voleti (to love/like) | Serbian Grammar

Волети covers love, affection, and established liking or preference. With a person it often means “love”; with food, places, objects, and recurring activities it frequently means “like” or “enjoy.” It is a transitive verb: the experiencer is the subject, and the person or thing loved is accusative. This makes its sentence frame fundamentally different from dative-experiencer свиђати се.

Principal forms

Form	волети
present	волим, волиш, воли, волимо, волите, воле
l-participle	волео, волела, волело; волели, волеле, волела
imperative	воли, волимо, волите
future, 1st singular	волећу
conditional	волео бих / волела бих

The Ekavian infinitive волети has the i-class present волим. The l-participle alternates for gender: волео/волела. Standard Ijekavian Serbian uses вољети, волио/вољела; this guide keeps the Ekavian set consistent.

Волим своју породицу, али ценим и време које проводим сама.

I love my family, but I also value the time I spend alone. (female speaker)

Мој деда је волео старе радио-драме и слушао их је сваке недеље.

My grandfather loved old radio plays and listened to them every week.

A transitive experiencer frame

The subject feels the affection or preference; its target is accusative.

Она воли јак чај без шећера, а њен брат више воли кафу.

She likes strong tea without sugar, while her brother prefers coffee.

Деца воле новог учитеља јер стрпљиво одговара на питања.

The children like the new teacher because he answers questions patiently.

Masculine animate учитељ becomes accusative новог учитеља. Pronoun objects are га, је/ју, их.

Овај писац ми је много значио као тинејџеру и још волим његове књиге.

This writer meant a lot to me as a teenager, and I still love his books.

💡

Map волети like an ordinary transitive verb: I love her → ја је волим. Do not add се, and do not put the experiencer in the dative.

Love, stable liking, and preference

The strength of волети depends on its object and context. With close people it normally expresses affection or love. With coffee, a city, a style, or a routine it means an established preference and need not sound emotionally intense.

Волимо Београд, иако нам понекад смета саобраћајна гужва.

We love Belgrade, although the traffic sometimes bothers us.

Не волим слатке доручке; радије једем јаја или сир.

I don't like sweet breakfasts; I'd rather eat eggs or cheese.

Више волети X него Y means prefer X to Y. With an action, радије often gives a compact preference.

Више волим воз него аутобус, али на кратке релације радије идем пешке.

I prefer the train to the bus, but for short distances I'd rather walk.

Negative не волим can range from simple dislike to emotional distance. Strong “hate” is мрзети, so do not automatically overtranslate every negative preference.

Activities: да + present and the infinitive

For a recurring activity, волети takes a same-subject да + present clause or an infinitive. Both are standard; да + present is especially common in everyday Serbian.

Волим да кувам за пријатеље кад имамо довољно времена.

I like cooking for friends when we have enough time.

Не волимо чекати у реду, па карте обично купимо преко интернета.

We don't like waiting in line, so we usually buy tickets online. (standard infinitive)

The preferred activity is normally habitual or generic, so an imperfective complement is common: кувати, чекати, шетати. A perfective can be natural when the preference targets a repeatable completed result.

Волим да завршим извештај дан раније, да бих га ујутру мирно прочитала.

I like to finish the report a day early so I can read it calmly in the morning. (female speaker)

Here each occurrence includes a completed report; завршим is not a one-time immediate plan.

Волети versus свиђати се

The difference is viewpoint, not simply “strong” versus “weak.” Волети frames an established feeling or preference from the experiencer outward. Свиђати се frames a person or thing as making a favorable impression on a dative experiencer.

Свиђа ми се овај албум; први пут га слушам.

I like this album; I'm listening to it for the first time.

Волим овај албум; знам скоро све песме напамет.

I love this album; I know almost all the songs by heart.

With a person, она ми се свиђа often suggests attraction or a favorable impression; волим је states affection or love.

