Nemoj da počneš vežbu bez zagrevanja.

Nemoj is used to make a negative command to one person you address as ti.

So:

• Nemoj da počneš... = Don’t start...

It comes from the verb moći / hteti? No—in this pattern, it functions as a fixed imperative-style form meaning don’t.

Related forms:

• Nemoj = don’t you (singular, informal)
• Nemojte = don’t you (plural or polite)

So if you were speaking politely or to several people, you would say:

• Nemojte da počnete vežbu bez zagrevanja.

In Serbian, a very common way to form negative commands is:

• Nemoj / Nemojte + da + present tense

So:

• Nemoj da počneš = Don’t start

This is one of the most natural and standard patterns in everyday Serbian.

English uses don’t + verb, but Serbian often uses nemoj da + verb.

Because after da, Serbian usually uses a present-tense form, not the infinitive.

So instead of something like:

• Nemoj da početi ❌

you say:

• Nemoj da počneš ✅

Here, počneš is the 2nd person singular present form of početi (to begin / to start).

That matches the person implied by nemoj: you are telling one person not to do something.

Početi is a perfective verb, and that makes sense here because the sentence is warning against starting something as a whole event.

• početi = to begin, to start (perfective)
• počinjati / početi? The usual imperfective partner is počinjati or in many contexts početi simply covers the action of starting as a completed event.

In commands like this, Serbian often uses the perfective when the speaker means:

• Don’t do this event
• Don’t start

So Nemoj da počneš sounds natural because it means don’t begin.

Vežbu is in the accusative singular.

The base form is:

• vežba = exercise

Since it is the direct object of the verb počneš (start what?), it goes into the accusative:

• vežba → vežbu

This is a regular pattern for many feminine nouns ending in -a:

• knjiga → knjigu
• vežba → vežbu

Bez means without, and it requires the genitive case.

The noun is:

• zagrevanje = warm-up / warming up

After bez, it becomes:

• bez zagrevanja = without a warm-up

So:

• zagrevanje → zagrevanja (genitive singular)

This is a very common thing to remember in Serbian:

• bez + genitive

Examples:

• bez vode = without water
• bez vremena = without time
• bez zagrevanja = without warming up / without a warm-up

Vežba can mean several related things depending on context:

• exercise
• drill
• practice exercise
• sometimes even part of a workout

In this sentence, it most likely means:

• an exercise
• or a workout exercise / training exercise

So the sentence could be used in a gym, sports, physical education, or rehabilitation context.

Zagrevanje literally means warming up or warm-up.

In this sentence, bez zagrevanja means:

• without warming up
• without a warm-up

Serbian often uses verbal nouns like this, where English might choose either:

• a noun: without a warm-up
• or an -ing form: without warming up

Both are natural translations depending on context.

Yes. Serbian usually omits subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb form.

Here, the sentence is directed to one person, and that is already clear from:

• Nemoj
• počneš

So you normally do not need to say ti.

You could add it for emphasis:

• Ti nemoj da počneš vežbu bez zagrevanja.

But that would sound more emphatic, like You—don’t start the exercise without warming up.

It is informal singular.

You use it when speaking to:

• one person
• in a ti situation

That is why you have:

• Nemoj
• počneš

For formal singular or plural, you would say:

• Nemojte da počnete vežbu bez zagrevanja.

So the difference is:

• Nemoj da počneš... = don’t start... (one person, informal)
• Nemojte da počnete... = don’t start... (plural or polite)

Yes. A few alternatives are possible, but Nemoj da počneš vežbu bez zagrevanja is very natural.

For example:

• Ne počinji vežbu bez zagrevanja.

That also means Don’t start the exercise without warming up, but it uses a different type of negative imperative.

The nemoj da + verb pattern is especially common and often feels very natural in everyday speech.

Yes, Serbian word order is fairly flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others.

The neutral version is:

• Nemoj da počneš vežbu bez zagrevanja.

You might also hear:

• Bez zagrevanja nemoj da počneš vežbu.

This puts extra emphasis on without warming up.

So the meaning stays basically the same, but the focus can shift depending on word order.

The letter ž is pronounced like the s in measure or the g in genre.

So:

• vežbu sounds roughly like VEZH-boo

And:

• zagrevanja is roughly zah-greh-VAHN-yah or zah-greh-VAH-nya, depending on how closely you approximate Serbian sounds.

The important point is that ž is a voiced sound, not like English z and not like English j.

It can mean either, depending on how natural you want the English to sound.

Literally, zagrevanje is a noun, so:

• bez zagrevanja = without a warm-up

But in natural English, you will often translate it as:

• without warming up

So both are good, and this is a nice example of how Serbian often uses a noun where English may prefer an -ing form.