tražiti / potražiti (to look for/seek) | Serbian Grammar

Тражити — потражити covers looking for, seeking, and requesting. Its most important contrast with English is government: the person or thing sought is a direct accusative object, with no Serbian equivalent of English for. Потражити presents a bounded attempt to seek something out; it does not itself guarantee that the search succeeds.

Principal forms and aspect

Both verbs follow the i-class pattern. The prefix по- does not change the present stem, but it adds a boundary to the act of seeking.

Form	Imperfective тражити	Perfective потражити
present	тражим, тражиш, тражи, тражимо, тражите, траже	потражим, потражиш, потражи, потражимо, потражите, потраже
l-participle	тражио, тражила, тражили	потражио, потражила, потражили
imperative	тражи, тражимо, тражите	потражи, потражимо, потражите
Future I	тражићу	потражићу

Већ недељама тражимо већи стан у овом крају.

We’ve been looking for a larger apartment in this neighborhood for weeks.

Потражићу други пуњач у фиоци, па ћу ти јавити.

I’ll look for another charger in the drawer and let you know.

The first sentence opens an extended search. The second commits to undertaking one bounded search, but it does not claim the charger will be found.

💡

Do not equate perfective with success. Потражити bounds the attempt; наћи states that the sought item was actually found.

Direct object: no “for”

The sought person or object is accusative: тражити кључеве, адресу, лекара, Марка. English look for Marko therefore becomes тражити Марка, not a prepositional phrase.

Тражим госпођу Петровић; имам заказан састанак у десет.

I’m looking for Ms. Petrović; I have an appointment at ten.

Цело јутро је тражио потврду о уплати.

He looked for the payment receipt all morning.

With a known object, use an accusative clitic in the normal early position.

Нисам га тражила у канцеларији јер сам мислила да ради од куће.

I didn’t look for him at the office because I thought he was working from home. (female speaker)

A full pronoun is used for contrast: Мене тражиш или њега? See object pronouns in practice.

Seeking help, work, and professional attention

The same direct-object frame covers abstract goals: тражити посао, помоћ, савет, објашњење. Perfective потражити is especially common when someone turns to a source of help.

После факултета је шест месеци тражила посао у струци.

After university, she looked for a job in her field for six months.

Ако се бол настави, потражите савет лекара.

If the pain continues, seek a doctor’s advice. (formal or plural addressee)

Потражити лекара means seek out or consult a doctor. It still does not mean “find a doctor successfully”; context may later state whether contact was made.

Asking for and demanding

Тражити also means ask for, request, or demand. The requested thing remains accusative. The person from whom it is requested appears with од + genitive.

Гост је тражио рачун и додатну чашу воде.

The guest asked for the bill and an extra glass of water.

Тражила сам од службе за подршку повраћај новца.

I requested a refund from customer support. (female speaker)

For a requested action, use тражити од некога да + present. The од phrase names the person expected to act; the finite да-clause identifies the action.

Директор тражи од свих запослених да промене лозинке.

The director is asking all employees to change their passwords.

Depending on tone and authority, English may translate this as ask, request, or demand. Serbian молити is normally more explicitly polite; захтевати is stronger and more formal. Тражити occupies a broad middle ground, so context supplies the force.

💡

For requests, keep the full frame: тражити нешто од некога or тражити од некога да уради нешто. English word order hides both Serbian government choices.

Reflexive and impersonal uses

Тражити се can be a se-passive or impersonal construction. In advertisements, тражи се means “wanted/required,” and the sought item or worker is grammatical subject.

За рад у вечерњој смени тражи се искусан кувар.

An experienced cook is wanted for evening-shift work. (advertising/administrative)

The subject controls agreement: траже се два кувара. In commerce, овај модел се много тражи means the model is in demand.

Ове зиме највише се траже водоотпорне чизме.

This winter, waterproof boots are in greatest demand.

This се does not belong to the ordinary transitive entry тражити нешто. Do not add it when simply saying that you are looking for your keys.

Претраживати — претражити means search through or systematically examine a place, device, or body of information: претражити стан, базу података, интернет. Наћи and пронаћи foreground the result. These are related events, not interchangeable aspect forms.

Do not use потраживати as the ordinary ongoing counterpart of потражити. In contemporary legal and economic language, потраживати commonly means claim or seek payment of something owed, as in потраживати дуг (formal/economic).

Претражили смо цео подрум, али нисмо нашли резервни кључ.

We searched the entire basement, but we didn’t find the spare key.

Micro-dialogue

— Шта тражиш? — Потврду из банке. Потражила сам је у торби, али је нисам нашла.

— What are you looking for? — The bank confirmation. I looked for it in my bag, but I didn’t find it. (female speaker)

The dialogue separates ongoing тражиш, bounded search потражила, and successful result нашла.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Remove the English preposition

Say that you are looking for a taxi and then replace такси with a clitic.

Тражим такси, али га у овом делу града нема.

I’m looking for a taxi, but there isn’t one in this part of town.

Task 2: Build a request frame

Ask your colleague to send the final version, using од + genitive and да + present.

Тражим од колеге да ми пошаље коначну верзију.

I’m asking my colleague to send me the final version.

Common Mistakes

Copying English “for”

❌ Тражимо за слободан сто поред прозора.

Incorrect—тражити takes a direct accusative object, without за.

✅ Тражимо слободан сто поред прозора.

We’re looking for a free table by the window.

Treating потражити as successful finding

❌ Потражио сам документ значи да сам га сигурно нашао.

Incorrect analysis—потражио сам says that a bounded search was undertaken, not that it succeeded.

✅ Потражио сам документ, али га нисам нашао.

I looked for the document, but I didn’t find it. (male speaker)

Giving the source a dative without од

❌ Тражила сам служби објашњење.

Incorrect—the source of a request is normally од + genitive: од службе.

✅ Тражила сам од службе објашњење.

I asked the department for an explanation. (female speaker)

Adding reflexive се to ordinary searching

❌ Тражим се кључеве од стана.

Incorrect—ordinary тражити is transitive; се belongs to passive or impersonal uses.

✅ Тражим кључеве од стана.

I’m looking for the apartment keys.

Key Takeaways

Тражити takes a direct accusative object: no preposition corresponding to English for.
Потражити bounds a search or act of seeking; наћи asserts success.
Requests use тражити нешто од некога or тражити од некога да + present.
Тражи се / траже се is a separate passive or impersonal pattern common in notices and demand statements.

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