Present Tense: -i- Verbs | Serbian Grammar

The Serbian i-class uses the present endings heard in радим, говориш, носе. Many infinitives in -ити and Ekavian -ети follow this pattern, but the infinitive is still only a clue: пити → пијем and бити → будем/јесам belong elsewhere. Learn the present forms with the infinitive.

The complete paradigm

Use говорити “speak” as the model. The full ending series is -им, -иш, -и, -имо, -ите, -е.

Person	говорити	Meaning
ја	говорим	I speak / am speaking
ти	говориш	you speak
он/она/оно	говори	he/she/it speaks
ми	говоримо	we speak
ви/Ви	говорите	you speak
они/оне/она	говоре	they speak

Говорим српски на послу, а код куће најчешће говорим холандски.

I speak Serbian at work, and at home I usually speak Dutch.

Колегинице говоре тихо јер састанак још траје.

The colleagues are speaking quietly because the meeting is still in progress.

The third-person plural ending is -е, not -ију or -ају. Subject pronouns are usually omitted because the ending identifies person and number.

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Use two diagnostic forms: говорим — говоре, радим — раде, носим — носе. The pair -им / -е identifies the i-class quickly.

Frequent -ити verbs

For many regular -ити verbs, remove -ити and add the i-class endings:

Infinitive	1st singular	3rd plural	Meaning
радити	радим	раде	work
носити	носим	носе	carry/wear
учити	учим	уче	learn/study/teach
мислити	мислим	мисле	think
молити	молим	моле	ask/beg

Радимо до шест, али данас завршавамо мало раније.

We work until six, but today we're finishing a little earlier.

Зими носим дебелу јакну чак и кад не пада снег.

In winter I wear a thick jacket even when it is not snowing.

Учити illustrates why government and context matter: учим српски means “I am learning Serbian,” while учим децу српском језику can mean “I teach children Serbian.” Conjugation class does not fix the verb's argument structure.

Ekavian -ети verbs in the same class

Several very common Ekavian infinitives in -ети have i-class presents: видети — видим, живети — живим, седети — седим, волети — волим. In Ijekavian Serbian the corresponding infinitives include видјети, живјети, сједјети, вољети, with their own standard forms; do not mix Ekavian and Ijekavian reflexes within one sentence.

Живим близу станице, па обично идем пешке.

I live near the station, so I usually walk.

Видиш ли ону плаву зграду на крају улице?

Do you see that blue building at the end of the street?

Волимо овај ресторан јер увек служи свеже поврће.

We like this restaurant because it always serves fresh vegetables.

The present class does not guarantee that every other form keeps the same consonants. Imperatives and participles can expose alternations: видим — види, but видети — видео/видела. Learn related forms without changing the present endings.

Important exceptions to the infinitive clue

Not every -ити verb is i-class. Пити has пијем, пијеш, пију; бити has irregular present series such as јесам and будем. Conversely, class membership is defined by present morphology, not spelling.

Пијем воду док остали пију кафу.

I'm drinking water while the others drink coffee.

This is an e-class pattern despite infinitive пити. A dictionary entry or a learned first-person singular prevents the invented form пим.

See Present Stem and Conjugation Classes for comparison with the a- and e-classes.

Present meaning and aspect

Imperfective i-class verbs readily describe an action happening now, a habit, or a general state.

Тренутно радим од куће јер нам реновирају канцеларију.

I'm currently working from home because our office is being renovated.

Мислим да овај план може да успе.

I think this plan can succeed.

Perfective verbs can also have i-class present endings: купити — купим, завршити — завршим, одлучити — одлучим. Their present forms usually occur in subordinate, modal, habitual-completive, or future-oriented contexts rather than describing an event unfolding at the moment of speech.

Кад купим карте, послаћу ти број седишта.

When I buy the tickets, I'll send you the seat number.

Желим да завршим овај посао пре ручка.

I want to finish this job before lunch.

Купим is morphologically present but future in reference after кад. Завршим is present inside a finite да complement. English tense labels do not determine the Serbian form independently of aspect and clause type.

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Do not translate perfective купим as an ongoing “I am buying.” For an activity in progress Serbian uses an imperfective partner such as купујем; perfective купим presents the purchase as a bounded occurrence.

Negation, questions, and clitics

Regular negation is separate не + present. A question uses да ли, postverbal ли, or intonation, with no English-style do/does.

Не радим петком после подне.

I don't work on Friday afternoons.

Да ли говорите енглески?

Do you speak English? (plural or polite)

Мислиш ли да ћемо стићи пре кише?

Do you think we'll arrive before the rain?

Object and reflexive clitics keep their second-position behavior:

Носим га у сервис јер се поново покварио.

I'm taking it to the repair shop because it broke down again.

Сваког понедељка јој носим извештаје на потпис.

Every Monday I bring her the reports to sign.

The verb controls case independently of class. Помоћи takes dative, волети takes accusative, and мислити о takes locative after о.

Често мислим о пријатељима који живе у иностранству.

I often think about friends who live abroad.

Practice Tasks

Task 1: Build and classify

Conjugate радити in all six persons. Then compare живети — живим — живе with пити — пијем — пију and explain why infinitive spelling alone is not decisive.

Task 2: Separate class, aspect, and time

Explain Сада радим and Кад завршим, позваћу те. Identify both i-class presents, their aspects, and why only one refers to an action currently unfolding.

Common Mistakes

❌ Они говори српски на послу.

Incorrect — third-person plural requires говоре; говори is singular.

✅ Они говоре српски на послу.

They speak Serbian at work.

❌ Ми радимо, а ви радимо од куће.

Incorrect — the ви form is радите, not радимо.

✅ Ми радимо у канцеларији, а ви радите од куће.

We work in the office, and you work from home.

❌ Сваког јутра пим чај без шећера.

Incorrect — пити is not an i-class verb; its first-person present is пијем.

✅ Сваког јутра пијем чај без шећера.

Every morning I drink tea without sugar.

❌ Да ли она говорити немачки?

Incorrect English-style question structure — Serbian requires finite говори.

✅ Да ли она говори немачки?

Does she speak German?

❌ Ана је радио цео викенд.

Incorrect — the past l-participle must agree with the feminine subject: радила.

✅ Ана је радила цео викенд.

Ana worked all weekend.

Key Takeaways

The i-class endings are -им, -иш, -и, -имо, -ите, -е.
Many -ити and Ekavian -ети verbs belong here, but пити and бити show why dictionary forms matter.
Present class does not determine aspect: радим is imperfective, while завршим is perfective.
Negation, questions, clitic order, and case government operate independently of conjugation class.

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