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

The Verbe " to be " ( Glagol biti )

Present Tense ( Sadašnje vreme)

Now we will learn how to conjugate the verb biti ("to be") in the present tense.

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 peoplo who you don't know. For this purpose we use " Vi " ( the plural form of you) So, poliltely said: " Who are you" ? would be: Ko ste Vi?

For bulding the negative form, just add the preffix "ni-" to the present form.

Here are some 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.

Making questions using the verb to be:

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 stu oni, one, ono? - Are they?

Past Tense (Prošlo vreme)

Here is the conjugation in the past:

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	we were	Mi nismo bili	we were not
Vi ste bili	you were	Vi niste bili	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: For bulding the negative form, just add the preffix "ni-" to the past form.

Here are some 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?

Futur 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 bulding the negative form, just add the preffix "ne-" to the futur form

Here are some 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?