plaćati / platiti (to pay) | Serbian Grammar

Плаћати — платити is the central pair for paying a bill, price, fee, rent, service, or person. Плаћати presents an ongoing or repeated financial obligation; платити presents one payment as settled. Serbian then distinguishes what is paid, whom money is paid to, how it is paid, and what the payment is for.

Forms and the т → ћ relationship

The imperfective has ћ throughout: плаћати, плаћам. The perfective has т: платити, платим. Historically and derivationally, the relationship reflects jotation, т + ј → ћ, but a learner should memorize the two stems rather than add ј during conjugation.

Form	Imperfective плаћати	Perfective платити
present 1sg	плаћам	платим
present 2sg	плаћаш	платиш
present 3sg	плаћа	плати
present plural	плаћамо, плаћате, плаћају	платимо, платите, плате
past participle	плаћао, плаћала	платио, платила
imperative	плаћај, плаћајте	плати, платите
Future I	плаћаћу	платићу

In Serbian Latin, the contrast is plaćati — platiti. Writing placati loses a phonemic distinction; writing č instead of ć is also wrong.

Кирију плаћамо првог радног дана у месецу.

We pay the rent on the first working day of the month.

Рачун сам платила чим је стигла опомена.

I paid the bill as soon as the reminder arrived. (female speaker)

The first payment recurs; the second reached its endpoint. See jotation in spelling for the wider т + ј → ћ pattern.

💡

Keep the pair as two complete lexical entries: плаћати — плаћам and платити — платим. The history explains ћ, but the modern forms are not assembled during speech.

What is paid: accusative

The charge, obligation, service, or purchased item commonly appears as a direct accusative object: рачун, кирију, порез, карту, поправку.

Ко плаћа струју у овом стану?

Who pays the electricity bill in this apartment?

Платили смо две карте, али су нам послали само једну.

We paid for two tickets, but they sent us only one.

English often requires pay for before an item. Serbian does not automatically insert за: платити карту, ручак, поправку are ordinary direct-object constructions. Use за + accusative when it truly names what a sum is for or contrasts responsibilities.

Ја ћу платити за смештај, а ти плати гориво.

I’ll pay for the accommodation, and you pay for the fuel.

Paying a person: dative and accusative frames

A person or organization construed as the recipient of money is dative, especially when the charge is also named: платити мајстору поправку, лекару преглед, фирми рачун. The dative identifies who receives the money, while the accusative identifies what is being paid.

Мајстору смо платили поправку тек кад је завршио посао.

We paid the repair technician for the repair only when he finished the job.

Платила сам јој све што сам дуговала.

I paid her everything I owed. (female speaker)

Serbian also permits an animate accusative when the person is construed as the worker or service provider being compensated: платити мајстора, раднике, фотографа. This is a standard construction, not an English-shaped case error.

Платили смо мајстора чим је завршио радове.

We paid the repair technician as soon as he finished the work.

By contrast, платити за некога normally means pay on that person's behalf or cover that person's costs; it does not simply mark the recipient. The choice among dative, accusative, and за + accusative therefore changes the participant structure rather than merely varying style.

With both a recipient clitic and an object clitic, dative precedes accusative: платио сам му га “I paid it to him.” In practice, speakers often retain a noun when two pronouns would obscure what was paid.

Дуг је доспео јуче, али сам му га платио тек данас.

The debt fell due yesterday, but I paid it to him only today. (male speaker)

Amount and means of payment

An amount can occur directly as a measure phrase, while за + accusative can introduce the item associated with that sum.

Поправку смо платили петнаест хиљада динара.

We paid fifteen thousand dinars for the repair.

За половни бицикл није хтела да плати више од сто евра.

She did not want to pay more than one hundred euros for the used bicycle.

The means or instrument is expressed by instrumental: картицом, готовином, телефоном. A channel can use преко + genitive, such as преко апликације.

Можете да платите картицом или готовином.

You can pay by card or in cash. (formal or plural addressee)

Претплату плаћам преко банковне апликације.

I pay the subscription through the banking app.

💡

Map the roles separately: charge = accusative; recipient = dative; a worker being compensated may be accusative; means = instrumental; purpose or the item associated with a sum may use за + accusative.

Купити means acquire by buying; платити means settle a charge. Наплатити means charge or collect payment, исплатити can mean pay out or be worthwhile, уплатити means deposit/remit money into an account, and отплатити means pay off a debt. These prefixes add lexical meanings; they are not neutral replacements for perfective платити.

Курс сам купила у јануару, а последњу рату платила у марту.

I bought the course in January and paid the final installment in March. (female speaker)

Micro-dialogue

— Да ли је рачун већ плаћен? — Јесте, платио сам га картицом јутрос.

— Has the bill already been paid? — Yes, I paid it by card this morning. (male speaker)

The passive adjective плаћен describes the resulting status. The reply uses perfective платио because one transaction is complete.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Supply the roles

Say that you paid the photographer for the photographs by bank transfer.

Фотографу сам платила фотографије банковним трансфером.

I paid the photographer for the photographs by bank transfer. (female speaker)

Task 2: Contrast routine and completed payment

Интернет обично плаћам на шалтеру, али сам га овог месеца платио преко апликације.

I usually pay for internet service at the counter, but this month I paid it through the app. (male speaker)

Common Mistakes

Omitting ћ or replacing it with ч

❌ Рачуне плачам картицом.

Incorrect—плаћам is written with ћ, not ч.

✅ Рачуне плаћам картицом.

I pay bills by card.

Copying English pay for everywhere

❌ Платио сам за рачун пре ручка.

Incorrect in the ordinary meaning ‘pay the bill’—рачун is the direct object.

✅ Платио сам рачун пре ручка.

I paid the bill before lunch. (male speaker)

Treating a price amount as an instrument

❌ Курс смо платили девет хиљадама динара.

Incorrect—the price is an amount complement, not an instrumental means of payment.

✅ Курс смо платили девет хиљада динара.

We paid nine thousand dinars for the course.

Using a preposition for the payment method

❌ Платила је са картицом.

Incorrect in standard Serbian for the means of payment—use bare instrumental картицом.

✅ Платила је картицом.

She paid by card.

Key Takeaways

Плаћати is ongoing/repeated; платити is one bounded payment.
The pair preserves the derivational contrast ћ : т; write each letter exactly.
Make the charge accusative and the means instrumental. A monetary recipient is commonly dative, while a worker being compensated may also be accusative.
Distinguish paying from buying, charging, depositing, and paying off.

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