Милошу се Ана свиђа, али је још не познаје довољно да би рекао да је воли.

Miloš likes Ana, but he doesn't know her well enough yet to say that he loves her.

See the full choice guide for the two sentence architectures.

Aspectual network: a state and its beginning

Core волети is imperfective and stative. It has no neutral perfective that simply means “love once.” Perfective заволети means begin or come to love/like; the prefix changes the event into an onset.

У почетку ми је град деловао хладно, али сам га временом заволела.

At first the city felt cold to me, but over time I grew to love it. (female speaker)

Заволети does not replace волети for the later continuing state: after the onset, сада га волим.

Clitics and past forms

Accusative object clitics occupy ordinary second position. Before third-person singular auxiliary је, feminine accusative is ју.

Нисам га одмах разумела, али сам га временом заволела.

I didn't understand him immediately, but over time I grew fond of him. (female speaker)

Марко ју је волео, али то никада није умео да покаже.

Marko loved her, but he never knew how to show it.

The l-participle agrees with the experiencer-subject: Марко је волео, Ана је волела. It does not agree with the loved object.

Reciprocal волети се

With a plural subject, волети се can mean love one another.

И после четрдесет година они се воле и подржавају као на почетку.

Even after forty years, they love and support each other as they did at the beginning.

Depending on context, волети се can also carry an intimate sexual meaning. That reading is (informal/euphemistic) and should be inferred from context. Do not add се when the object is a thing: волим музику, not волим се музика.

Conditional волео/волела бих

The conditional often means “I would like,” especially in polite requests or tentative wishes. This conventional use is weaker than literal “I would love.”

Волела бих да резервишем сто за четири особе у осам.

I'd like to reserve a table for four at eight. (female speaker; polite)

Волео бих још једном да проверим услове пре потписивања.

I'd like to check the terms once more before signing. (male speaker; polite)

For a direct one-time intention, хоћу or желим may be more exact; волим да by itself normally describes preference, not an immediate decision.

Micro-dialogue

„Да ли ти се свиђа нови кафић?“ — „Свиђа ми се простор, али не волим њихову кафу.“ — „Ја је волим, али бих волела да имају више чајева.“

‘Do you like the new café?’ — ‘I like the space, but I don't like their coffee.’ — ‘I like it, but I wish they had more teas.’

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Object or experiencer?

Translate I love her with волети, then I like her / I am attracted to her with свиђати се. Label the accusative object in the first and the dative experiencer in the second.

Task 2: State or onset?

Write a short pair saying that you gradually came to love a neighborhood and now love living there. Use заволети for the onset and волети for the continuing preference.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ја волим са новом колегиницом.

Incorrect government — the loved person is a direct accusative object without са.

✅ Волим нову колегиницу и радо радим с њом.

I like the new colleague and enjoy working with her.

❌ Волим се ова музика.

Incorrect — ordinary волети is transitive; the object is accusative and се is absent.

✅ Волим ову музику.

I like this music.

❌ Волим да кренем одмах, јер касним.

Incorrect for one immediate intention — волети describes preference, not the decision required now.

✅ Хоћу да кренем одмах, јер касним.

I want to leave immediately because I'm late.

❌ Ана је волео ту песму као дете.

Incorrect agreement — feminine Ана requires волела.

✅ Ана је волела ту песму као дете.

Ana loved that song as a child.

❌ Заволети је само свршени облик за било коју завршену љубав.

Incorrect — заволети marks the beginning of affection, not a completed state of loving.

✅ Временом сам заволео тај посао и сада га волим.

Over time I grew to love that job, and now I love it. (male speaker)

Key Takeaways

Волети is transitive: experiencer subject + accusative person or thing.
It covers affection and established preferences; context determines the emotional strength.
Activities take same-subject да + present or an infinitive.
Свиђати се presents favorable impression with a dative experiencer; it is not merely a weaker synonym.
Core волети has no neutral perfective; заволети means come to love.

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