Verbs in Serbian
23 words Serbian words on the topic “verbs”: хоћу — I want, волим — I love, ићи — to go, јести — to eat. 23 words can be played from recordings.
23 words on the topic
- хоћуhoćuI wantFollowed by da and a present tense: hocu da jedem — "I want to eat". Serbian does not put an infinitive after "want" the way English does.
- волимvolimI loveWorks for coffee and for people alike: volim kafu, volim te. One verb covers "like", "love" and "be fond of".
- ићиićito goOn foot or by transport — one verb. The present looks nothing like the infinitive: idem, ideš, ide.
- јестиjestito eatAbout food only. "There is" in the sense of "exists" is a different word entirely — ima.
- питиpitito drinkThe present grows a j: pijem, piješ, pije. Popiti is "to drink up" — finish the glass.
- читатиčitatito readA perfectly regular present: čitam, čitaš, čita. Pročitati is to read through to the end.
- говоритиgovoritito speakAbout languages with no preposition: govorim srpski — "I speak Serbian". The chatty synonym is pričati.
- радитиraditito workIts second job is "to do": šta radiš? — literally "what do you do?" — the everyday "how are you doing?".
- живетиživetito liveBosnia and Montenegro: živjeti. And Živeli! — the Serbian toast — is literally "may we live!".
- иматиimatito haveSerbian has no "I have got" — just imam: imam dvoje dece — "I have two children". The possessor is the subject.
- имаimathere isImpersonal "there is, there are": ima vode? — "is there any water?" The negative is nema. Do not cross it with jesti — eating is another verb.
- учитиučitito learnCovers "learn" and "study" in general: učim srpski, učim u školi. University study has its own verb, studirati.
- биратиbiratito chooseYou birati goods and deputies alike: izbori — "elections" — same verb.
- студиратиstudiratito study (at university)University study. The school "learn" is uciti — keep them apart.
- запамтитиzapamtitito memorizeFrom pamet. The trap: pamet is wit, not memory — memory is pamcenje.
- видетиvidetito seeThe Belgrade norm; Bosnia and Montenegro say vidjeti. Present: vidim, vidiš, vidi. Vidimo se — "see you" — is this very verb.
- чутиčutito hearPresent: čujem, čuješ, čuje. Listening on purpose is a different verb, slušati: slušam muziku, but čujem te. Čujemo se — "let us be in touch".
- спаватиspavatito sleepPresent: spavam, spavaš, spava. Going to bed is "ići na spavanje", and before that you wish someone laku noć.
- носитиnositito carryOne verb for carrying and for wearing: nosim torbu, nosim kaput. Carry it over there — odneti; bring it here — doneti.
- ставитиstavitito placeFor the one-time act: placed and done. The repeated action is stavljati: stavljam tanjire na sto. The imperative: stavi; polite: stavite.
- ломитиlomitito breakFor things that come apart in pieces: lomiti hleb — "break bread", lomiti granu — "break a branch". Machines do not lomiti — they se kvare, which is where pokvaren, "broken", comes from.
- градитиgraditito buildThe root is the same as the fence-building one — nothing to do with hail. What gets built is zgrada; the site is gradilište.
- грејатиgrejatito heatPresent: grejem, greješ, greje. Heating is grejanje, and its bill arrives with the utilities. Warming food up is podgrejati.
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Хоћу једну кафуHoću jednu kafuI want one coffee
- Волим кафуVolim kafuI love coffee
- Идем кућиIdem kućiI am going home
- Морам да једем више поврћаMoram da jedem više povrćaI need to eat more vegetables
- Увече пијем чајUveče pijem čajIn the evening I drink tea
- Волим да читам пред спавањеVolim da čitam pred spavanjeI love to read before bed
What is worth knowing about these words
хоћу (hoću) — I want. Followed by da and a present tense: hocu da jedem — "I want to eat". Serbian does not put an infinitive after "want" the way English does.
волим (volim) — I love. Works for coffee and for people alike: volim kafu, volim te. One verb covers "like", "love" and "be fond of".
ићи (ići) — to go. On foot or by transport — one verb. The present looks nothing like the infinitive: idem, ideš, ide.
јести (jesti) — to eat. About food only. "There is" in the sense of "exists" is a different word entirely — ima.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is хоћу (hoću) — I want.
- What is this word?
It is радити (raditi) — to work.
- What is this word?
It is запамтити (zapamtiti) — to memorize.
- What is this word?
It is градити (graditi) — to build.
- What is this word?
It is читати (čitati) — to read.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I want” in Serbian?
Followed by da and a present tense: hocu da jedem — "I want to eat". Serbian does not put an infinitive after "want" the way English does.
- How do you say “to work” in Serbian?
Its second job is "to do": šta radiš? — literally "what do you do?" — the everyday "how are you doing?".
- How do you say “to memorize” in Serbian?
From pamet. The trap: pamet is wit, not memory — memory is pamcenje.
- How do you say “to build” in Serbian?
The root is the same as the fence-building one — nothing to do with hail. What gets built is zgrada; the site is gradilište.
- How do you say “to read” in Serbian?
A perfectly regular present: čitam, čitaš, čita. Pročitati is to read through to the end.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “I want” in Serbian?
«хоћу», read “hoću”. Followed by da and a present tense: hocu da jedem — "I want to eat". Serbian does not put an infinitive after "want" the way English does. It is one of 23 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 23 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 23 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.