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Verbs in Serbian

23 words in Serbian on the topic “verbs”: хоћу (hoću) — I want, волим (volim) — I love, ићи (ići) — to go, јести (jesti) — to eat. 23 words can be played from recordings.

Updated September 1, 2026 · Lingofly

23 words on the topic

  • хоћу
    hoću
    I want
    Followed by da and a present tense: hoću 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.
  • пити
    piti
    to drink
    The present grows a j: pijem, piješ, pije. Popiti is "to drink up" — finish the glass.
  • читати
    čitati
    to read
    A perfectly regular present: čitam, čitaš, čita. Pročitati is to read through to the end.
  • говорити
    govoriti
    to speak
    About languages with no preposition: govorim srpski — "I speak Serbian". The chatty synonym is pričati.
  • радити
    raditi
    to work
    Its second job is "to do": šta radiš? — literally "what do you do?" — the everyday "how are you doing?".
  • живети
    živeti
    to live
    Bosnia and Montenegro: živjeti. And Živeli! — the Serbian toast — is literally "may we live!".
  • имати
    imati
    to have
    Serbian has no "I have got" — just imam: imam dvoje dece — "I have two children". The possessor is the subject.
  • има
    ima
    there is
    Impersonal "there is, there are": ima vode? — "is there any water?" The negative is nema. Do not cross it with jesti — eating is another verb.
  • учити
    učiti
    to learn
    Covers "learn" and "study" in general: učim srpski, učim u školi. University study has its own verb, studirati.
  • бирати
    birati
    to choose
    You birati goods and deputies alike: izbori — "elections" — same verb.
  • студирати
    studirati
    to study (at university)
    University study. The school "learn" is učiti — keep them apart.
  • запамтити
    zapamtiti
    to memorize
    From pamet. The trap: pamet is wit, not memory — memory is pamćenje.
  • видети
    videti
    to see
    The Belgrade norm; Bosnia and Montenegro say vidjeti. Present: vidim, vidiš, vidi. Vidimo se — "see you" — is this very verb.
  • чути
    čuti
    to hear
    Present: čujem, čuješ, čuje. Listening on purpose is a different verb, slušati: slušam muziku, but čujem te. Čujemo se — "let us be in touch".
  • спавати
    spavati
    to sleep
    Present: spavam, spavaš, spava. Going to bed is "ići na spavanje", and before that you wish someone laku noć.
  • носити
    nositi
    to carry
    One verb for carrying and for wearing: nosim torbu, nosim kaput. Carry it over there — odneti; bring it here — doneti.
  • ставити
    staviti
    to place
    For the one-time act: placed and done. The repeated action is stavljati: stavljam tanjire na sto. The imperative: stavi; polite: stavite.
  • ломити
    lomiti
    to break
    For 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.
  • градити
    graditi
    to build
    The root is the same as the fence-building one — nothing to do with hail. What gets built is zgrada; the site is gradilište.
  • грејати
    grejati
    to heat
    Present: grejem, greješ, greje. Heating is grejanje, and its bill arrives with the utilities. Warming food up is podgrejati.

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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.

What is worth knowing about these words

хоћу (hoću) — I want. Followed by da and a present tense: hoću 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.

  1. What is this word?

  2. What is this word?

  3. What is this word?

  4. What is this word?

  5. What is this word?

Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.

  1. How do you say “I want” in Serbian?

  2. How do you say “to work” in Serbian?

  3. How do you say “to memorize” in Serbian?

  4. How do you say “to build” in Serbian?

  5. How do you say “to read” in Serbian?

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of 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.

Frequently asked

How do you say “I want” in Serbian?

«хоћу» (hoću), read “hoću”. Followed by da and a present tense: hoću 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?

The whole set on this page is 23 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.

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.

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