Breakdown of Nemojte da vežbate pre nego što se istegnete.
nemoj da
do not
pre nego što
before
vežbati
to exercise
istegnuti se
to stretch one's body
Questions & Answers about Nemojte da vežbate pre nego što se istegnete.
Why does the sentence start with nemojte instead of just a normal negation like ne?
Because nemojte is the usual way to make a negative command in Serbian.
So instead of simply negating the verb, Serbian commonly uses:
nemoj / nemojte + da + present tense
In this sentence:
- nemojte = don’t when speaking to more than one person or to one person formally
- da vežbate = that you exercise / to exercise in this construction
So Nemojte da vežbate means Don’t exercise.
A few related forms:
- Nemoj da vežbaš. = Don’t exercise. (informal singular)
- Nemojte da vežbate. = Don’t exercise. (plural or formal singular)
Why is da vežbate used after nemojte?
After nemojte, Serbian normally uses da + present tense.
So:
- nemojte da vežbate
- literally something like don’t that you exercise
- naturally: don’t exercise
This is a very common Serbian pattern. English uses the bare verb after don’t, but Serbian usually uses da plus a present-tense verb.
This is one of the first command patterns learners need to get comfortable with:
- Nemojte da kasnite. = Don’t be late.
- Nemoj da pričaš. = Don’t talk.