Презент правилних глагола
Overview
Serbian forms the present tense by dropping the infinitive ending and adding personal endings directly to the verb stem. Verbs fall into three regular groups, named after their 1st-person-singular ending: -ам, -им, and -ем.
Group I - the -ам group
Most -ати verbs form this group: remove -ати and add -ам, -аш, -а, -амо, -ате, -ају. The stem usually stays the same.
Group II - the -им group
Most -ити verbs and many -ети verbs follow this pattern: remove the infinitive ending and add -им, -иш, -и, -имо, -ите, -е. Note -е in the 3rd-person plural.
Group III - the -ем group
Regular -овати/-евати verbs replace that ending with -ујем, -ујеш, -ује, -ујемо, -ујете, -ују (e.g. путовати → путујем). Other verbs in this group may change their stem.
Other -ем verbs may change their stem; learn these forms with each verb.
Dropping the subject pronoun
Verb endings show the subject, so pronouns are often omitted: Путујем много. Add one for emphasis or contrast: Ја путујем, а он ради.
Tables
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | гледам | гледамо |
| 2. | гледаш | гледате |
| 3. | гледа | гледају |
Examples
Compared with…
English present-tense verbs barely change (only 3rd-person singular adds -s: I watch / she watches), while Serbian changes the ending for every person. English also splits into a simple and a continuous form and needs the auxiliary do for questions and negation („Do you watch?“, I don't watch) - Serbian needs none of that: one present form, and negation is just не + verb.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- Learn every new verb together with its 1st-person-singular form (e.g. гледати - гледам) so you immediately know which group it belongs to.
- Spotting -овати/-евати in an infinitive tells you the whole conjugation instantly: replace it with -уј- and add the endings.
- Subject pronouns are optional scaffolding, not a requirement - drop them once the verb ending feels automatic, and reintroduce them only for contrast or emphasis.
- Some -ати verbs conjugate as -ем group with a stem change (писати → пишем, звати → зовем) - covered in a later lesson.
- A handful of -ати verbs unexpectedly conjugate as -им group instead (држати → држим, трчати → трчим) - worth memorizing individually.
- Highly irregular verbs (моћи → могу, хтети → хоћу/ћу, ићи → идем) don't fit any regular group and are introduced separately.