raditi / praviti / napraviti (to make/do) | Serbian Grammar

English divides do and make differently from Serbian. Радити centers on working or carrying out an activity; правити centers on producing, preparing, or constructing something; perfective направити presents one created result. When the task itself reaches completion, Serbian often pairs радити with урадити, not with направити.

The Core Decision

Frame	Use	Typical objects
радити	work; do or work on an activity	посао, домаћи задатак, анализу
урадити	do and complete one task	задатак, анализу, све што је потребно
правити	make, prepare, build as a process or habit	ручак, полицу, списак
направити	make and obtain one result	вечеру, модел, план

Цело преподне радим анализу трошкова за нови пројекат.

I’ve been working on the cost analysis for the new project all morning.

Урадићу анализу до петка и послати вам табелу.

I’ll complete the analysis by Friday and send you the spreadsheet.

Док ја правим вечеру, ти постави сто на тераси.

While I’m making dinner, set the table on the terrace.

Направили смо лагану вечеру од онога што је остало у фрижидеру.

We made a light dinner from what was left in the refrigerator.

The object is normally accusative. English do the analysis does not tell you whether Serbian should present ongoing work (радити анализу) or a completed deliverable (урадити анализу).

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First decide what kind of event you mean: activity радити, completed task урадити, production process правити, or completed product направити. The English make/do split is only a rough clue.

Principal Forms and Aspect Networks

Verb	Present	l-participle (m./f./n. sg.; m./f./n. pl.)	Imperative	Future I, 1st sg.
радити (imperfective)	радим, радиш, ради, радимо, радите, раде	радио, радила, радило; радили, радиле, радила	ради, радимо, радите	радићу
урадити (perfective)	урадим, урадиш, уради, урадимо, урадите, ураде	урадио, урадила, урадило; урадили, урадиле, урадила	уради, урадимо, урадите	урадићу
правити (imperfective)	правим, правиш, прави, правимо, правите, праве	правио, правила, правило; правили, правиле, правила	прави, правимо, правите	правићу
направити (perfective)	направим, направиш, направи, направимо, направите, направе	направио, направила, направило; направили, направиле, направила	направи, направимо, направите	направићу

All four present paradigms use i-class endings, but that does not make them interchangeable. Урадити is the usual bounded partner when радити means carry out a task. It is not the completion of occupational радити “work”: there is no single perfective meaning “complete having a job.” Правити / направити form the close pair when the same product is being made and then reaches a usable result.

This is a lexical network rather than a mechanical prefix rule; the broader principle is developed on aspect pairs are not synonyms.

Мајстор је два дана правио полицу, а јутрос ју је коначно направио.

The carpenter worked on making the shelf for two days and finally finished it this morning.

The passive participles show important consonant changes: рађен / урађен and прављен / направљен. These are ordinary spellings, not optional variants.

Work, Function, and Carry Out: радити

Intransitive радити means work, be employed, or function. Employment uses у + locative for an institution or као + nominative for a role. A machine that works also ради.

Мина ради у градској библиотеци као архивисткиња.

Mina works at the city library as an archivist.

Клима-уређај поново ради, али даљински управљач још не реагује.

The air conditioner works again, but the remote still doesn’t respond.

Transitive радити нешто presents engagement in a task. For one accomplished task, perfective урадити is usually more informative.

Шта радиш? — Проверавам рачуне пре него што урадим месечни обрачун.

What are you doing? — I’m checking the invoices before I complete the monthly statement.

Produce, Prepare, and Cause: правити / направити

These verbs cover physical construction, food preparation, plans, lists, errors, and many conventional results.

Сваке зиме праве украсе од старог папира и тканине.

Every winter they make decorations from old paper and fabric.

Направи списак питања пре разговора са рачуновођом.

Make a list of questions before speaking with the accountant.

Common collocations must be learned individually. Serbian says направити грешку, направити план, направити паузу, but донети одлуку “make a decision,” поставити питање “ask a question,” and снимити фотографију “take a photograph.” English make/do cannot predict the Serbian light verb.

Направила сам грешку у обрасцу, па сам донела одлуку да га попуним поново.

I made a mistake in the form, so I decided to fill it out again. (female speaker)

English causative make someone do something is not normally направити некога да.... Serbian usually uses натерати некога да + present when coercion is intended, or учинити да + clause for causation.

Гласан аларм нас је натерао да одмах напустимо зграду.

The loud alarm made us leave the building immediately.

Reflexive правити се Means “Pretend”

Adding се creates a separate lexical construction: правити се + predicate / да-clause means pretend, act as if, or present oneself as something. Do not treat it as the ordinary reflexive form of “make.”

Правио се да не чује телефон, иако је седео поред њега.

He pretended not to hear the phone, although he was sitting beside it.

Немој да се правиш невешта; добро знаш како систем ради.

Don’t pretend you don’t know; you know perfectly well how the system works. (female addressee)

The construction is normally imperfective правити се because pretending is viewed as a stance or activity. Perfective направити се exists in narrower meanings such as suddenly assume an appearance, but it is not a general mechanical partner to memorize here.

Clitics and Result Questions

Object clitics preserve normal cluster order. The perfective is natural when the question asks whether a result exists.

Да ли си им направила копију уговора?

Did you make them a copy of the contract? (female addressee)

Here dative им identifies the recipients and accusative копију is the created object. With an accusative pronoun, say направио сам га / направила сам је, placing the clitic before the participle when another host opens the clause.

Micro-dialogue

„Шта радиш вечерас?“ — „Правим презентацију за сутрашњи састанак.“ — „Јеси ли урадила графиконе?“ — „Јесам, а до девет ћу направити и завршни слајд.“

‘What are you doing tonight?’ — ‘I’m making a presentation for tomorrow’s meeting.’ — ‘Have you completed the charts?’ — ‘Yes, and by nine I’ll also make the final slide.’ (female speaker)

The dialogue separates general activity, production in progress, a completed task, and one promised product.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Activity, task, process, or product?

Choose among радити, урадити, правити, направити for: working on a report, completing the report, preparing soup, and serving the completed soup. Explain which boundary the perfective verb asserts.

Task 2: Repair English transfer

Translate “make a decision,” “make a mistake,” and “make her leave.” Use three different Serbian constructions and identify their objects or clauses.

Common Mistakes

❌ Сутра ћу направити у канцеларији до шест.

Incorrect — employment or being at work requires радити, not направити.

✅ Сутра ћу радити у канцеларији до шест.

Tomorrow I’ll work at the office until six.

❌ Цео дан сам направио полицу, али још није готова.

Incorrect for an unfinished process — perfective направио presents a result; use правио.

✅ Цео дан сам правио полицу, али још није готова.

I worked on making the shelf all day, but it still isn’t finished. (male speaker)

❌ Шеф ме је направио да останем после посла.

Incorrect English transfer — use натерати некога да for coercive ‘make someone do.’

✅ Шеф ме је натерао да останем после посла.

The boss made me stay after work.

❌ Нови образац је урађен од рециклираног папира.

Incorrect lexical choice — an object produced from a material is направљен, not урађен.

✅ Нови образац је направљен од рециклираног папира, а обрачун је урађен јуче.

The new form is made from recycled paper, and the calculation was completed yesterday.

Key Takeaways

Радити presents work or activity; урадити presents one completed task.
Правити / направити contrast production in progress with a completed product.
The direct object is accusative, but English light-verb collocations require individual Serbian verbs.
Правити се means “pretend” and is a separate lexical se-construction.
Learn the passive forms урађен and направљен together with the active paradigms.

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