LingoflyBih, bi, bismo: how to say "I would"
English "would" never changes. The Serbian one does: bih, bi, bi, bismo, biste, bi. After it comes the -o/-la form of the past tense: ja bih došao, ja bih došla, mi bismo došli. For example: “Хтео (hteo) бих (bih) да (da) отворим (otvorim) штедни улог” (štedni ulog) — I would like to open a savings account. A rule from the Serbian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English "would" never changes. The Serbian one does: bih, bi, bi, bismo, biste, bi. After it comes the -o/-la form of the past tense: ja bih došao, ja bih došla, mi bismo došli.
The first job is politeness, and it is the commonest one. Hteo bih da otvorim račun instead of a blunt hoću. Da li biste mogli da mi pomognete? At the bank and at the doctor's people speak almost only this way.
The second job is a condition that never came true. It takes da with a past tense, and bih in the other half: Da sam znao, otišao bih kod lekara. Here da means "had I", and ako will not do.
Bih takes second place: Ja bih to uradio, never "Bih uradio". The negative stands apart and in front: ne bih došao.
Table
| person | the form | example | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | bih | ja bih došao | I would come |
| ti | bi | ti bi došao | you would come |
| on, ona | bi | ona bi došla | she would come |
| mi | bismo | mi bismo došli | we would come |
| vi | biste | da li biste mogli | could you |
| oni | bi | oni bi došli | they would come |
| the condition | da + past | da sam znao | had I known |
| negation | ne bih | ne bih to radio | I would not do it |
By example
- Hteo bih da otvorim štedni ulogI would like to open a savings account
- Da li biste mogli da ponovite objašnjenje?Could you repeat the explanation?
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Bih, bi, bismo: how does it work in Serbian?
English "would" never changes. The Serbian one does: bih, bi, bi, bismo, biste, bi. After it comes the -o/-la form of the past tense: ja bih došao, ja bih došla, mi bismo došli.
What does it look like in a Serbian example sentence?
“Хтео (hteo) бих (bih) да (da) отворим (otvorim) штедни улог” (štedni ulog) (Hteo bih da otvorim štedni ulog) — I would like to open a savings account. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.