Biti ili ne biti — that’s the question! If you recognize the legendary line from Hamlet, congrats! You already know a bit about the verb to be in Serbian.
But since small things often pack a powerful punch, this little word is more complex than it seems at first glance. To make things as simple as can be, we’ll tell you all you need to know about this verb. Ready? Let’s get rolling!
The Verb to Be In Serbian: What’s the Deal?
To get the basics out of the way, the verb to be in Serbian is biti.
Out of all the verbs, why does this one deserve an entire blog post dedicated to it? The answer is — for many reasons.
First off, the verb biti serves as a backbone for many sentences, helping you establish identity, existence, and states of being.
As an auxiliary verb, it’s essential for building various grammatical structures and tenses. For instance, it lets you express your desires or reminisce about the past.
Ultimately, it’s one of the most frequently used Serbian verbs. After all, you use it to introduce yourself:
Ja sam Marko.
(I am Marko.)
As another example, it allows you to ask simple questions like:
Kako si?
(How are you?)
Different Forms
Are you up for some conjugation? No one ever is, but we promise – we’ll keep it straightforward and painless.
In the world of grammar, the Serbian verb biti is a real chameleon. In other words, it takes different forms that look and sound nothing like the infinitive — biti.
Biti — Present Tense
The present tense of the Serbian verb to be is pretty simple. Here’s how it works.
present | imperfective | perfective | ||
person | positive | negative | positive | negative |
ja (I) | sam (jesam) | nisam | budem | ne budem |
you (ti) | si (jesi) | nisi | budeš | ne budeš |
on (he) ona (she) ono (it) | je (jeste) | nije | bude | ne bude |
mi (we) | smo (jesmo) | nismo | budemo | ne budemo |
vi (you) | ste (jeste) | niste | budete | ne budete |
oni (they) one ona | su (jesu) | nisu | budu | ne budu |
As you can see, the imperfective form of the verb can be short or long. That said, you’ll be using the short forms in most cases. The long ones are typically reserved for when you wish to emphasize a point or ask and answer questions. For example:
Q: Jesi li zalila cveće? (Did you water the flowers?)
A: Jesam. ( I did.)
On a different note, there’s a certain disagreement surrounding this verb. Namely, not everyone believes that the verb jesam is a form of the verb to be. More precisely, some people think it’s a distinct verb that only has the present form. In this article, though, we’ll regard the abovementioned forms as imperfective versions of the verb biti. Ultimately, who’s right or wrong doesn’t matter — it’s all about knowing how to use these verbs in context.
When it comes to the perfective forms, you’ll mostly use them in conditional sentences (covered later).
Biti — Past Tense
Here’s what the past tense looks like.
person | singular | plural |
masculine | bio | bili |
feminine | bila | bile |
neuter | bilo | bila |
Now, you’ll need to pair the right form from above with the present tense verb to be, and you’ll create a sentence in the past tense:
Ja sam bio u školi danas. | Bio sam u školi danas.
(I was at school today.)
Ona nije bila ovde. | Nije bila ovde.
(She wasn’t here.)
Biti — Future Tense
Lastly, the future tense of the verb biti requires the infinitive — biti. Aside from that, you’ll also need the auxiliary verb hteti in the appropriate number and gender. Here’s what that looks like:
person | future tense – example | translation |
ja (I) | Ja ću biti u školi. (Biću u školi.) | I’ll be at school. |
you (ti) | Ti ćeš biti kuvar. (Bićeš kuvar.) | You’ll be a chef. |
on (he) ona (she) ono (it) | On će biti na poslu. (Biće na poslu.) | He’ll be at work. |
mi (we) | Mi ćemo biti u kafiću. (Bićemo u kafiću.) | We’ll be at a cafe. |
vi (you) | Vi ćete biti sa nama. (Bićete sa nama.) | You’ll be with us. |
oni (they) one ona | Oni će biti ovde. (Biće ovde.) | They’ll be here. |
See how the short form blends the auxiliary verb with the main verb biti? When omitting the subject, these two verbs change places and become one word:
će biti 🠊 biće
Other Forms
In addition, you’ll also see the following forms of the verb to be:
- conditional: (ja) bih, (ti/on/ona/ono/oni/one) bi, (mi) bismo, (vi) biste
- imperative: budi, budimo, budite
Many Faces of the Verb Biti
At last, here’s the meat of the matter — putting all this into practice.
Biti As a Linking Verb
One of the talents of the verb to be is connecting things. For instance, it can link a subject to a noun, adjective, or adverb, connect two adverbs, and so on. Here are examples:
Mario je vodoinstalater. [subject + noun]
(Mario is a plumber.)
Njen sin je nevaspitan. [subject + adjective]
(Her son is rude.)
Mi smo dobro ovih dana. [subject + adverb]
(We are fine these days.)
Danas je vruće. [adverb + adverb]
(It’s hot today.)
By the way, you’re likely using this linking verb whenever making introductions:
Ja sam Tom.
(I am Tom.)
Ja sam Amerikanac.
(I’m an American.)
Ja sam zubar.
(I’m a dentist.)
Biti as an Auxiliary Verb
Just like the English verb to be, biti often plays the role of an auxiliary verb. As such, it’s a building block of numerous grammatical structures.
Past Tense
As we’ve mentioned earlier, the past tense requires the present tense of the verb to be (imperfective).
Ja sam radio u banci. | Radio sam u banci.
(I worked at a bank.)
Moja sestra nije išla u školu juče.
(My sister didn’t go to school yesterday.)
Conditional Form
The conditional form of the verb biti (bih, bi, bismo, biste) allows you to describe your wishes and desires:
Volela bih da više putujem.
(I wish I traveled more.)
On bi jeo tortu.
(He’d like to eat cake.)
You can also use it to discuss unreal or real conditions. For unreal (impossible or unlikely to happen) conditions, you’ll need the potential form of the verb to be:
Kad bih bio bogat, kupio bih jahtu.
(If I were rich, I’d buy a yacht.)
In contrast, real (possible) conditions require the perfective form of the verb biti:
Ako bude padala kiša, nećemo ići na izlet.
(If it rains, we won’t have a picnic.)
Commands
Unsurprisingly, requests and commands only exist for the second-person singular (budi) and plural (budite) and the first-person plural (budimo). This grammatical function is known as the imperative mood.
Budi dobar.
(Be good./Behave well.)
Budite tihi!
(Be quiet!)
Budimo oprezni.
(Let’s be careful.)
Modal Verbs + Infinitive
You can also use modal verbs followed by biti in the infinitive form (or da + perfective present of biti) to indicate necessity, permission, ability, etc.
Možeš biti srećan. | Možeš da budeš srećan.
(You can be happy.)
Moraš biti pažljiv. | Moraš da budeš pažljiv.
(You have to be careful.)
Perhaps fans of Eurovision remember this line sung by a Serbian contestant in 2022:
Umetnica mora biti zdrava.
(The artist must be healthy.)
Yes, that’s another example of this grammatical structure.
Biti vs Biti
These two verbs look and sound the same, yet they couldn’t be more distinct in meaning. One of them is to be, and the other? It means to beat someone up. For example:
Brat me često bije.
(My brother often beats me up.)
Suddenly, the question, biti ili ne biti, sounds much more sinister, right? Anyway, these two verbs are only identical in the infinitive, so you won’t have a hard time telling which is which.
To Be or Not to Be? Let’s Serb It Up!
As our talk on the verb to be in Serbian comes to a close, one dilemma remains — to study or not to study Serbian grammar. Of course, if you’re serious about improving your skills, there’s one answer only.
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