Serbian uses the aspect pair излазити / изаћи for movement from inside to outside and for the everyday idea of going out. Imperfective излазити opens the event up as a process, routine, or repeated exit; perfective изаћи presents one attained boundary. The pair is highly irregular in shape, so useful knowledge begins with излазим and изађем, not with the two infinitives alone.
Principal forms
| Form | излазити (imperfective) | изаћи (perfective) |
|---|---|---|
| present | излазим, излазиш, излази, излазимо, излазите, излазе | изађем, изађеш, изађе, изађемо, изађете, изађу |
| l-participle | излазио, излазила, излазило; излазили, излазиле, излазила | изашао, изашла, изашло; изашли, изашле, изашла |
| imperative | излази, излазимо, излазите | изађи, изађимо, изађите |
| future, 1st singular | излазићу | изаћи ћу |
Memorize изаћи — изађем — изађу — изашао/изашла — изађи — изаћи ћу as one chain. The future of an infinitive ending in -ћи is written as two words: изаћи ћу, not a fused form. Its imperfective partner belongs to another stem: излазити — излазим.
Сваког јутра излазим из куће нешто пре осам.
Every morning I leave the house just before eight.
Изашла сам из канцеларије тек кад сам послала последњи имејл.
I didn't leave the office until I had sent the final email. (female speaker)
Process or routine versus one completed exit
Use излазити for someone currently moving out, for a recurring pattern, or when the event is viewed from within. Use изаћи when the relevant result is that the person or thing has crossed the boundary.
Сачекај испред улаза; управо излазим из лифта.
Wait in front of the entrance; I'm just getting out of the lift.
Кад изађеш из лифта, скрени десно и видећеш рецепцију.
When you get out of the lift, turn right and you'll see reception.
Perfective present изађеш normally does not mean “you are exiting now.” In a clause with кад, чим, or ако, it points to a future completed boundary. Imperfective излазиш can describe the action unfolding at speech time.
Repeated situations can contain either viewpoint. Сваког дана излазим у пет names a routine. Чим изађем, зовем те selects each completed exit as the trigger for a second action.
Чим изађем са састанка, послаћу ти поруку.
As soon as I come out of the meeting, I'll send you a message.
The directional motion guide places this pair beside улазити / ући and other path verbs.
Source phrases: из, са, and од
The prefix из- contributes outward motion, but the complement still has its own preposition and case.
| Frame | Typical source | Example |
|---|---|---|
| изаћи из + genitive | an interior or bounded space | из собе, из аутобуса, из тунела |
| изаћи са + genitive | a surface, event, or activity construed with на | са терасе, са састанка, с посла |
| изаћи од + genitive | leave someone's place or immediate sphere | од лекара |
Путници су изашли из аутобуса на следећој станици.
The passengers got off the bus at the next stop.
Изашли смо са концерта пре биса јер је последњи воз полазио у једанаест.
We left the concert before the encore because the last train departed at eleven.
English uses one from or simply a particle such as out/off. Serbian source prepositions preserve the place's conceptual frame: у соби → из собе, на састанку → са састанка, код лекара → од лекара. The motion-preposition map gives the wider system.
Where the exit leads
An outward destination can follow the normal directional patterns на + accusative and у + accusative.
После ручка смо изашли на терасу да попијемо кафу.
After lunch we went out onto the terrace to have coffee.
У петак увече излазимо у град са старим друштвом.
On Friday evening we're going out on the town with our old group of friends.
In изаћи на терасу, the endpoint is an open surface. Idiomatic изаћи у град means go out socially in town. These are not source phrases: the accusative marks the destination reached after leaving.
Going out socially and dating
Without a source complement, излазити often means go out socially. Излазити са + instrumental can mean go out with or date someone; context decides whether the relationship is romantic.
Милица ретко излази радним данима, али суботом обично иде на свирку.
Milica rarely goes out on weekdays, but on Saturdays she usually goes to a gig.
Да ли је тачно да већ месец дана излазиш с Николом?
Is it true that you've been dating Nikola for a month?
Here с Николом is instrumental after с(а). A direct accusative would not express the companion or date.
No ordinary reflexive се
Physical излазити / изаћи is intransitive and does not require се. The moving person or thing is the nominative subject. An impersonal се is possible when a procedure or customary route matters, but that is a voice construction, not a reflexive dictionary form.
Из сале се излази на задња врата, да се не омета представа.
