Lesson 36. The Verb 'to be': Full Forms
We already saw Ja sam… (“I am…”) a few times. Today we’ll learn the verb biti (“to be”) completely. In Serbian, it’s the most important verb.
Full Forms of the Present Tense
biti (to be) — present tense, full forms
| Person | Form | |
|---|---|---|
| I (ja) | jesam (јесам) | |
| you (ti) | jesi (јеси) | |
| he/she/it | jeste (јесте) | |
| we (mi) | jesmo (јесмо) | |
| you (vi) | jeste (јесте) | |
| they (oni) | jesu (јесу) |
Where Full Forms Are Used
Full forms jesam / jesi / jeste… are used in three situations:
- In a short, confident answer:
- In questions — less common; short form + li is more usual:
- When you want to stress ‘am/are/is’:
Short Forms Are More Common
In everyday speech, people use short forms. We’ll learn them in the next lesson:
biti — short forms (the most common)
| Person | Form | |
|---|---|---|
| I | sam (сам) | |
| you | si (си) | |
| he/she/it | je (је) | |
| we | smo (смо) | |
| you | ste (сте) | |
| they | su (су) |
These are the ones you saw in examples: Ja sam Ana., Kuća je velika., Mi smo ovde.
Examples with Full Forms
Exercises
Exercise 1
The full form for 'I':
Show explanation
jesam — “I am.”
Exercise 2
The full form for 'we':
Show explanation
jesmo — “we are.”
Exercise 3
Answer confidently in Serbian to the question “Are you a student?” (Jesi li učenik?).
Show answer
Jesam. — “Yes (I am).”
Exercise 4
How do you say “Are you tired?” (formal, to one person)?
Show answer
Jeste li umorni? (Јесте ли уморни?) — formal “you.”
Exercise 5
Why do Serbs distinguish between full and short forms of biti? One sentence.
Show answer
Because short forms are “unstressed” — they hide inside a sentence. Full forms are “stressed,” to emphasize or answer with one word.
Lesson vocabulary
- biti (бити)
- — to be
- jesam (јесам)
- — I am (full)
- jesi (јеси)
- — you are
- jeste (јесте)
- — he/she/you are
- jesmo (јесмо)
- — we are
- jesu (јесу)
- — they are
- umoran (уморан)
- — tired
- istina (истина)
- — truth