nadati se (to hope) | Serbian Grammar

Serbian надати се means hope: desire a favorable outcome while treating it as uncertain. It is an inherently se-marked verb. A noun naming the hoped-for outcome takes dative—надати се успеху, победи, добрим вестима—while a whole hoped-for situation is expressed with да + finite clause.

Principal forms

Form	надати се
present	надам се, надаш се, нада се, надамо се, надате се, надају се
l-participle	надао се, надала се, надало се; надали се, надале се, надала се
imperative	надај се, надајмо се, надајте се
future, 1st singular	надаћу се
conditional, 1st singular	надао бих се / надала бих се

The third-person plural is надају се, and the imperative contains -ј-: надај се. The clitic се remains unchanged throughout the paradigm.

Надамо се повољном одговору до краја недеље.

We're hoping for a favorable response by the end of the week.

Надала сам се мирном викенду, али су нам у суботу дошли мајстори.

I had hoped for a quiet weekend, but the repairmen came on Saturday. (female speaker)

A noun outcome takes dative

The full noun phrase appears in dative, with all modifiers agreeing.

Base phrase	After надати се
брз опоравак	надати се брзом опоравку
нова прилика	надати се новој прилици
бољи резултати	надати се бољим резултатима
то	надати се томе

Лекари се надају брзом опоравку пацијенткиње после операције.

The doctors hope for the patient's quick recovery after the operation.

После другог круга преговора обе стране су се надале новом договору.

After the second round of talks, both sides hoped for a new agreement.

English hope for tempts learners to insert a preposition. Serbian uses a bare dative, not за + accusative and not на + accusative. The dative-government page shows the same principle with other lexical verbs.

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Store надати се + dative as a three-part entry. Neither English hope nor for predicts Serbian се and dative.

A hoped-for situation takes да + finite clause

Use надам се да... when the content is a whole proposition. The subordinate verb carries its own person and tense.

Надам се да ћеш стићи пре него што почне представа.

I hope you'll arrive before the performance starts.

Надали смо се да је воз само кратко задржан, али је полазак отказан.

We hoped the train had only been delayed briefly, but the departure was canceled.

Present надам се commonly introduces a hope about the future. Serbian does not need future надаћу се merely because the hoped-for event is future; tense belongs inside the да-clause.

Надам се да ћемо следеће године имати више времена за путовања.

I hope we'll have more time for travel next year.

Future надаћу се instead means that the state of hoping itself will exist later or continue: И даље ћу се надати “I will keep hoping.”

Hope, expectation, and desire

English sometimes blurs hope, expect, and want. Serbian gives them different frames.

Verb	Frame	Viewpoint
надати се	dative / да-clause	desirable but uncertain outcome
очекивати	accusative / да-clause	anticipated outcome, favorable or not
желети	accusative / да-clause / infinitive	desire or intention

Надам се сунчаном дану, али очекујем кишу после поднева.

I'm hoping for a sunny day, but I expect rain in the afternoon.

Желим да добијем тај посао, али се не усуђујем да се томе превише надам.

I want to get that job, but I don't dare hope for it too much.

Очекивати can be a neutral forecast. Надати се adds the speaker's favorable stance. Желети presents desire more directly and need not imply uncertainty in the same way.

No neutral perfective partner

Надати се is an imperfective state. There is no neutral perfective meaning “complete hoping.” Perfective понадати се marks the onset or a bounded moment of hope, often followed by disappointment or qualification.

На тренутак смо се понадали да ће се облаци разићи.

For a moment we got our hopes up that the clouds would clear.

Кад је телефон зазвонио, понадала се да зове сестра.

When the phone rang, she hoped for a moment that it was her sister calling.

Уздати се у + accusative means rely on or place trust in and is not an aspectual partner.

Надамо се повољном исходу, али се не уздамо само у срећу.

We hope for a favorable outcome, but we aren't relying on luck alone.

The aspectual-pairs guide explains why a shared root does not guarantee a neutral pair.

Clitics and full dative pronouns

When a dative outcome is replaced by a weak pronoun, the dative clitic precedes се. Full томе is frequent because abstract outcomes are often contrasted or focused.

Победи су се надали до последњег минута, а онда јој се више нико није надао.

They hoped for victory until the final minute, and then nobody hoped for it anymore.

Here feminine dative clitic јој refers to победи and precedes се. In ordinary speech, repeating the noun or using full томе may be clearer when no antecedent is close.

Lexical се is obligatory even when there is no noun complement: Надам се да долазиш, not Надам да долазиш.

Perfect-tense је deletion

Affirmative third-person singular perfect omits је beside се:

Тамара се надала позиву, али јој се нико није јавио.

Tamara hoped for a call, but nobody contacted her.

Not Тамара се је надала. Negative није remains, and other auxiliaries remain: Надао сам се, Надали смо се, Они су се надали.

Imperative and fixed advice

Imperative надај се is possible, especially in advice and encouragement. A well-known practical formula contrasts hope with preparation.

Надај се најбољем, али припреми резервни план.

Hope for the best, but prepare a backup plan. (informal singular)

Надајмо се да ће поправка бити готова до петка.

Let's hope the repair will be finished by Friday.

First-person plural надајмо се is a conventional collaborative suggestion, common in both speech and writing.

Micro-dialogue

„Чему се још надаш после разговора?“ — „Надам се другом кругу и бољој понуди.“ — „Очекујеш ли одговор ове недеље?“ — „Надам се да ће стићи до петка.“

‘What are you still hoping for after the interview?’ — ‘I'm hoping for a second round and a better offer.’ — ‘Do you expect an answer this week?’ — ‘I hope it will arrive by Friday.’

Interrogative чему is dative because надати се governs dative.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Noun or clause?

Translate We hope for a quick solution and We hope that they will solve the problem quickly. Use dative in the first and a finite да-clause in the second.

Task 2: Hope or expectation?

Describe a picnic for which you hope for sun but expect rain. Use надати се + dative and очекивати + accusative, then explain the difference in stance.

Common Mistakes

❌ Надам се добре вести.

Incorrect — the noun complement of надати се is dative, not genitive.

✅ Надам се добрим вестима до вечерас.

I'm hoping for good news by this evening.

❌ Надам се за победу нашег тима.

Incorrect English-based frame — Serbian uses a bare dative, победи.

✅ Надам се победи нашег тима.

I'm hoping for our team's victory.

❌ Надам да ће се време поправити.

Incorrect — lexical надати се requires се before a да-clause too.

✅ Надам се да ће се време поправити.

I hope the weather will improve.

❌ Надао сам се јој све до краја утакмице.

Incorrect clitic order — dative јој precedes се.

✅ Надао сам јој се све до краја утакмице.

I hoped for it until the end of the match. (male speaker; јој refers to a feminine outcome such as victory)

❌ Соња се је надала лакшем задатку.

Incorrect — affirmative third-person singular је is omitted beside се.

✅ Соња се надала лакшем задатку.

Sonja hoped for an easier task.

Key Takeaways

Learn надати се + dative and надати се да + finite clause as the two central frames.
Present надам се can concern a future outcome; future tense is not required on the main verb.
Очекивати predicts and желети desires; надати се combines desirability with uncertainty.
Stative надати се has no neutral perfective; понадати се marks a bounded onset or moment of hope.
Dative clitics precede се, and affirmative third-person singular perfect omits је beside се.

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