Phase verbs

Lesson opening

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Phase verbs: početi, nastaviti, prestati, završiti

Počeo sam da radim “I started working”, prestao je da puši “he quit smoking”. The verbs početi “to start, begin”, nastaviti “to continue, carry on”, prestati “to stop, quit” and završiti “to finish” do not name an action themselves. They say which stage, or phase, another action is in: just starting, going on, broken off, or brought to an end. That is why they are called phase verbs. Like the modal verbs, they attach the second verb with a da clause or with the infinitive.

One strict habit sets them apart from the modals. After a modal verb (see “Core modal verbs”) the second verb can be of either aspect: moram da radim and moram da uradim are both correct. After a phase verb it is imperfective only: počeo sam da radim, never “počeo sam da uradim”; you cannot “start to get something done”. This lesson covers the four phase verbs with their aspect pairs, this rule and the reason behind it, three ways of attaching what is started or finished (da, the infinitive, a noun), and the everyday lines for “start / keep / stop doing”.

Four phases and their aspect pairs

Like most verbs, each phase verb has an aspect pair: the perfective speaks of a single event, the imperfective of a process or a repeated action. Here are all four:

They conjugate normally. The perfectives: počnem, počneš, počne…; prestanem, prestaneš…; nastavim, nastaviš…; završim, završiš…. The imperfectives: počinjem, prestajem, nastavljam, završavam. The past is formed like any other: počeo sam “I started”, prestao je “he stopped”, nastavili smo “we continued”.

Here are all four phases at work, from the start to the finish of one performance. After the first three comes a second verb, and it is imperfective (peva “sings”); after završiti comes a noun:

The first three, početi, nastaviti and prestati, readily take a verb. The fourth, završiti “to finish”, usually finishes not an action but a task or a thing: završiti nastup “to finish the performance”, završiti školu “to finish school”. So “stop doing something” is prestati da…, and završiti is kept for something named by a noun and seen through to the end.

The main rule: the second verb is imperfective

Only something that lasts, a process, can be started, continued or stopped. A perfective verb shows the action whole, as a finished result, and a result has no middle you could step into. So after a phase verb the second verb is imperfective:

English points the same way. After “start”, “keep” and “stop” it likes the -ing form, its own way of saying “a process”: start working, keep reading, stop smoking. Treat the Serbian imperfective after a phase verb as that -ing: if what you mean is working, reading, writing as an activity, you are right; if the English only works as “start to get it done”, the aspect is wrong. A perfective after a phase verb does not exist in Serbian:

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Phase verbs: početi, nastaviti, prestati, završiti

A phase verb names a stage of another action: start, continuation, stopping, completion. After početi, nastaviti, prestati the second verb is only imperfective; završiti usually takes a noun.

Four phases, four aspect pairs

Present: počnem, počneš, počne; prestanem, nastavim, završim; imperfective počinjem, prestajem, nastavljam, završavam. Past: počeo sam, prestao je, nastavili smo.

Main rule: the second verb is imperfective

Check: “start doing” (-ing) works → right; only “start to get it done” works → wrong aspect.

The phase verb picks its own aspect

Three ways to attach the action

• da + present, usual in Serbia: počeo je da radi; same person as the phase verb: počela si da radiš.
• Infinitive, more bookish: počeo je raditi, prestao je pušiti. Both are correct; never mix them (“da raditi”).
• sa + instrumental, or a direct object, for an activity noun: Prestao je sa pušenjem, Nastavili smo sa radom, Počnimo sa poslom, Završio sam posao.

završiti takes a noun: završiti nastup, završiti školu, završiti fakultet. “Stop doing” is prestati da.

Future, modals, relatives

• Sutra ću da počnem da učim = Sutra ću početi da učim; Prestaću da pušim od ponedeljka; Moram da počnem da vežbam; Hoću da počnem da trčim.
• krenuti “get going” (Krenuo sam da radim, Kreni!), but “set off” + purpose da: Krenuo sam da kupim hleb; stati “stop”, also “set about” (Stao je da priča); produžiti “go on” (Produži da čitaš).
• Commands: Počni! “Start!”, Nastavi! “Keep going!”, Prestani! “Stop it!”, Dosta! “Enough!”, Stani! “Stop! Wait!”, Prestani da vičeš! “Stop shouting!”