Knowing the verb to be in Serbian is crucial for learning the Serbian language and its tenses.

You probably know that Serbs use different verb tenses to communicate and that Serbian grammar isn’t the easiest in the world. 😀

But don’t worry—we are here to help you learn to use verb to be in Serbian and start with the basics in the Serbian language!

verb to be in serbian students table learning grammar
‘Why tenses must be so complicated?’

Verb To Be in Serbian and Other Auxiliary Verbs

There are three auxiliary verbs in the Serbian language.

They are called auxiliaries because they are used to build other verb forms.

They are:

  1. biti (= to be)
  2. hteti (= to want)
  3. jesam (= I am)

In this article, our focus will be on the auxiliary verb to be, which is considered one of the most essential verbs in any language.

The verb to be in Serbian has different forms depending on the tense and person.

Important: The auxiliary verb to be has all verb forms except the form in the past participle.

#1 Verb To Be in Serbian Present Tense

Serbian Present tense is a simple and personal verb form, called simply prezent or sadašnje vreme.

Usage: We use it to talk about something that is happening at the moment of speaking.

The verb to be in Serbian present tense is called jesam. The auxiliary verb jesam doesn’t have an infinitive, so don’t be confused. But we also have another verb to be called biti.

Linguists have long debated whether jesam and biti are the same or two different verbs.

But what’s important to you is that whichever you use, the English translation will be the same, even though in Serbian these two auxiliary verbs sound different and are used in different ways.

Here are the conjugations for the verb jesam in the Present tense:

personsingularplural
1.Ja sam (I am)Mi smo (We Are)
2.Ti si (You are)Vi ste (You are)
3.On/Ona/Ono je (He/She/It is)Oni/One/Ona su (They are)

For example, you can use it like this:

  • Ti si lepa. (= You are pretty.)
  • Marina je košarkašica. (= Marina is a basketball player.)
  • Mi smo braća. (= We are brothers.)

Serbs use the auxiliary verb jesam more often than biti in the Present Tense and to build the Past Tense.

On the other hand, we rarely use the verb biti in the Present tense on its own. It is mostly with modal verbs (e.g. treba da budem/moram da budem/…) but seldom independently. We use it in the Past Tense, Future Tense, and Imperative, as well as to construct other tenses, which you will see later!

For now, here are the conjugations for the verb to be in the Present tense:

personsingularplural
1.Ja budem (I am)Mi budemo (We Are)
2.Ti budeš (You are)Vi budete (You are)
3.On/Ona/Ono bude (He/She/It is)Oni/One/Ona budu (They are)

#2 Verb To Be in Serbian Past Tense

Serbian Past tense is a complex and personal verb form.

In Serbian we say – perfekat or prošlo vreme.

Usage: We use it to talk about some action, state, or event that completely happened in the past or started in the past.

To form the verb to be in the Past Tense, we use the verb jesam in the Present Tense and the participle of the verb biti. Here is how it looks:

personsingularplural
1.Ja sam bio/bila  (I was)Mi smo bili/bile  (We were)
2.Ti si bio/bila (You were)Vi ste bili/ste bile (You were)
3.On/Ona/Ono je bio/bila/bilo (He/She/It was)Oni/One/Ona su bili/bile/bila (They were)

Reminder: In Serbian, there are different forms for each gender:

  • Bio is used for masculine subjects.
  • Bila is used for feminine subjects.
  • Bilo is used for neuter subjects.

The same goes for the plural form. However, the form bili denominates also a group of men and women. Example:

Ljudi su bili ovde. (People were here)

Mi smo bili kod kuće. (We were at home. – this can mean a group of only men or both women and men)

verb to be in serbian notebooks
Are these many notebooks enough to learn all verb forms in Serbian? 😀

The verb to be in simple Past tense is used like this:

  • Bio sam u pozorištu. (= I was at the theatre.)
  • Juče si baš bila srećna. (= You were really happy yesterday.)
  • Oni su bili jako daleko. (= They were very far away.)

As you can see, we have to adjust the verb to be in Past tense and its gender to the gender of the subject.

As we already mentioned, to be is also an auxiliary verb, and we use it to construct other complex verb forms and tenses.

The verb to be in Past tense is used to form a verb form called pluskvamperfekat, which you will see soon. 🙂

#3 Verb To Be in Serbian Future Tense

Serbian Future tense is also a complex and personal verb form.

In Serbian, we call it – Futur I or Buduće vreme. It is constructed from the verb biti.

Usage: We use it to talk about some actions or events that will happen in the future.

Here are the conjugations for the verb to be (there are longer and shorter forms) in the Future tense:

 singularplural
personlongshortlongshort
1.Ja ću bitibićuMi ćemo bitibićemo
2.Ti ćeš bitibićešVi ćete bitibićete
3.On / Ona / Ono će bitibićeOni će bitibiće

In English, all of these are translated as ’will be’.

