Odricanje
Overview
Most Serbian verbs negate the simple way: put не directly before the conjugated verb, with nothing in between. Радим. (I work) becomes Не радим. (I don't work).
Three verbs fuse не into a single negative word instead of writing it separately: бити → нисам/ниси/није…, имати → немам/немаш/нема…, and хтети → нећу/нећеш/неће… (covered in their own lessons - verb-biti-present-a1, verb-imati-present-a1, future-tense-futur-a2); every other verb takes a separate не in front.
не + verb - the general rule
Не is unstressed and always sits immediately before the verb it negates, never separated from it by another word. Не гледам телевизију. (I don't watch television.) - see present-tense-regular-verbs-a1.
Negative pronouns and adverbs require double negation
Serbian has a full set of negative pronouns and adverbs (see the table below). Whenever one appears in a sentence, the verb still needs its own не (or the fused нисам/нема) - dropping it is wrong even though the sentence already has a negative word.
Нико не зна literally reads "Nobody doesn't know," but means simply "Nobody knows." This double marking is required, not optional, however many negative words the sentence has: Никад никог нигде не видим. (I never see anyone anywhere.) stacks three negatives plus не, and that's entirely normal, correct Serbian.
Special cases
Немати already carries its own negation, so it's never paired with a second не before it - but it still triggers the same double-negation pattern with negative pronouns: Немам ништа. (I have nothing.), not *Имам ништа.
Нема (the impersonal 3rd-person form of немати) also means "there isn't/aren't any": Нема никог код куће. (There is nobody home.)
Tables
| Word | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| niko | nobody | Niko ne zna. |
| ništa | nothing | Nemam ništa. |
| nikad(a) | never | Nikad ne kasnim. |
| nigde | nowhere | On nije nigde. |
| nijedan/nijedna/nijedno | not a single one | Nijedan student ne dolazi. |
Examples
Compared with…
English typically negates via do-support ("I don't work"); Serbian needs no auxiliary at all - не simply attaches to the same conjugated verb form. The bigger contrast is double negation: adding a second negative word ("nobody doesn't know") would be a mistake in standard English, but Serbian requires exactly that construction - не plus a negative pronoun together - making this the most common Serbian negation error for English speakers.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- Whenever a sentence has нико/ништа/никад/нигде/ниједан, automatically expect a не (or fused нисам/нема) too - the two always travel together.
- Бити, имати and хтети fuse не into one word (нисам, немам, нећу); every other verb keeps не as a separate word directly in front of it.
- This is one grammar point where the instinct to keep both negative words is exactly right - if double-negating feels natural, trust it in Serbian too.
- Negative-adverb word order is flexible, but the adverb usually leads the clause with не staying right before the verb - Никад не радим. is more natural than Не радим никад., though neither is wrong.
- Немати, нисам/ниси/није… and хтети (нећу/нећеш/неће…) are the only verbs with a fused negative form; all other verbs, including irregular ones, negate with a separate не.
- Не can occasionally negate something other than the verb for contrast ("не ја, него он" - not me, but him), but negating the main verb is by far the default use covered here.
Summary
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