primati / primiti (to receive / accept) | Serbian Grammar

Примати — примити covers receiving an item or payment, accepting something offered, welcoming or seeing a person, and admitting someone into a job, institution, or group. Imperfective примати presents a routine, repeated reception, or process; perfective примити presents one successful reception or admission. English receive and accept overlap here, but Serbian still distinguishes примити from result-focused добити and decision-focused прихватити.

Principal forms

Form	примати (imperfective)	примити (perfective)
present	примам, примаш, прима, примамо, примате, примају	примим, примиш, прими, примимо, примите, приме
l-participle	примао / примала	примио / примила
imperative	примај, примајмо, примајте	прими, примимо, примите
future, 1st singular	примаћу	примићу

The imperfective has -ам forms; the perfective has -им, with third-person plural приме. Do not build приму by analogy. Both futures fuse after loss of infinitival -ти.

На овој адреси примамо пошиљке само радним данима до четири.

We receive deliveries at this address only on weekdays until four.

Примила сам пакет и потписала потврду куриру.

I received the parcel and signed the receipt for the courier. (female speaker)

The received item or person is accusative

The item, message, payment, guest, patient, or new member is a direct accusative object: примити пакет, поруку, уплату, госта, пацијенткињу. Masculine animate nouns display the animate accusative.

Рецепционар је примио новог госта и показао му собу.

The receptionist welcomed the new guest and showed him the room.

Још нисмо примили коначну фактуру од добављача.

We still haven't received the final invoice from the supplier.

The source is commonly од + genitive. After the preposition, a pronoun must be full: од њега, од ње, од њих, not a clitic.

Aspect: routine intake versus one reception

Use примати for repeated or scheduled receiving, an institution’s general policy, or an event viewed internally. Use примити when one object, person, or application reaches the reception boundary.

Док је службеница примала документа, систем је изненада престао да ради.

While the clerk was receiving the documents, the system suddenly stopped working.

Кад примимо вашу уплату, послаћемо вам потврду електронском поштом.

When we receive your payment, we'll send you confirmation by email.

Perfective present примимо is future-oriented in the кад-clause. An activity happening now would use примамо.

Лекарка прима пацијенте понедељком, али је данас примила само хитне случајеве.

The doctor sees patients on Mondays, but today she saw only emergency cases.

The routine takes imperfective прима; today’s bounded set takes примила.

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Reception is a boundary: imperfective watches the intake or presents a recurring policy; perfective confirms that one item or participant crossed into the receiver’s sphere.

Примити, добити, and прихватити

These verbs overlap but answer different questions:

Verb	Foregrounded meaning	Typical example
добити	come to have, obtain, be given	добити награду / одговор
примити	receive into one’s hands, system, office, or care	примити пакет / пацијента
прихватити	deliberately accept rather than reject	прихватити понуду / позив

Добио сам пакет јуче, али га је уместо мене примио комшија.

I got the parcel yesterday, but my neighbor accepted the delivery for me. (male speaker)

Добио сам пакет reports the outcome for the intended recipient. Комшија га је примио identifies the person who physically received it.

Примила је позив на конференцију, али га још није прихватила.

She received an invitation to the conference, but she hasn't accepted it yet.

This contrast is essential: receiving an invitation does not entail agreeing to attend. The dedicated добити reference develops the result-focused verb.

Guests, patients, clients, and office hours

With people, примити can mean welcome, grant an appointment, examine, hire, or admit, depending on the institutional frame.

Амбасадор је примио делегацију у свом кабинету.

The ambassador received the delegation in his office. (formal)

Педијатар ће вас примити чим заврши тренутни преглед.

The pediatrician will see you as soon as the current examination is finished.

In service language, примати странке means receive members of the public or clients during office hours. It is not a word-for-word equivalent of accept parties.

Admission adds a destination or status phrase:

Frame	Meaning
примити некога у болницу	admit someone to hospital
примити некога на посао	hire/take someone on
примити некога у чланство	admit someone to membership
примити некога на факултет	admit someone to a faculty/university program

После разговора су је примили на посао у корисничкој подршци.

After the interview they hired her for a customer-support position.

The accusative clitic је refers to the woman admitted; на посао names the status entered.

