Live in SerbiaGrammar · Time
Verb aspect: svršeni and nesvršeni
Serbian verbs come in aspect pairs. Imperfective verbs (nesvršeni) describe an ongoing or repeated action; perfective verbs (svršeni) describe a single completed action. Pairs usually differ by a prefix or suffix.
pisati (impf.) → napisati (pf.) — write
čitati (impf.) → pročitati (pf.) — read
kupovati (impf.) → kupiti (pf.) — buy
Examples
Kupujem hleb svaki dan.
I buy bread every day. (imperfective — regular action)
Kupio sam hleb.
I bought bread. (perfective — completed)
Pišem roman.
I'm writing a novel. (imperfective — in progress)
Tips
- To talk about what is happening right now, use an imperfective verb.
- Perfective verbs are common after da and in the future: Hoću da kupim hleb. Kupiću hleb.