Ne želim da propustim polazak.

not

Breakdown of Ne želim da propustim polazak.

• želeti: to want
• da: that
• polazak: the departure

Questions & Answers about Ne želim da propustim polazak.

Why is the sentence Ne želim da propustim polazak and not something with an infinitive, like Ne želim propustiti polazak?

In Serbian, after verbs like želeti (to want), a very common and natural pattern is:

želeti + da + present tense

So:

Ne želim da propustim polazak
literally works like I do not want to miss the departure.

The infinitive can sometimes be used in Serbian, but da + present is extremely common and often the most natural choice in everyday language.

So for a learner, it is best to recognize:

• želim da idem = I want to go
• želim da vidim = I want to see
• želim da propustim = I want to miss

With ne, it becomes:

• ne želim da idem = I don’t want to go
• ne želim da propustim polazak = I don’t want to miss the departure

What exactly does da propustim mean here?

Here, da propustim means to miss in the sense of fail to catch / fail to be there in time for something.

Breaking it down:

• da = introduces this kind of clause after želim
• propustim = I miss / I would miss / to miss, depending on context

Even though propustim is technically a present-tense form, after it often corresponds to an English infinitive or a future-oriented idea.