Želim da ostanem kod kuće još malo.

to want

Breakdown of Želim da ostanem kod kuće još malo.

• ostati: to stay
• kod: at
• kuća: home

Questions & Answers about Želim da ostanem kod kuće još malo.

Why is it želim da ostanem instead of using an infinitive?

In Serbian, after verbs like želeti (to want), it is very common to use da + present tense:

• Želim da ostanem = I want to stay

This is often more natural in modern Serbian than using the infinitive alone.
You may also see infinitives in dictionaries, like ostati (to stay), but in everyday Serbian, želim da... is extremely common.

So a learner should think of:

• želim da ostanem
• literally: I want that I stay
• natural English meaning: I want to stay

Why is the verb ostanem and not ostajem?

This is about aspect, which is very important in Serbian.

• ostati / ostanem = perfective
• ostajati / ostajem = imperfective

Here, ostanem is used because the speaker means a single intended result: to stay / remain a bit longer.

So:

• Želim da ostanem... = I want to stay / remain...
• Želim da ostajem... would sound unusual here, because it suggests an ongoing or repeated action rather than one simple intention.

In other words, ostanem fits the idea of deciding to remain.