Разговарати means talk or have a conversation. Its most useful frame is разговарати с неким о нечему: the other participant follows с(а) + instrumental, while the topic follows о + locative. English talk to someone about something therefore cannot be translated by preserving English prepositions or object forms.
Principal forms and the aspectual network
| Form | разговарати (imperfective) | поразговарати (perfective) |
|---|---|---|
| present | разговарам, разговараш, разговара, разговарамо, разговарате, разговарају | поразговарам, поразговараш, поразговара, поразговарамо, поразговарате, поразговарају |
| l-participle | разговарао / разговарала | поразговарао / поразговарала |
| imperative | разговарај, разговарајмо, разговарајте | поразговарај, поразговарајмо, поразговарајте |
| future, 1st singular | разговараћу | поразговараћу |
The present stem is regular разговара-, and the masculine l-participle is разговарао, not a form shortened from English-style pronunciation. Imperfective разговарати presents an ongoing conversation, a habit, or the activity without a stated boundary.
Сваког понедељка разговарам с тимом о плану за наредну недељу.
Every Monday I talk with the team about the plan for the coming week.
Разговарали смо скоро два сата, али нисмо донели одлуку.
We talked for almost two hours, but we did not make a decision.
Perfective поразговарати means have a talk for a bounded stretch or address something in one conversation. It is not simply “finish talking”: по- packages an episode of conversation.
После ручка ћу поразговарати с управницом о новом уговору.
After lunch I'll have a talk with the manager about the new contract.
Попричати is another common perfective, often suggesting an informal or relatively brief chat. Договорити се means reach an agreement; it does not merely mean converse.
Хајде да попричамо кад завршиш смену.
Let's have a chat when you finish your shift. (informal)
Разговарали смо о цени, али се још нисмо договорили.
We discussed the price, but we still haven't reached an agreement.
These verbs belong to a lexical network, not a set of interchangeable aspect labels. The distinction is developed further under aspectual pairs versus related verbs.
The other participant: с(а) + instrumental
The person you converse with is introduced by с or са and takes the instrumental. Са is required before difficult clusters and is usual in са мном, са њим, са школом; elsewhere both distribution and speaker preference affect the choice.
Морам да разговарам с колегом који води тај пројекат.
I need to talk with the colleague who runs that project.
Да ли сте већ разговарали са њом о жалби?
Have you already spoken with her about the complaint? (plural or polite)
After a preposition, Serbian requires a full pronoun: са мном, с тобом, с њим, с њом, с нама, с вама, с њима. Dative and accusative clitics such as му and га cannot follow с(а).
The plural subject may itself contain all conversation participants, so a с-phrase is not obligatory.
Ана и ја често разговарамо после предавања.
Ana and I often talk after the lecture.
Serbian does not normally add се merely because the participants talk to one another. Разговарамо is enough. To stress reciprocity, use међусобно or an explicit reciprocal phrase.
Чланови комисије више не разговарају међусобно ван седница.
The committee members no longer talk to one another outside the meetings.
The topic: о + locative
What the conversation is about follows о and appears in the locative. All words inside the phrase must agree in that case.
Синоћ смо разговарали о могућем пресељењу у мањи стан.
Last night we talked about possibly moving to a smaller apartment.
Не желим да разговарам о том проблему пред децом.
I don't want to talk about that problem in front of the children.
With a pronoun, use the full locative form о мени, о теби, о њему, о њој, о нама, о вама, о њима.
Знам да сте разговарали о мени, па бих желела да чујем закључак.
I know you talked about me, so I'd like to hear the conclusion. (female speaker)
English often uses discuss without about. Serbian разговарати still needs о for the topic. A direct accusative belongs to разматрати предлог “consider a proposal” or дискутовати о предлогу “discuss a proposal,” not to neutral разговарати.
Combining participant and topic
Both complements can occur together in either order, although participant before topic is a useful neutral template.
Разговарала сам с лекарком о резултатима анализе.
