moliti / zamoliti (to ask for / beg) | Serbian Grammar

Serbian divides English ask according to purpose. Питати seeks information; молити / замолити makes a request. The person requested is accusative, and the request is normally expressed with за + accusative for a thing or with да + present for an action. The same verb молити also supplies everyday молим “please,” while reflexive молити се means “pray.”

Present and Principal Forms

Both verbs use an -им / -е present paradigm. Their infinitives and l-participles keep л: молити — молио, замолити — замолио. Ordinary Serbian spelling does not write accent marks.

Person	молити	замолити
ја	молим	замолим
ти	молиш	замолиш
он / она / оно	моли	замоли
ми	молимо	замолимо
ви	молите	замолите
они / оне / она	моле	замоле

Form	молити	замолити
l-participle	молио / молила / молили	замолио / замолила / замолили
2nd singular imperative	моли	замоли
2nd plural / formal imperative	молите	замолите
1st singular future	молићу	замолићу
conditional, feminine speaker	молила бих	замолила бих

Молим те, закључај врата кад будеш излазио.

Please lock the door when you leave.

Замолите колегиницу да вам пошаље коначну верзију.

Ask your colleague to send you the final version.

In the first sentence, молим is first-person singular present, not an imperative: literally, “I ask you.” In the second, замолите is a plural/formal imperative telling someone to make one request.

Aspect and Strength

Молити is imperfective. It can present a continuing or repeated request, persistent pleading, or the speech act being performed right now: Молим вас да.... Depending on context and tone, it ranges from polite “ask” to strong “beg.”

Замолити is perfective and presents one bounded request. The prefix does not automatically make the request more intense. In fact, замолити is the ordinary neutral choice for reporting one polite request.

Сваког дана је молио управника да поправи грејање.

Every day he asked the building manager to repair the heating.

Јутрос је замолио управника да пошаље мајстора.

This morning he asked the building manager to send a repair technician.

The first sentence profiles repeated pressure; the second reports one completed request. For an explicitly desperate “beg,” context or a stronger verb such as преклињати may be needed. Do not translate every молити as dramatic beg.

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In polite requests, think of aspect rather than politeness: молити presents the asking itself or repetition; замолити packages one request as an event.

The Person Requested Is Accusative

The core pattern is молити / замолити некога. This matches питати некога, but contrasts with dative рећи / одговорити некоме.

Замолила сам новог комшију да прими пакет уместо мене.

I asked the new neighbor to accept the package for me.

Молимо све путнике да припреме карте за преглед.

We ask all passengers to have their tickets ready for inspection. (formal public announcement)

Новог комшију and све путнике are accusative animate objects. The second example is a conventional (formal) announcement: present молимо performs the request on behalf of an institution or staff.

Known people are normally represented by accusative clitics:

Молим вас да сачекате испред канцеларије.

Please wait outside the office.

Шеф ме је замолио да сутра дођем пола сата раније.

The boss asked me to come half an hour earlier tomorrow.

The second-position cluster is ме је, not је ме. Full мене is used for contrast: Мене је замолио, не њу.

Requesting a Thing: за + Accusative

When the requested goal is a noun, use молити некога за нешто.

Замолили смо власника за још један кључ од стана.

We asked the owner for one more apartment key.

Не молим те за новац, него за мало стрпљења.

I'm not asking you for money, but for a little patience.

The person is accusative (власника, те); the thing follows за and is also accusative (још један кључ, новац, мало стрпљења). The two accusatives belong to different governors.

Requesting an Action: да + Present

Use молити / замолити некога да + present when the requested person should do something. The subject of the да-clause is understood from the requested person unless another subject is stated.

Замолићу их да не закључавају споредни улаз пре десет.

I'll ask them not to lock the side entrance before ten.

Молим те да ми јавиш ако се план промени.

Please let me know if the plan changes.

The first request uses perfective замолићу for one future act of asking. The requested action не закључавају is imperfective because it prohibits the activity over a time interval. In the second, dative ми marks the recipient of јавиш, not the person requested; accusative те fills that role.

Serbian also has infinitives, but they do not replace this finite request frame with a different subject. Молим те да дођеш is the normal way to say “I ask you to come,” because дођеш explicitly aligns with “you.”

