The main tenses used in Bosnian language are:

Present tense

Past tense

Future tense

Pluperfect

Future perfect

Imperative

Conditional

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The Present tense

By removing the ending from the infinitive form of a regular verb, we can form the present tense. It describes what someone is doing at the moment or does habitually.

Examples:

1) Verbs ending with ati : e.g. itati- {to read}- (cheetatee)

Ja itam / Mi  itamo - I am reading / We are reading
Ti itas / Vi itate - You are reading / You are reading
On/On/Ono ita / Oni itaju - He/She/It is reading / They are reading

2) Verbs ending in eti : e.g. Po eti - {to begin}- (pochayti)

Ja poinjem / Mi poinjemo - I am beginning (to) / We are beginning
Ti poinje / Vi poinjete - You are beginning / You are beginning
On/Ona/Ono poinje / Oni poinju - He/She/It is beginning / They are beginning

3) Verbs ending in iti - Sjediti {to sit}(syedeetee)

Ja sjedim {I am sitting}/ Mi sjedimo(We are sitting}/
Ti sjedi {You are sitting / Vi sjedite {You (pl) are sitting
On/Ona/Ono sjedi {He/She/It is sitting}/ Oni sjede {They are sitting}

Note: Please note that we are using present continuos form of the verb {I am reading } , instead of simple form of the verb {I read}. In spoken Bosnian the difference is almost unnoticeable. However, for most verbs there are prefixes that distinguish between simple and continuos form of the verb.

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The Past tense

The past tense is a compound tense being formed from the present tense of the auxiliary "to be" and the active past participle. Active past participle is formed by removing the ending of verbs ending in -iti and adding the following endings:

(He) - O, (We) - li,
(She) - La, (You) - li,
(It) - Lo, (They) - li(m)/le(f)/la(n).

As you can see, the participle varies according to gender and number

Example: itati {to read}

Ja sam itao/la / Mi smo itali -- I was reading / We were reading
Ti si itao/la / Vi ste itali -- You were reading / You were reading
On/Ona je itao/la / Oni/One su itali/le -- She was reading / They were reading

There are four important irregular verbs , which form the participle in this way:

ii (to go)-iao, ila, ilo; ili, ile, ila
doi (to come)-doao, dola, dolo; doli, dole, dola
moi (to be able)-mogao, mogla, moglo;mogli, mogle, mogla
rei (to say)-rekao, rekla, reklo; rekli, rekle, rekla

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The Future tense

This is another compound verb and is very easily formed. It consists of the infinitive and the verb 'to be' in the future tense.

Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
Ja u(Ya choo) / I shall	Hou li?(Hochoo lee) / Shall I?	Neu (Nechoo) / I shall not
Ti es( Tee chesh) / You will	Hoes li? / Will you ?	Nees( Nechesh) / You will not
On/Ona/Ono e / He/She/It will	Hoe li? / Will she?	Nee / She will not
Mi emo (Mee chemo) / We shall	Hoemo li? / Shall we?	Neemo / We shan't(shall not)
Vi ete (Vee chete) / You will	Hoete li? / Will you ?	Neete / You won't
Oni e / They will	Hoe li? / Will they?	Nee / They will not

Example:

Ja u raditi- I shall work - full form ( ie.with the personal pronoun)
Ti e radiri
On/Ona/Ono e raditi
Mi emo raditi
Vi ete raditi
Oni e raditi

If the personal pronoun is left out , as it is in common speech, the verb 'biti' is added to the principal verb as a suffix, ( eg. Ja cu raditi - radicu)

This process of dropping the final - ti of the infinitive and substitution for the corresponing form of the veb 'biti' is valid for most regular verbs. However , there are exceptions and irregularities which are not possible to take account of here .

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The Pluperfect Tense

The pluperfect is generally used to describe something that went on one step further back in the past. This is a compound tense and it is formed of imperfect TO BE and the active past participle .

Ja bijah (Ya beeyah) / I had been	Ti bjee / You had been	Ona/On bjee / She/He had been
Mi bjesmo / We had been	Vi bjeste / You had been	Oni bjehu / They had been

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The Future Perfect

This tense is used to express an action in the future, which precedes another action in the future. It is composed of the present perfect of TO BE (biti)( beetee) and the active past participle.

Ja budem uradio / I will have done	Ti bude uradio / You will have done	Ona/On bude uradio / She/He will have done
Mi budemo uradili / We will have done	Vi budete uradili / You will have done	Oni budu uradili / They will have done

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The Imperative

The Imperative is the form of the verb used when giving an order:

i) Verbs whose 1st person singular in the present tense ends in 'am take the following endings:

Examples: ekati (To wait)

 

ekaj! / Wait!

ekajmo! / Let's wait!

Zavri zadau! / Finish your work!

Donesi to ovdje! / Bring it here!

ii) Using the present tense and 'Da' and ' Neka' forms imperatives of other persons:

1st person singular 'da' + present: this translates into English as Let

3^rd person singular and plural 'neka' + present:

 

Da vidim! / Let me see!

Neka vidi! / Let him see!

Neka vide! / Let them see!

Uzmimo taxi! / Let's take taxi!

iii) Negative Imperative

There are two methods of forming the negative imperative:

a) Ne + imperative

Ne brini! ( Ne breenee)	Don't worry!
Ne dirajte!( Ne deerayte)	Don't touch!

b) Nemoj + infinitive

Nemoj zaboraviti! / Do not forget!

Nemojmo zaboraviti! / (We) don't forget !

Nemojte zaboraviti! / You (pl) don't forget!

 

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Aorist

This tense is used with past meaning to convey speed or suddenness of action.

Example:

Ja rekoh / I have (just) said	Ti ree / You have (just) said	On ree / He has (just) said
Mi rekosmoWe have(just) said	Vi rekosteYou have(just) said	Oni rekoeThey have (just) said

 

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The conditional

The Conditional is a compound tense formed of the active present participle and the aorist of BITI (to be) and it is most often found in conditional clauses, i.e. when the ideas expressed are hypothetical.

Examples:

If Ian goes to Manchester, he would see Caroline and Sue.
You would visit a lot of interesting places if you came to Oxford.

Pronoun Auxiliary Participle

Ja bih itao/la	I would read
Ti bi itao	You would read
On bi itao	He would read
Mi bismo itali	We would read
Vi biste itali	You would read
Oni bie itali	They would read

One can also frequently come across the conditional tense in reported speech. A verb used in the future tense in direct speech will change to the conditional tense in reported speech.

Examples:

She said: "If the weather is fine, we will go to the park.
They said that if the weather was fine, we would go to the park.

©Namira Bajraktarevic 2002