The hall is exited through the rear door so that the performance is not disturbed.
The first се suppresses a general human subject: “people exit.” Ordinary personal speech remains излазим из сале.
Publication, results, and other extensions
The idea of becoming externally available extends naturally to publications and results. Imperfective излазити describes a schedule; perfective изаћи announces one release.
Овај часопис излази једном месечно, а нови број излази сутра.
This magazine comes out once a month, and the new issue comes out tomorrow.
Резултати конкурса су изашли јутрос и објављени су на сајту.
The competition results came out this morning and were published on the website.
The same pair is used for the sun: Сунце излази describes the regular event, and сунце је изашло presents today's sunrise as attained.
Fixed изаћи некоме у сусрет means accommodate someone or meet a reasonable need. It is common in service and administrative contexts and can sound (formal).
Власник нам је изашао у сусрет и померио рок за уплату.
The owner accommodated us and moved the payment deadline.
The dative нам identifies the beneficiary; it is not a direct object of physical motion.
Commands and clitics
Perfective изађи / изађите normally requests one completed exit. Imperfective излази / излазите can direct an ongoing procedure or sharply urge someone to start leaving.
Изађите на терасу ако желите боље да видите ватромет.
Go out onto the terrace if you want a better view of the fireworks. (plural or polite)
Излази из воде — почиње невреме!
Get out of the water—a storm is starting! (informal, urgent)
Because the verb is intransitive, accusative clitics do not name the person who exits. Dative clitics occur only in constructions that license them, such as изаћи му у сусрет.
Micro-dialogue
„Јеси ли још у биоскопу?“ — „Управо излазимо из сале.“ — „Одлично, кад изађете на улицу, позовите ме.“ — „Важи, зовемо за минут.“
‘Are you still at the cinema?’ — ‘We're just coming out of the auditorium.’ — ‘Great; when you get outside, call me.’ — ‘All right, we'll call in a minute.’
The unfolding exit uses излазимо; the future boundary after кад uses perfective изађете.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Choose aspect and source
Translate four situations: a daily departure from home, an exit currently in progress, one completed exit from a bus, and a future exit from a meeting after чим. Choose излазити/изаћи and из/са + genitive independently.
Task 2: Physical or extended meaning?
Write one sentence about a magazine's publication schedule, one about a new issue released yesterday, and one using изаћи некоме у сусрет. Explain how the outward-boundary image survives in each extension.
Common Mistakes
❌ Управо изађем из метроа.
Incorrect for motion unfolding now — perfective изађем presents an attained boundary.
✅ Управо излазим из метроа.
I'm just coming out of the metro.
❌ Изашла је из састанка пре гласања.
Incorrect source frame — the meeting is construed with на, so the source is са састанка.
✅ Изашла је са састанка пре гласања.
She left the meeting before the vote.
❌ Изаћемо се из зграде за пет минута.
Incorrect — ordinary изаћи is intransitive and has no reflexive се.
✅ Изаћи ћемо из зграде за пет минута.
We'll leave the building in five minutes.
❌ Кад изађиш из тунела, јави ми се.
Incorrect present form — the second-person singular of изаћи is изађеш, not изађиш.
✅ Кад изађеш из тунела, јави ми се.
Call me when you come out of the tunnel.
❌ Нови број часописа је излазио јутрос.
Wrong viewpoint for one completed release — use perfective изашао.
✅ Нови број часописа је изашао јутрос.
The new issue of the magazine came out this morning.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize излазити — излазим and изаћи — изађем — изашао/изашла — изађи as a suppletive-looking pair.
- Imperfective marks process or routine; perfective marks one attained outward boundary.
- Sources use из/са/од + genitive according to the place frame; destinations use their normal directional cases.
- Ordinary излазити / изаћи has no reflexive се.
- Social going out, publication, and изаћи некоме у сусрет are established extensions, not arbitrary translations of English out.
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
- Prefixed Directional Motion VerbsB1 — doci, otici, uci, izaci and their direction-encoding prefixes.
- Aspect, Prefixes, and Directional VerbsB2 — How prefixes build directional motion families and secondary imperfectives.
- Motion Prepositions: kroz, niz, uz, prema, kA2 — Direction and path prepositions.
- Genitive after PrepositionsA2 — The large family of prepositions that take the genitive.
- ići (to go)A1 — Full reference for the basic motion verb 'to go'.