Lingomir
A2 — elementaryVerb basics and the present tense

Conjugation classes

Lesson opening

This is the first part of the lesson. The rest, the exercises and the reviews are in the app.

Verb classes: reading the present from the infinitive

The lesson “Present tense” gave you three sets of endings, -am, -im and -em, and three model verbs: čitati → čitam, raditi → radim, pisati → pišem. One practical question was left open: you meet a new verb and know only its dictionary form, the infinitive (the “to …” form). Which class is it, and what is its present stem? Take čitati and pisati: both end in -ati, yet they conjugate differently. This lesson is a map that takes you from the infinitive to the present.

Often the end of the infinitive tells you. See -ovati, expect -ujem; see -nuti, expect -nem; see -iti, and it is almost certainly -im. But at -ati and -eti the road forks, and the infinitive alone cannot tell you which way: there you have to know the verb.

The map: end of the infinitive → present stem

Here is the whole map in one table: on the left what you see in the dictionary, on the right what you get in the present.

The safe anchor: -iti almost always gives -im

Verbs in -iti go into the -im class with hardly any exceptions, and you get the “I” form by swapping -ti for -m: raditi → radim, govoriti → govorim. The exception is a handful of one-syllable verbs in -iti whose present ends in -jem: piti → pijem (drink), liti → lijem (pour), kriti → krijem (hide), šiti → šijem (sew); “they” is piju.

If an unfamiliar verb ends in -iti, build -im, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -e with confidence. Note the “they” form in -e: rade (they work), nose (they carry). It is the only form of this class without the i.

The two-way -eti: vidim, but umem

Here is the first fork. An infinitive in -eti leads into two classes, and the infinitive alone does not tell you which. One group gives -im, just like -iti; the other gives -em.

Cheat sheet

The cheat sheet — everything essential from the lesson on one page. In the app it opens at any time.

Verb classes: reading the present from the infinitive

Class: the vowel before the personal ending in the present, a, i or e (-am, -im, -em). Often readable from the end of the infinitive; for -ati and -eti not always, so learn the dictionary pair (pisati, pišem). The personal endings are shared by all classes.

Map: end of infinitive → present

Full present of each class

Class by class

  • -iti → -im, almost no exceptions: radim work, govorim speak, nosim carry, kupim buy, platim pay; “they” rade, nose. Except one-syllable piti → pijem, liti → lijem; “they” piju.
  • -eti: a large -im group, vidim, volim, živim, želim (“they” vide); a short -em list, umem know how, razumem understand, smem may, uspem succeed (“they” umeju, razumeju). Own stems: uzmem, počnem, donesem.
  • -ati: very often -am, čitam, gledam, imam, slušam. Some soften into -em (iotation: s → š, z → ž, k → č, g → ž, t → ć, d → đ): pišem write, kažem say, plačem cry, skačem jump, glođem gnaw; “they” pišu. No clue in the infinitive: learn as pairs. Also zovem, berem (vowel change) and a few in -im: držim, ležim, trčim (“they” drže).
  • -ova- → -uj-: putujem travel, kupujem buy, radujem se be glad; “they” kupuju. Only the suffix itself: pevati → pevam sing (-eva- is root). Many -ivati too: pokazujem, očekujem; but pozivam, plivam.
  • -nuti → -nem: krenem set off, viknem shout; “they” krenu. Often a one-off action.
  • -ći, learn as pairs: idem, dođem, nađem, izađem, but otići → odem; peći → pečem, “they” peku; moći → mogu, možeš. “They” in -u: idu, dođu, mogu.
  • Loans: -irati → -am (telefoniram), -isati → -išem (funkcionišem), -ovati → -ujem (organizujem).