I spoke with the doctor about the test results. (female speaker)
О новом распореду разговараћемо са свим запосленима појединачно.
We will discuss the new schedule with every employee individually.
The second sentence fronts the topic for discourse focus; its cases do not change. Serbian word order is flexible, but government is not.
If the content is a proposed action, о томе да + clause is possible, especially in formal explanation, but it can be heavy. Everyday speech often names the topic with a noun or restructures the sentence.
Разговарали смо о томе да састанак померимо за петак.
We discussed moving the meeting to Friday.
This does not mean разговарати да directly. The locative pronoun томе completes о томе, and the да-clause specifies its content.
Imperatives, negation, and clitics
Imperfective разговарајте invites or regulates the activity. Perfective поразговарајте asks the addressee to have one bounded conversation.
Разговарајте тише јер се у суседној соби одржава испит.
Talk more quietly because an exam is taking place in the next room. (plural or polite)
Поразговарај с њим пре него што одбијеш понуду.
Have a talk with him before you reject the offer.
Because the participant and topic follow prepositions, their pronouns are full forms rather than object clitics. Other clitics can still occur naturally, as in о томе смо разговарали and нисмо се договорили. The се in the latter belongs to договорити се, not to разговарати.
Micro-dialogue
„Можемо ли да разговарамо о распореду?“ — „Наравно. Да ли желиш да разговараш само са мном или са целим тимом?“ — „Прво бих поразговарао с тобом.“
‘Can we talk about the schedule?’ — ‘Of course. Do you want to speak only with me or with the whole team?’ — ‘I'd like to have a talk with you first.’ (male speaker)
The dialogue shows о + locative for the topic, са + instrumental for participants, and perfective поразговарао бих for one proposed conversation.
Practice Tasks
Task 1: Build the two complement slots
Translate “I spoke with the new manager about the contract.” Mark the participant as с(а) + instrumental and the topic as о + locative. Then replace both noun phrases with full pronouns.
Task 2: Choose the bounded meaning
Use разговарати for a weekly habit, поразговарати for one serious talk, and договорити се only in a sentence where an agreement is actually reached.
Common Mistakes
❌ Разговарао сам њега после састанка.
Incorrect — the other participant requires с(а) + instrumental, not a direct accusative object.
✅ Разговарао сам с њим после састанка.
I spoke with him after the meeting. (male speaker)
❌ Разговарали смо о коначни план селидбе.
Incorrect — о governs the locative, and both adjective and noun must decline.
✅ Разговарали смо о коначном плану селидбе.
We talked about the final moving plan.
❌ Јуче смо се разговарали скоро сат времена.
Incorrect in standard Serbian — разговарати does not take empty reflexive се.
✅ Јуче смо разговарали скоро сат времена.
Yesterday we talked for almost an hour.
❌ Разговарала сам с њу о проблему.
Incorrect — a preposition requires the full instrumental pronoun њом.
✅ Разговарала сам с њом о проблему.
I talked with her about the problem. (female speaker)
❌ Разговарали смо буџет цело јутро.
Incorrect — the topic of разговарати requires о + locative.
✅ Разговарали смо о буџету цело јутро.
We talked about the budget all morning.
Key Takeaways
- Learn the complete frame разговарати с неким о нечему.
- С(а) takes an instrumental participant; о takes a locative topic, and both require full pronouns.
- Разговарати is imperfective; поразговарати packages one talk, while попричати often suggests a chat.
- Договорити се means reach an agreement, and ordinary разговарати does not take reflexive се.
Now practice Serbian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- Verbs with Fixed PrepositionsB1 — Verb + preposition combinations and their cases.
- Instrumental: Means and AccompanimentA2 — The 'by means of' and 'with someone' functions.
- Locative: 'About' and Other UsesB1 — The o-locative for topics and the po/pri uses.
- Aspectual Pairs versus Related VerbsB1 — A focused guide to aspectual pairs versus related verbs in Serbian.
- zvati / nazvati (to call/phone)A2 — Calling, e-class vowel change.