Language/Serbian/Grammar/How-to-Use-Be

Verb to be in Serbian

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Hello Everyone, 😊

In today’s lesson we are going to study the following topic: ”VERB TO BE” in Serbian

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Good learning!

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Verb to be in Serbian

English	Serbian	English Transliteration	Brazilian Portuguese
I was	Ja био сам	yah bih oh sahm	Eu era / estava
You were	Tи био си	tih bih oh sih	Você era / estava
He was	Он био је	ohn bih oh yeh	Ele era / estava
We were	Ми били смо	mih bih lih smoh	Nós éramos / estávamos
You were	Ви били сте	vih bih lih steh	Vocês eram / estavam
They were	Они били су	oh nih bih ih sou	Eles eram / estavam
I am	Ja сам	yah sahm	Eu sou / estou
You are	Tи си	tih sih	Você é / está
He is	Он је	ohn yeh	Ele é / está
We are	Ми смо	mih smoh	Nós somos / estamos
You are	Ви сте	vih steh	Vocês são / estão
They are	Они су	oh nih sou	Eles são / estão
I will be	Ja бићу	yah bih jou	Eu serei / estarei
You will be	Tи бићеш	tih bih jehn	Você será / estará
He will be	Он биће	ohn bih jeh	Ele será / estará
We will be	Ми бићемо	mih bih jeh moh	Nós seremos / estaremos
You will be	Ви бићете	vih bih jeh teh	Vocês serão / estarão
They will be	Они биће	oh nih bih jeh	Eles serão / estarão
I am not	Ja небићу	yah neh bih jou	Eu não sou / não estou
You are not	Tи небићеш	tih neh bih jehn	Você não é / não está
He is not	Он небиће	ohn neh bih jeh	Ele não é / não está
We are not	Ми небићемо	mih neh bih jeh moh	Nós não somos / não estamos
You are not	Ви небићете	vih neh bih jeh teh	Vocês não são / não estão
They are not	Они небиће	oh nih neh bih jeh	Eles não são / não estão

Present Tense (Sadašnje vreme)

Serbian	English	Odrični oblik	Negative form
Ja sam	I am	Ja nisam	I am not
Ti si	you are ( singular)	Ti nisi	you are not ( singular)
On je	he is	On nije	he is not
Ona je	she is	Ona nije	she is not
Ono je	it is	Ono nije	it is not
Mi smo	we are	Mi nismo	we are not
Vi ste	you are (plural)	Vi niste	you are not (plural)
Oni su	they are (plural of he)	Oni nisu	they are not (plural of he)
One su	they are (plural of she)	One nisu	they are not ( plural of she)
Ona su	they are (plural of it)	Ona nisu	they are not ( plural of it)

** notes: " Ti" is informal. Don't say " ti " to older people, or people who you don't know. For this purpose we use " Vi " ( the plural form of you) So, politely said: " Who are you" ? would be: Ko ste Vi? For building the negative form, just add the prefix "ni-" to the present form.

Phrases

• Ona je prelepa. - She is beautiful.
• On je brz . - He is fast.
• Da li su oni stari? Ne oni nisu stari. - Are they old? No they are not old.
• Da li smo mi mladi? Da ,mi smo mladi. - Are we young? Yes we are young
• Nisam kod kuće. - I am not at home?
• Oni su veoma fini. - They are really nice.
• Mi nismo gladni. - We are not hungry.
• Ona ne kasni. - She is not late.

Interrogative - Upitne rečenice

• Da li sam ja? - Am I?
• Da li si ti? - Are you?
• Da li je on? - Is he?
• Da li je ona? - Is she?
• Da li je ono? - Is it?
• Da li smo mi? - Are we?
• Da li ste Vi?- Are you?
• Da li su oni, one, ono? - Are they?

Past Tense (Prošlo vreme)

Serbian	English	Odrični oblik	Negative
Ja sam bio / bila	I was	Ja nisam bio / bila	I was not
Ti si bio / bila	you were	Ti nisi bio / bila	you were not
On je bio	he was	On nije bio	he was not
Ona je bila	she was	Ona nije bila	she was not
Ono je bilo	it was	Ono nije bilo	it was not
Mi smo bili / bile	we were	Mi nismo bili / bile	we were not
Vi ste bili / bile	you were	Vi niste bili / bile	you were not
Oni su bili	they were	Oni nisu bili	they were not
One su bile	they were	One nisu bile	they were not
Ona su bila	they were	Ona nisu bila	they were not

** note 1: For building the negative form, just add the preffix "ni-" to the past form.

** note 2: For 1st and 2nd plural of person, "bili" is used when there is at least one male person, if only females are subject, than use "bile".

Phrases

• Rođena sam 1981. - I was born in 1981.
• On je bio na odmor prošle godine - He was on vacation last year.
• Ona je bila nervozna - She was nervous.
• Oni su bili dobri - They were nice.
• Nisi bio kod kuće - You were not at home.
• Mi nismo bili spremni - We were not ready.

Interrogative - Upitne rečenice

• Da li sam ja bio / bila? - Was I?
• Da li si ti bio / bila? - Were you?
• Da li je on bio? - Was he?
• Da li je ona bila? - Was she?
• Da li je ono bilo? - Was it?
• Da li smo mi bili? - Were we?
• Da li ste vi bili? - Were you?
• Da li si oni bili? - Were they?

Future Tense (Buduće vreme)

Serbian	Short form	English	Odrični oblik	Negative
Ja ću biti	biću	I will	Ja neću biti	I will not
Ti ćeš biti	bićeš	you will	Ti nećeš biti	you will not
On će biti	biće	he will	On neće biti	he will not
Ona će biti	biće	she will	Ona neće biti	she will not
Ono će biti	biće	it will	Ono neće biti	it will not
Mi ćemo biti	bićemo	we will	Mi nećemo biti	we will not
Vi ćete biti	bićete	you will	Vi nećete biti	you will not
Oni će biti	biće	they will	Oni neće biti	they will not
One će biti	biće	they will	One neće biti	they will not
Ona će biti	biće	they will	Ona neće biti	they will not

** note: For building the negative form, just add the prefix "ne-" to the futur form

Phrases

• Ja ću biti spremna. - I will be ready.
• Oni će biti kući - They will be at home.
• Mi nećemo ići - We will not go
• Ti ćeš biti poznat - You will be famous
• Verujem da će to biti dobra zabava - I believe it will be a very nice party
• U koje vreme će on stići? - What time will he arrive?

Related Lessons

• Prepositions
• Adjectives
• Conditional Mood
• Gender
• Future Tense
• Definite Articles in Serbian
• Questions
• Plural
• Past Participle in Serbian
• Comaratives and Superlatives