There are two stems in Montenegrin language: present and infinitive, and all verbal forms are formed from one or the other. The present stem is formed by dropping the personal suffix from the 1st p. sg. of the present tense.
Personal suffixes for the present tense are

sg. pl.
1st p. -m/-u -mo
2nd p. -te
3rd p. -e, -u/-ju

Only two verbs HTJETI and MOĆI have the suffix –u in the first person singular.

Conjugation:
By combining the final vowel of the stem and the personal suffixes, we can divide all verbs in the present tense into the following three groups: 1)I/E 2)A/AJU 3)E/U

The first group I/E
The ‘I’ represents the final vowel of the present stem, whereas the ‘E’ represents the suffix for the 3rd p. pl.

učiti
1st group -im -imo učim učimo
-iš -ite učiš učite
-i -e uči uče

The second group: A/AJU
The ‘A’ represents the final vowel of the present stem, whereas the ‘AJU’ represents the suffix for the 3rd p. pl.

pričati
2nd group -am -amo pričam pričamo
-aš -ate pričaš pričate
-a -aju priča pričaju

The third group: E/U
The ‘E’ represents the final vowel of the present stem, whereas the ‘U’ represents the suffix for the 3rd p. pl.

čuti pisati
3rd group -(j)-em -(j)-emo čujem čujemo pišem pišemo
-(j)-eš -(j)-ete čuješ čujete pišeš pišete
-(j)-e -(j)-u čuje čuju piše pišu

The subject of the sentence is frequently omitted because the person and the number are indicated by the verb.
e.g. Ja pišem. = Pišem. / Oni pišu. = Pišu.

The third group of verbs has a sound alternation in the stem.

k>č plakati, plačem
g>ž lagati, lažem
h>š jahati, jašem
s>š pisati, pišem
z>ž stizati, stižem
t>ć sretati, srećem

The negative and interrogative form

The negative form

učiti
Ja NE učim. Mi NE učimo.
Ti učiš. Vi Učite.
On/Ona/Ono uči. Oni/One/Ona uče.

The verbs IMATI, HTJETI and JESAM have special negative forms. The negation is written together with the verb.

imati hteti jesam
nemam nemamo neću nećemo nijesam nijesmo
nemaš nemate nećeš nećete nijesi nijeste
nema nemaju neće neće nije nijesu

The interrogative form

studirati
DA LI ja studiram? DA LI mi studiramo?
ti studiraš? vi studirate?
on/ona/ono studira? oni/one/ona studiraju?

An interrogative sentence is formed by inversion using the interrogative particle LI.
npr. Studiraš li (ti)? Studira li (ona)? Studiraju li (oni)?

Reflexive verbs in the present tense
The form of reflexive verbs is represented by the verb plus the morpheme SE.
e.g. Tuširati se. Smejati se. Plašiti se. Ja se češljam. Vi se družite.

The affirmative form:

zvati se
Ja SE zovem… Mi SE zovemo…
Ti zoveš… Vi zovete…
On/Ona/Ono zove… Oni/One/Ona zovu…

The morpheme SE is placend in the second position in the sentence, after the subject.
The subject of the sentence is frequently omitted because the person and number are indicated by the verb. In this situation the sentence starts with the verb followed by the morpheme SE.
e.g. Zovem se… Zoveš se… Zovemo se…

The negative form:

zvati se
Ja SE NE zovem… Mi SE NE zovemo…
Ti zoveš… Vi zovete…
On/Ona/Ono zove… Oni/One/Ona zovu…

The morpheme SE is placed in the second position in the sentence, after the subject. The subject of the sentence is frequently omitted. In this situation the sentence starts with the negative form of the verb and is followed by the morpheme SE.
e.g. Ne zovem se … Ne zoveš se … Ne zovemo se …

The interrogative form:

zvati se
DA LI SE ja zovem … ? DA LI SE mi zovemo … ?
ti zoveš … ? vi zovete … ?
on/ona/ono zove … ? oni/one/ona zovu … ?

The morpheme SE is placed in the second position in the sentence after the question marker DA LI.

The subject of the sentence is frequently omitted. In this situation the sentence starts with the question marker DA LI followed by the morpheme SE.
e.g. Da li se zovem … ? Da li se zoveš … ? Da li se zovemo … ?

The interrogative form may also be formed by inversion, using the interrogative particle LI. The sentence then begins with the verb which is followed by the interrogative particle LI which in its turn is followed by the morpheme SE.
e.g. Zoveš li se (ti) … ? Zove li se (on) … ?

 

 

 

 

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