pozdravljati / pozdraviti (to greet) | Serbian Grammar

Serbian поздрављати / поздравити means “greet,” but its construction changes with the social event. Nonreflexive поздравити некога takes the greeted person as a direct object. Reflexive поздравити се с неким presents a mutual greeting or leave-taking. A dative clitic in Поздрави ми Марка means “Say hello to Marko for me.”

Aspect adds another contrast: imperfective поздрављати presents repeated, ongoing, or formulaic greeting; perfective поздравити presents one bounded greeting. English greet, say hello, and say goodbye do not display either the aspect choice or the Serbian object frame.

One greeting versus a pattern

Perfective поздравити is the ordinary choice for one greeting at a meeting, arrival, departure, or public event.

На улазу сам поздравила домаћицу и предала јој цвеће.

At the entrance I greeted the hostess and handed her the flowers. (female speaker)

Градоначелник је поздравио госте и отворио конференцију.

The mayor welcomed the guests and opened the conference.

Imperfective поздрављати presents a habit, a series, or the greeting as a repeated social practice.

Комшија нас увек поздравља кад се сретнемо у лифту.

Our neighbor always greets us when we meet in the elevator.

Док је улазила у салу, поздрављала је колеге једног по једног.

As she entered the hall, she greeted her colleagues one by one.

Each colleague may receive a complete greeting, but the imperfective gathers the series into one unfolding scene.

💡

Use поздравити when the greeting is one step in a sequence. Use поздрављати when the discourse watches the greetings unfold or presents them as a routine.

Complete present paradigms

The two verbs use different present classes: поздрављати has -ам, while поздравити has -им.

Person	поздрављати (imperfective)	поздравити (perfective)
ја	поздрављам	поздравим
ти	поздрављаш	поздравиш
он / она / оно	поздравља	поздрави
ми	поздрављамо	поздравимо
ви	поздрављате	поздравите
они / оне / она	поздрављају	поздраве

Овим путем поздрављамо све учеснике летње школе.

We would like to greet all participants in the summer school. (formal)

Кад поздравимо последње госте, почећемо званични део програма.

When we have greeted the final guests, we will begin the official part of the program.

Perfective поздравимо receives future interpretation after кад and presents the arrival greetings as a bounded preliminary step.

Ordinary Serbian spelling does not mark pitch accent or vowel length. Memorize поздрављати — поздрављам — поздрављају and поздравити — поздравим — поздраве.

L-participles, future, and imperatives

Form	поздрављати	поздравити
l-participle, m. / f. / n. singular	поздрављао / поздрављала / поздрављало	поздравио / поздравила / поздравило
l-participle, m. / f. / n. plural	поздрављали / поздрављале / поздрављала	поздравили / поздравиле / поздравила
Future I, 1st singular	поздрављаћу	поздравићу
imperative, 2nd sg. / 1st pl. / 2nd pl.	поздрављај / поздрављајмо / поздрављајте	поздрави / поздравимо / поздравите

Perfective поздрави / поздравите is the normal way to ask someone to convey one greeting. Imperfective поздрављај is useful for a recurring instruction.

Поздрави Јасну кад је видиш и реци јој да ми недостаје.

Say hello to Jasna when you see her and tell her I miss her.

Поздрављај баку сваки пут кад свратиш код ње.

Make sure to greet Grandma every time you stop by her place.

Nonreflexive: поздравити некога

The greeted person is accusative. This remains true when the person is an object clitic.

Нисам га одмах препознала, али сам га ипак љубазно поздравила.

I did not recognize him immediately, but I greeted him politely anyway. (female speaker)

The two occurrences of га are accusative because препознати and поздравити both take direct objects.

In speeches and letters, imperfective present can perform the greeting while it is uttered.

Поштоване колегинице и колеге, срдачно вас поздрављам у име организатора.

Dear colleagues, I warmly greet you on behalf of the organizers. (formal)

At the end of a professional message, Срдачно вас поздрављам is a conventional (formal) closing. It is not a literal report of repeated physical greetings.

Reflexive: поздравити се с(а) неким

With се, the construction presents reciprocal greeting or leave-taking. The other participant follows с / са + instrumental.

Поздравили смо се с домаћинима и кренули према станици.

We said goodbye to the hosts and headed toward the station.