молим as a Discourse Formula

First-person present молим has several conventional uses:

Молим вас, ... introduces a polite request.
Молим? asks someone to repeat or signals surprise: “Pardon?”
Молим. can answer Хвала: “You're welcome.”
Изволите is often a better equivalent of English please when offering or handing something over.

„Хвала што сте сачекали.“ — „Молим, нема проблема.“

‘Thank you for waiting.’ — ‘You're welcome, no problem.’

„Састанак је померен на седам ујутру.“ — „Молим? На седам?“

‘The meeting has been moved to seven in the morning.’ — ‘Pardon? To seven?’

Register comes from the whole phrase. Молим вас works in neutral and formal politeness; молим те is singular and familiar. The polite plural/formal pronoun is written вас in ordinary mid-sentence use; capitalization Вас belongs to certain highly respectful correspondence conventions, not every polite exchange.

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English please is not one Serbian word in every setting: use молим те/вас for a request, but often изволи/изволите when offering, handing over, or inviting someone to proceed.

Reflexive молити се Means “Pray”

Adding се creates a different lexical construction. Молити се Богу takes dative for the deity addressed; молити се за некога/нешто means pray for someone or something.

Сваке вечери се молила за здравље своје породице.

Every evening she prayed for her family's health.

The reflexive се belongs to the clitic cluster. It must not be added to an ordinary request: Молим те “I ask you,” but молим се “I pray.”

питати versus молити / замолити

Питала сам службеницу када истиче рок.

I asked the clerk when the deadline expires. (seeking information)

Замолила сам службеницу да ми продужи рок.

I asked the clerk to extend my deadline. (requesting action)

Both verbs take an accusative person, but their complements reveal different goals. The first expects an answer; the second seeks a change in the world.

The information-seeking construction is developed separately on pitati / upitati.

Micro-dialogue

„Можеш ли да ми учиниш услугу?“ — „Наравно, шта ти треба?“ — „Замолила бих те да сутра преузмеш децу из школе.“ — „Може, само ме подсети ујутру, молим те.“

‘Can you do me a favor?’ — ‘Of course, what do you need?’ — ‘I'd like to ask you to pick the children up from school tomorrow.’ — ‘Sure, just remind me in the morning, please.’

Conditional замолила бих softens the request by presenting it as tentative. It still takes accusative те and a да-clause.

Common Mistakes

1. Putting the requested person in the dative.

❌ Замолила сам колеги да замени смену са мном.

Incorrect — the person requested must be accusative, not dative.

✅ Замолила сам колегу да замени смену са мном.

I asked my colleague to swap shifts with me.

2. Omitting за before the requested thing.

❌ Молили су власницу попуст за дужи боравак.

Incorrect — a requested thing requires за + accusative.

✅ Молили су власницу за попуст за дужи боравак.

They asked the owner for a discount for a longer stay.

3. Adding reflexive се to an ordinary request.

❌ Молим се те да угасиш светло.

Incorrect — молити се means ‘pray’; an ordinary request uses accusative те without reflexive се.

✅ Молим те да угасиш светло пре поласка.

Please turn off the light before leaving.

4. Reversing the clitic cluster.

❌ Директорка је ме замолила да останем.

Incorrect — accusative ме precedes the exceptional auxiliary је.

✅ Директорка ме је замолила да останем после састанка.

The director asked me to stay after the meeting.

Practice 1: Information or Requested Action?

Choose питати for information and замолити for an action.

Питајте портирку где се налази сала број три.

Ask the attendant where room three is. Answer: information.

Замолите портирку да откључа споредна врата.

Ask the attendant to unlock the side door. Answer: requested action.

Practice 2: Choose за or да

Use за + accusative before a requested noun and да + present before a requested action.

Замолили смо организаторе за детаљан распоред радионица.

We asked the organizers for a detailed workshop schedule. Answer: requested thing, за + accusative.

Замолили смо организаторе да објаве распоред до понедељка.

We asked the organizers to publish the schedule by Monday. Answer: requested action, да + present.

Key Takeaways

Молити / замолити некога takes an accusative person.
Request a thing with за + accusative and an action with да + present.
Молити is imperfective; замолити presents one bounded request and is not automatically more forceful.
Молим can mean “please,” “pardon?” or “you're welcome,” depending on context.
Молити се is a separate reflexive construction meaning “pray.”
Use питати for information and замолити for a favor or action.

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