Znam da vozim: know, can, be able — and why da follows

How it works

Talking about what a person can do rests on two things at once: choosing the verb, and what follows it. English lines up "I know how to drive / I can swim / I am able to come" — every one with a to-form. The Serbian to-form lives in the dictionary; in speech its place is taken by da plus the present.

Znam da vozim, umem da plivam, mogu da dođem, hoću da učim — everywhere da, and the verb after it carries the same person as the first verb: on zna da vozi, oni znaju da voze. Saying znam da voziti is impossible. A to-form after a modal does exist (moram raditi), but it sounds bookish and Croatian — in Belgrade it is said with da.

Now the choice of verb, and it is not the English one.

Znati covers both knowing and a skill that has grown into knowledge: znam odgovor — I know the answer, but znam da vozim — I know how to drive. This is the everyday verb for driving, swimming and languages: zna tri jezika — she knows three languages.

Umeti — knack, skill of hands and head: umem da kuvam, ne umem da crtam. The line between znati and umeti is thin, and in many sentences both pass; it is not counted an error.

Moći — possibility here and now, not skill: mogu da dođem u pet. Saying mogu da vozim in the sense "I can drive" promises to take the wheel this minute — English "can" covers both jobs; Serbian splits them.

Smeti — permission only: ne smem da kažem means "I am not allowed to say", NOT "I dare not say". It is a false friend of "dare" and changes the meaning wholesale.

And separately razumeti se u nešto — to know one's way around something, with the into-form: razumem se u tehniku, ne razumem se u aute. Without se the same verb means simply "to understand".

Table

By example

• ▶
  Знам да возим, али не смем ноћу

  Znam da vozim, ali ne smem noću

  I know how to drive, but I am not allowed to at night
• ▶
  Уме да свира гитару, али не зна ноте

  Ume da svira gitaru, ali ne zna note

  He can play the guitar, but he cannot read music
• ▶
  Могу да ти помогнем после пет, раније не стижем

  Mogu da ti pomognem posle pet, ranije ne stižem

  I can help you after five — earlier I cannot make it

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.

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