Payments, medicine, signals, and blows

The pair appears in several conventional object combinations:

примати плату / пензију — receive a salary/pension regularly
примити вакцину / терапију — receive a vaccine/treatment
примити сигнал — receive a signal
примити ударац — take/sustain a blow
примити к знању — take note/acknowledge (formal)

После прегледа примио је вакцину и остао петнаест минута у чекаоници.

After the examination he received the vaccine and stayed in the waiting room for fifteen minutes.

Суд је примио к знању нову адресу окривљеног.

The court took note of the defendant's new address. (formal/legal)

These are lexical combinations. English make a decision is донети одлуку, never примити одлуку.

Clitics and feminine ју before auxiliary је

The accusative object can be га, је/ју, их. With auxiliary је, feminine ју prevents the sequence је је.

Пошиљка је стигла јутрос; Јелена ју је примила на главном улазу.

The delivery arrived this morning; Jelena received it at the main entrance.

Without that auxiliary, је is normal: Нисам је примио means I did not receive it / see her. A source phrase remains full after од.

Позив сам примио од секретарице, али га је потписао директор.

I received the invitation from the secretary, but the director signed it. (male speaker)

Passive се, passive participle, and result

Institutions often announce intake with passive се. The grammatical subject controls number.

Пријаве се примају до петка у дванаест часова.

Applications are accepted until Friday at noon.

Perfective passive participle примљен reports that reception or admission occurred. It does not automatically mean approved.

Ваш захтев је примљен, али одлука још није донета.

Your application has been received, but a decision has not yet been made.

Примљен may also mean admitted or hired when the complement supplies that frame: примљена је у болницу, примљен је на посао.

Lexical примити се can mean take root or become established, especially of a plant or an idea. This is not the ordinary reception construction.

Млада воћка се добро примила упркос сушном пролећу.

The young fruit tree took root well despite the dry spring.

Commands, formulas, and a micro-dialogue

Perfective прими/примите can request one act of acceptance. Certain formulas are (formal) or solemn: Примите моје саучешће means Please accept my condolences.

Примите наше извињење због кашњења са одговором.

Please accept our apology for the delay in replying. (formal)

„Да ли сте примили моју пријаву?“ — „Јесмо, примљена је јуче у десет.“ — „Да ли то значи да је одобрена?“ — „Не, комисија тек треба да одлучи.“

‘Did you receive my application?’ — ‘Yes, it was received yesterday at ten.’ — ‘Does that mean it was approved?’ — ‘No, the committee still has to decide.’

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Choose among three verbs

Use добити, примити, or прихватити to say that an invitation arrived, a receptionist physically took it, and the invited person agreed to attend. Explain what each verb foregrounds.

Task 2: Build an admission frame

Translate They admitted the new patient to hospital and received her documents. Mark the animate accusative, destination у + accusative, and feminine object clitic for the documents if you replace them with a pronoun.

Common Mistakes

❌ Болница је примила нови пацијент јутрос.

Incorrect animate accusative — masculine пацијент becomes пацијента.

✅ Болница је примила новог пацијента јутрос.

The hospital admitted a new patient this morning.

❌ Примила сам позив, дакле сигурно ћу доћи.

Incorrect if the intended meaning is ‘I accepted’ — примити says the invitation arrived, not that it was accepted.

✅ Прихватила сам позив, дакле доћи ћу.

I accepted the invitation, so I will come. (female speaker)

❌ Ваш захтев је примљен и зато је одобрен.

Incorrect inference — received does not itself mean approved.

✅ Ваш захтев је примљен и послат на разматрање.

Your application has been received and sent for review.

❌ Пријаве се прима до краја месеца.

Incorrect agreement — plural пријаве requires примају.

✅ Пријаве се примају до краја месеца.

Applications are accepted until the end of the month.

❌ Јуче смо примили одлуку после дуге расправе.

Wrong light verb if ‘made a decision’ is intended — Serbian uses донети одлуку.

✅ Јуче смо донели одлуку после дуге расправе.

Yesterday we made a decision after a long discussion.

Key Takeaways

Learn примати — примам and примити — примим — приме — примио/примила as an aspect pair.
The received item or person is accusative; a source commonly follows од + genitive.
Добити foregrounds acquiring a result, примити reception or admission, and прихватити a decision to accept.
With people, complements distinguish welcoming, seeing a patient, hiring, and institutional admission.
Захтев је примљен means received, not necessarily approved; passive се must agree with its subject.

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