Glagol „imati“ - prezent
Overview
Имати (to have) is the everyday verb for possession, and it also covers two more things: telling age, and saying that something exists or is available. Grammatically it is completely regular - a plain -ам-group verb (see present-tense-regular-verbs-a1) - with one lexical quirk: its negative is a separate, fused word.
Unlike бити, имати has no short/long form split - there is only one present tense, conjugated exactly like гледати.
Affirmative present
Drop -ти from имати and add the regular -ам-group endings (see the table below). Имаш ли…?, with the question particle ли right after the verb, is the natural way to ask a yes/no question.
Negative present - немати
The negative of имати is not не + имати written apart - it is its own verb, немати, built on the present stem нема- (see the table below), the same fused pattern as бити's нисам.
Age and the impersonal нема
To give your age, Serbian uses имати, not бити: Ја имам двадесет година. (literally I have twenty years) means „I am twenty years old.“
Without any subject, 3rd-person-singular нема means there isn't/aren't: Нема проблема. (No problem.) The missing thing is expressed in a special case form, covered fully in a later lesson - for now, learn such phrases as fixed wholes.
Tables
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | imam | imamo |
| 2. | imaš | imate |
| 3. | ima | imaju |
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 conjugates with fully regular -ам endings; the only irregularity is that its negative sits on a different present stem, нема-, which is why немати is written and conjugated as one word rather than не + имати.
- 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
Opens Focus mode: one exercise at a time, with explanations — either script accepted.
Grammar Words Guided lesson Guided lesson Guided lesson Guided lesson Guided lesson Guided lesson Listening Reading Test
This lesson is the unit's first step. The grammar, the words and the first guided lesson are open to everyone; the rest of the unit's lessons and its text, dialogue and tasks come with Premium.