Глагол „имати“ - презент
Overview
Имати (to have) is an everyday verb for possession, age and saying that something exists or is available. It is a regular -ам verb. Its negative counterpart is the separate verb немати, whose forms are written as one word.
Unlike бити, имати has no short/long form split - there is only one present tense, conjugated exactly like гледати.
Affirmative present
Remove -ти and add the regular -ам endings. Ask a yes/no question with ли after the verb: Имаш ли…?
Negative present - немати
The negative counterpart is немати: немам, немаш, нема…. Its forms are written as one word, like нисам.
Age and the impersonal нема
Give your age with имати: Ја имам двадесет година means ‘I am twenty years old.’
Impersonal нема means ‘there is/are no…’: Нема проблема. The noun is genitive; learn this common pattern as a whole for now.
Tables
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | имам | имамо |
| 2. | имаш | имате |
| 3. | има | имају |
Examples
Compared with…
English to have maps directly onto имати for possession, so that part transfers easily. The trap is age: English says to be (I am twenty), Serbian says to have (Ја имам двадесет година) - carrying the English pattern over produces a wrong sentence. English also writes negation as two words (don't have); Serbian fuses it into one, немам.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- Memorize немам as one word from the very first day - it behaves as its own verb, exactly like нисам does for бити.
- For age, always reach for имати + number + година - never бити, even though English instinct says to be.
- Нема + a missing thing is an everyday impersonal pattern - start by learning whole phrases like „Нема проблема.“ before worrying about the case ending.
- Имати uses regular -ам endings. Its negative counterpart немати uses the stem нема-, and its forms are written as one word.
- The impersonal нема never changes for number or gender - „Нема пса.“ and „Нема књига.“ both use the same 3rd-person-singular form regardless of what is missing.
Summary
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