pozajmljivati / pozajmiti (to lend / to borrow) | Serbian Grammar

Modern Serbian uses позајмљивати — позајмити for both English lend and borrow. The verb itself does not name the direction of temporary transfer. Instead, the participant frame does: a dative recipient means lend to someone, while од + genitive names the source from whom someone borrows. This is the page’s central fact; learning only the translation lend/borrow leaves the verb unusable.

Principal forms

Form	позајмљивати (imperfective)	позајмити (perfective)
present	позајмљујем, позајмљујеш, позајмљује, позајмљујемо, позајмљујете, позајмљују	позајмим, позајмиш, позајми, позајмимо, позајмите, позајме
l-participle	позајмљивао / позајмљивала	позајмио / позајмила
imperative	позајмљуј, позајмљујмо, позајмљујте	позајми, позајмимо, позајмите
future, 1st singular	позајмљиваћу	позајмићу

Preserve љ in the imperfective stem: позајмљујем, позајмљивао. Perfective позајмити has a regular -им present and third-person plural позајме. The l-participle marks the subject’s gender, not the direction of transfer.

Позајмљујем сестри ауто само када њен није исправан.

I lend my sister the car only when hers isn't working.

Позајмила сам кабл од колеге јер сам свој заборавила код куће.

I borrowed a cable from a colleague because I left mine at home. (female speaker)

One verb, two participant frames

Compare the same laptop moving between Ana and Marko:

Perspective	Subject	Item	Other participant
lend	lender	accusative	borrower in dative
borrow	borrower	accusative	lender with од + genitive

Ана је Марку позајмила лаптоп до понедељка.

Ana lent Marko the laptop until Monday.

Марко је позајмио лаптоп од Ане до понедељка.

Marko borrowed the laptop from Ana until Monday.

The object лаптоп remains accusative. What changes is the subject and how the other person is marked. Serbian cases therefore do work that English assigns to two separate verbs.

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To decode позајмити, first identify the subject. If the other person is dative, the subject lends; if the other person follows од, the subject borrows.

The general recipient-dative pattern explains the lending frame: позајмити нешто некоме.

Why a bare object can be ambiguous

Without the second participant, a sentence may not specify which side of the transfer the subject occupies.

Ивана је позајмила пројектор за сутрашње предавање.

Ivana borrowed—or lent—the projector for tomorrow's lecture; the sentence alone does not identify the direction.

Real-world context often resolves the meaning, and borrow may be the more likely interpretation in some situations. A careful speaker who needs precision names the lender or borrower:

Ивана је позајмила пројектор факултету за сутрашње предавање.

Ivana lent the projector to the faculty for tomorrow's lecture.

Ивана је позајмила пројектор од факултета за сутрашње предавање.

Ivana borrowed the projector from the faculty for tomorrow's lecture.

The historical verb узајмити, once used specifically for borrow, is now (archaic/bookish) and uncommon in contemporary Serbian. It is useful for recognition, not as the normal solution to everyday ambiguity. Modern speech normally keeps позајмити and makes the participant frame explicit.

Aspect and the temporary-transfer boundary

Imperfective позајмљивати presents repeated lending/borrowing, an ongoing policy, or a process viewed without its endpoint. Perfective позајмити counts one temporary transfer as achieved.

Библиотека не позајмљује ретке књиге, али их можете читати у посебној сали.

The library does not lend rare books, but you can read them in a special room.

Чим ми позајмиш бушилицу, завршићу полицу и вратићу ти је.

As soon as you lend me the drill, I'll finish the shelf and return it to you.

Perfective present позајмиш in the time clause refers to one future transfer. The return is a separate event expressed by вратити.

Док је студирао, често је позајмљивао новац од старијег брата.

While he was studying, he often borrowed money from his older brother.

Frequency favors the imperfective because the sentence presents a repeated pattern, not one loan.

Clitics reveal the roles

In the lending frame, the borrower can be a dative clitic and the item an accusative clitic. Dative precedes accusative.

Милица је тражила речник, па сам јој га позајмио до краја недеље.

Milica needed a dictionary, so I lent it to her until the end of the week. (male speaker)

In the borrowing frame, the source follows од and therefore requires a full stressed form, not a dative clitic.

