⚙️ 1 | 2 | Lekcija 2: Osobine – Gramatika

Dr. Frane Karabatić

Cjelina 1: Dobro došli!

⚙️ 1 | 2 | Lekcija 2: Osobine – Gramatika

THE VERB BITI — QUESTION AND NEGATION

The verb ‘biti’ is exceptional because it has two forms in the Present Tense, a stressed and an unstressed form:

UNSTRESSED FORM

singular	English	plural	English
ja sam	I am	mi smo	We are
ti si	You are	vi ste	You [all] are
on je	He is	oni su	They are (m)
ona je	She is	one su	They are (f)
ono je	It is	ona su	They are (n)

STRESSED FORM

Used for questions and short answers, or when expressing a short statement.

singular	English	plural	English
ja jesam	I am	mi jesmo	We are
ti jesi	You are	vi jeste	You [all] are
on jest	He is	oni jesu	They are (m)
ona jest	She is	one jesu	They are (f)
ono jest	It is	ona jesu	They are (n)

The stressed (long) form of the verb BITI is used when we:

Give a short answer, such as:

Jesam. — I am!
Jesu. — They are!

Want to ask a question, such as:

Jesi li student? — Are you [a student]?
Jesu li studenti? — Are they [students]?

An exception to these rules is the THIRD PERSON SINGULAR. The stressed (long) form NEVER appears in a question form. It has to be:

Je li on student? — Is he [a student]?
Je li ona studentica? — Is she [a student]?

❓ Question form

The interrogative (question form) of ‘biti’ is usually formed in the following way: by inserting the particle li after the verb and placing the verb at the beginning of the sentence. In other words, to form a question, Croatian uses:

the verb “biti” stressed form	+ li	+ subject
Jesi	li	student?

Here is an example for each form.

pronoun	Question	pronoun	Question
ja	Jesam li ja student/-ica?	mi	Jesmo li mi studenti/-ice?
ti	Jesi li ti student/-ica?	vi	Jeste li vi studenti/-ice?
on	Je li on student?	oni	Jesu li oni studenti?
ona	Je li ona studentica?	one	Jesu li one studentice?
ono	Je li ono dijete tvoje?	ona	Jesu li ona djeca tvoja?

❗❗❗ Remember! – Only the third person singular forms questions with the unstressed form of the verb ‘biti’.

Question form	English	Question form	English
Jesam li?	Am I?	Jesmo li?	Are we?
Jesi li?	Are you?	Jeste li?	Are you [all]?
Je li?	Is he?	Jesu li?	Are they?
Je li?	Is she?	Jesu li?	Are they?
Je li?	Is it?	Jesu li?	Are they?

❌ Negative form

The negative form of ‘biti’ is exceptional. The negative particle used is ni- instead of the usual ne and it is prefixed to the unstressed (short) form as one word. The pronoun is usually omitted with the negative form, as in the examples below. Look at the following chart for a complete overview.

Negative form	English	Negative form	English
Nisam	I am not	Nismo	We are not
Nisi	You are not	Niste	You [all] are not
Nije	He is not	Nisu	They are not
Nije	She is not	Nisu	They are not
Nije	It is not	Nisu	They are not