли шта да додате пре гласања?
Do you have anything to add before the vote? (formal/plural)
Frequent collocations include имати времена, имати право на + accusative, имати потребу за + instrumental, имати у виду “bear in mind,” and имати смисла “make sense.” Their case frames belong to the whole expression.
Сваки корисник има право на бесплатну техничку подршку.
Every user is entitled to free technical support.
Имајте у виду да пријава истиче у поноћ.
Bear in mind that the application expires at midnight. (formal/plural)
Aspect and Related Verbs
Possessive имати is imperfective and does not have a simple perfective partner meaning “have completely.” When possession begins, Serbian usually chooses a more specific verb: добити “receive/get,” стећи “acquire,” купити “buy,” or набавити “obtain.”
Прошле године смо добили новог клијента, а сада имамо више посла.
Last year we gained a new client, and now we have more work.
The first verb presents acquisition; имамо describes the resulting state. Do not treat добити as interchangeable with имати in every context.
Micro-dialogue
„Имате ли слободну собу за две ноћи?“ — „Имамо једну на другом спрату, али нема лифта.“ — „Да ли ће сутра бити места за паркирање?“ — „Биће, после десет ујутру.“
‘Do you have a free room for two nights?’ — ‘We have one on the second floor, but there is no elevator.’ — ‘Will there be parking spaces tomorrow?’ — ‘There will, after ten in the morning.’
The hotel is the personal possessor in имамо, while нема and биће are existential.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Possession or existence?
Translate “We have two bicycles” with first-person plural имамо, then “There are two bicycles in the courtyard” with invariant има. Identify the possessor in the first sentence and the location in the second.
Task 2: Move existence through time
Change present у сали има места into past and future. Use било је and биће, not forms of personal имати.
Common Mistakes
❌ У улици имају две апотеке.
Incorrect — existential има is invariant third-person singular even when the introduced entity is plural.
✅ У нашој улици има две апотеке које раде недељом.
There are two pharmacies on our street that are open on Sundays.
❌ Јуче је имало много људи на концерту.
Incorrect — past existence uses neuter било је, not an impersonal past of имати.
✅ Јуче је на концерту било много људи.
There were many people at the concert yesterday.
❌ Не имам ситан новац код себе.
Incorrect — the personal present negative is fused as немам.
✅ Немам ситан новац, али могу да платим картицом.
I don’t have any change, but I can pay by card.
❌ Књига има на мом столу.
Incorrect for locating a known definite book — use бити, not existential има.
✅ Књига је на мом столу поред лаптопа.
The book is on my desk next to the laptop.
Key Takeaways
- Personal имам... agrees with the possessor and normally takes an accusative object.
- Its fused negative is немам...; genitive is common with quantity, mass, and indefinite absence but is not automatic.
- Existential има / нема is invariant third-person singular.
- Past and future existence use било је / није било and биће / неће бити.
- Acquisition verbs such as добити and стећи express entering possession; имати describes the state.
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- imati and Expressing Existence (ima/nema)A1 — Having, and the impersonal 'there is/isn't'.
- Existential Sentences (there is/are)A2 — ima/nema, biti, and presentational order.
- Genitive of NegationB1 — Why negated existence and some negated objects take the genitive.
- Partitive Genitive and QuantityA2 — The genitive of 'some', amounts, and measure words.
- dobijati / dobiti (to get/receive)A2 — Receiving.