Нисам купио алат; позајмио сам га од њега.

I didn't buy the tool; I borrowed it from him. (male speaker)

Compare позајмио сам му га (I lent it to him) with позајмио сам га од њега (I borrowed it from him). The apparent similarity hides opposite directions.

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After a preposition, use a full pronoun: од мене, од тебе, од њега, од ње, од нас, од њих. Clitic му cannot mean from him.

Money, credit, renting, and returning

Позајмити новац describes a temporary private loan in either direction. A bank normally одобрава кредит, while the customer узима кредит; позајмити од банке is understandable but less precise in institutional contexts.

Позајмићу ти новац за поправку, али запиши колико си узео.

I'll lend you the money for the repair, but write down how much you took. (male addressee)

Borrowed property is returned with вратити, not with a special reverse form of позајмити.

Врати ми књигу кад је прочиташ; не мораш да журиш.

Return the book to me when you've read it; you don't have to hurry.

Do not confuse borrowing with renting. Изнајмити normally involves paid use of a flat, car, equipment, or service; позајмити presents a loan expected to be returned, typically without making payment central.

Ordinary lending and borrowing are not reflexive: do not add се. Mutual lending uses један другом / једна другој / једни другима, with the same dative recipient logic.

Комшије једни другима позајмљују алат уместо да свако купује исти сет.

The neighbors lend tools to one another instead of each buying the same set.

The noun позајмица means a loan. Зајам is common in financial and formal language, and the transparent phrases дати на зајам (lend) and узети на зајам (borrow) can remove ambiguity, though they sound more deliberate or formal than everyday позајмити.

Commands and a micro-dialogue

Perfective позајми/позајмите asks for one bounded loan. Because direction is not encoded in the verb, the added participant matters.

Позајми ми оловку на минут; моја је престала да пише.

Lend me a pencil for a minute; mine has stopped writing.

„Јеси ли купила овај објектив?“ — „Нисам, позајмила сам га од Јелене за викенд.“ — „Онда јој га врати пре пута.“

‘Did you buy this lens?’ — ‘No, I borrowed it from Jelena for the weekend.’ — ‘Then return it to her before the trip.’

The dialogue gives the source with од Јелене and later converts her into dative clitic јој as the recipient of the return.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Reverse the direction

Start with Petar lent Mina his bicycle. Then make Mina the subject and say that she borrowed it from Petar. Preserve accusative бицикл, but replace dative Мини with од Петра.

Task 2: Resolve an ambiguous sentence

Expand Лана је позајмила камеру in two ways: once so Lana is clearly the lender, and once so she is clearly the borrower. Then replace the human participant with an appropriate pronoun form.

Common Mistakes

❌ Позајмио сам пријатеља новац.

Incorrect for lending — the recipient must be dative, not accusative.

✅ Позајмио сам пријатељу новац.

I lent a friend some money. (male speaker)

❌ Позајмила сам књигу од њој.

Incorrect after од — a preposition requires the full genitive form ње.

✅ Позајмила сам књигу од ње.

I borrowed the book from her. (female speaker)

❌ Позајмио сам му га од њега.

Contradictory frame — му presents him as borrower, while од њега presents him as lender.

✅ Позајмио сам му га до петка.

I lent it to him until Friday. (male speaker)

❌ Библиотека не позајмљује се старе рукописе.

Incorrect — an active clause with accusative рукописе does not take reflexive се.

✅ Библиотека не позајмљује старе рукописе.

The library does not lend old manuscripts.

❌ Ако ми позајмеш пуњач, вратићу ти га сутра.

Incorrect perfective present — позајмити has позајмиш, not позајмеш.

✅ Ако ми позајмиш пуњач, вратићу ти га сутра.

If you lend me a charger, I'll return it to you tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

Modern позајмљивати — позајмити covers both lending and borrowing.
Lend: позајмити нешто некоме; borrow: позајмити нешто од некога.
A bare sentence such as Позајмила је пројектор can leave direction unspecified.
Dative and accusative clitics form јој га; a source after од uses a full genitive pronoun.
Use вратити for returning the item and distinguish a private loan from paid изнајмити and institutional узети кредит.

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