For example:

  • Ja ću biti u školi sutra. (= I will be at the school tomorrow.)
  • Biće sve dobro. (= Everything will be okay.)
verb to be in serbian quote green neon letters
A little bit of motivation when learning the verb to be in Serbian. 🙂

#4 Verb To Be in Serbian Aorist

Aorist is a simple and personal verb form.

Usage: We use it to talk about an action that occurred in the past (same as in Serbian Past Tense) but was completed just before the moment of speaking (different than Serbian Past Tense).

personsingularplural
1.Ja bih  Mi bismo
2.Ti biVi biste
3.On/Ona/Ono biOni/One/Ona bi

In Serbian, we rarely use the verb to be in Aorist on its own. We use it to form a verb form called Potencijal.

If you are a beginner in Serbian, don’t bother with aorist! You will learn this at an advanced level (C1).

#5 Verb To Be in Serbian Imperativ

Imperativ is a simple and personal verb form.

Usage: We use it to express an order, prohibition, warning, request or similar.

personsingularplural
1.Mi budimo
2.Ti budiVi budite
3.On/Ona/Ono bude (neka bude)Oni/One/Ona budu (neka budu)

For example:

  • Budi tih! (= Be quiet!)
  • Budite pažljivi! (= Be careful!)

Disclaimer: When it comes to the third person, we add the word neka + Present Tense because there is no direct addressing. It’s like we are telling someone to repeat our command or advice to someone absent.

  • Neka budu mirin! (indirect translation: They should be quiet.)

Verb To Be in Serbian Complex Verb Forms

As we already mentioned verb to be in Serbian is more often used to construct other verb forms than to use it on its own.

These verb forms are:

  • Pluskvamperfekat
  • Futur II
  • Potencijal

#6 Verb To Be in Serbian Pluskvamperfekat

In Serbian we explain this verb tense as Davno prošlo vreme (= long time ago). It is another complex and personal verb form. It is similar to Past Perfect Tense in English. Nowadays, it is used less and less, and it is replaced by the usual Past Tense in the everyday language.

Usage: We use it to talk about something that happened in the past before some other past action.

It is formed from:

the verb to be in Past tense + verb form called Radni glagoski pridev (participle)

personsingularplural
1.Ja sam bio radio
Ja sam bila radila (I had worked)
Mi smo bili radili  
Mi smo bile radile (We had worked)
2.Ti si bio radio
Ti si bila radila (You had worked)
Vi ste bili radili
Vi ste bile radile (You had worked)
3.On je bio radio
Ona je bila radila
Ono je bilo radilo (He/She/It had worked)
Oni su bili radili
One su bile radile
Ona su bila radila (They had worked)

For example:

  • Pre nego što sam došao kući, ja sam bio otišao u prodavnicu. (= Before I came home, I had gone to the store.)
  • Kada je profesorka ušla u učionicu, ti si već bio pročitao lekciju. (= When the teacher entered the classroom, you had already read the lesson.)

#7 Verb To Be in Serbian Futur II

Futur II (future second) is a complex and personal verb form.

Usage: We use it to talk about an unrealized action that we assume will happen sometime in the future, during or before some other future action. It is used mostly in the conditional sentences.

verb to be in serbian coffee caffe bar
Which verb tenses are used in the following example: ,,Čim budem završio ovu lekciju, idem po kafu!”? 🙂

It is formed from:

verb to be in Present tense + Radni glagolski pridev

personsingularplural
1.kad ja budem radiokad mi budemo radili
2.kad ti budeš radiokad vi budete radili  
3.kad on/ona/ono bude radio/radila/radilokad oni/one/ona budu radili /radile /radila

For example:

  • Ići ću na fakultet kad budem dobio stipendiju. (= I will go to university when I get a scholarship.)
  • Idemo na predstavu kad budeš kupila karte. (= We’ll go to the show when you buy the tickets.)

#8 Verb To Be in Serbian Potencijal

Potencijal is a complex and personal verb form.

Usage: We use it to express some desire, possibility or intention to perform an action.

It is formed from:

verb to be in Aorist + Radni glagolski pridev (participle)

personsingularplural
1.Ja bih radio  
Ja bih radila (I would work)
Mi bismo radili  
Mi bismo radile (We would work)
2.Ti bi radio
Ti bi radila (You would work)
Vi biste radili
Vi biste radile (You would work)
3.On bi radio
Ona bi radila
Ono bi radilo (He/She/It would work)
Oni bi radili
One bi radile
Ona bi radila (They would work)

For example:

  • Ja bih išla na žurku ako me budu pozvali. (= If they invite me, I would go to a party.)
  • Stefan bi uradio taj zadatak ako mu pokažeš. (= If you show it to him, Stefan will do that task.)

Serbian natives often make mistakes with this verb form, so you might hear people saying ja bi radio, mi bi radili or vi bi radili.

Let’s Sum Up!

If it seems like a lot of information, don’t worry; it is a lot! 😀

Learning Serbian grammar is not easy, but once you master it, you will feel amazing!

Need more help with Serbian? Schedule your Serbian online lessons with Serbian native professors!