При сусрету су се кратко поздравили и одмах прешли на посао.

When they met, they greeted each other briefly and immediately got down to business.

The first context makes leave-taking clear; the second makes an arrival greeting clear. Reflexive се does not by itself mean either hello or goodbye.

Use the full prepositional participant after с(а); an accusative direct object belongs to the nonreflexive construction. The broader behavior of reciprocal се is covered under reflexive verbs.

Sending someone’s regards

In Поздрави ми Марка, accusative Марка is the person greeted and dative ми means “for me/on my behalf.” With two clitics, dative precedes accusative.

Поздрави ми га кад будете разговарали.

Give him my regards when you talk.

The cluster ми га follows the normal dative-before-accusative order. The dative does not replace the greeted person.

Another explicit option is пренети некоме поздраве “convey regards to someone.”

Пренеси родитељима наше поздраве и захвали им на помоћи.

Give your parents our regards and thank them for their help.

Here родитељима is dative after пренети, while поздраве is the accusative message. Do not assume that every English phrase with regards uses the same frame as поздравити.

Extended formal meanings

In (formal) and (journalistic) language, поздравити can mean welcome, endorse, or publicly acknowledge a decision or development.

Удружење је поздравило одлуку да се парк заштити од даље градње.

The association welcomed the decision to protect the park from further construction. (formal/journalistic)

This is not a face-to-face greeting. The direct object still appears in the accusative, but the lexical meaning is “respond favorably to.”

Do not confuse поздравити with честитати. Birthdays, achievements, and holidays normally use честитати некоме нешто rather than greeting the occasion itself.

Clitics in the reflexive perfect

With third-person singular се, the perfect auxiliary је is omitted.

Милица се поздравила с колегама пре него што је напустила канцеларију.

Milica said goodbye to her colleagues before she left the office.

The correct cluster is се поздравила, not one containing се је. In first person, the auxiliary remains: Поздравио сам се.

Micro-dialogue

— Јеси ли поздравила тетку? — Јесам, а кад смо се растајале, рекла сам јој да је ти много поздрављаш.

— Did you greet your aunt? — Yes, and when we said goodbye, I told her that you send her your best. (female speakers)

Nonreflexive поздравила takes the aunt as its object. Reciprocal смо се растајале describes the two women parting, and imperfective поздрављаш conveys continuing good wishes.

Common Mistakes

Putting the greeted person in the dative

❌ Поздравио сам новом комшији испред зграде.

Incorrect — nonreflexive ‘поздравити’ takes the greeted person in the accusative.

✅ Поздравио сам новог комшију испред зграде.

I greeted the new neighbor in front of the building. (male speaker)

Mixing the reflexive and transitive frames

❌ Поздравили смо се домаћине пре поласка.

Incorrect — reciprocal ‘поздравити се’ requires ‘с(а) + instrumental’.

✅ Поздравили смо се с домаћинима пре поласка.

We said goodbye to the hosts before leaving.

Retaining је beside се

❌ Ана се је поздравила са свима на излазу.

Incorrect — third-person singular auxiliary ‘је’ is omitted beside ‘се’.

✅ Ана се поздравила са свима на излазу.

Ana said goodbye to everyone at the exit.

Using поздравити for congratulations

❌ Поздравио сам јој нови посао.

Incorrect for ‘congratulated her on the new job’ — use ‘честитати’ with a dative recipient.

✅ Честитао сам јој нови посао.

I congratulated her on her new job. (male speaker)

Practice

Task 1: Choose the participant frame

Write one sentence with поздравити + accusative, one with поздравити се с(а) + instrumental, and one command with dative + accusative clitics meaning “Give him my regards.”

Task 2: Change the viewpoint

Describe one reception first as a series of greetings in progress with поздрављати, then as one completed greeting with поздравити. Add a formal email closing and label its register.

Key Takeaways

Поздрављати presents repeated or unfolding greeting; поздравити presents one bounded greeting.
Nonreflexive поздравити takes an accusative person; reciprocal поздравити се takes с(а) + instrumental.
In Поздрави ми га, dative ми means “for me,” and accusative га is the person greeted.
Formal поздравити одлуку means welcome or endorse a decision; congratulations normally use честитати.

Now practice Serbian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Serbian →