The aorist
In short
| vowel stem (napisa-ti) | consonant stem (rek-, dođ-) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg | napisah | rekoh, dođoh |
| 2sg | napisa | reče, dođe |
| 3sg | napisa | reče, dođe |
| 1pl | napisasmo | rekosmo |
| 2pl | napisaste | rekoste |
| 3pl | napisaše | rekoše |
One word, no biti, no gender. Mostly perfective verbs. 2sg = 3sg.
B1 · Lesson 30 · Aorist
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
Open a Serbian novel, a folk tale or a news story and you will meet verbs like reče, dođoše, napisah. They all report something that happened in the past, but they are only ONE word: no sam, si, je in front of them. This is the aorist (aorist), a second past tense that sits beside the one you already know.
Compare: Rekao sam ti. and Rekoh ti. Both mean "I told you." The first is the ordinary past you use every day; the second is the aorist — shorter, livelier, a little bookish or dramatic. For your own speech the ordinary past stays the default. The aorist is something you must above all recognise when you read and listen.
What it is used for
- Storytelling and literature — one event after another: Starac ustade i ode u šumu. (The old man got up and went off into the forest.)
- Something that has just happened, said vividly: Stigosmo! (We're here! — we have just arrived.)
- Lively speech: Rekoh ti! (I told you so!)
Because it reports a single, finished event, the aorist is formed almost only from perfective verbs — napisati, reći, doći, vratiti, not pisati or dolaziti.
How it is formed
For most verbs, take the infinitive and remove -ti: what is left is the stem (napisa-ti → napisa-, vrati-ti → vrati-). Verbs ending in -ći hide a stem ending in a consonant, which you can see in their other forms: reći → rek- (as in rekao), doći → dođ- (as in dođem). The endings depend on how the stem ends.
| Person | napisati (stem napisa-) | vratiti (stem vrati-) | reći (stem rek-) | doći (stem dođ-) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ja (1sg) | napisah | vratih | rekoh | dođoh |
| ti (2sg) | napisa | vrati | reče | dođe |
| on / ona / ono (3sg) | napisa | vrati | reče | dođe |
| mi (1pl) | napisasmo | vratismo | rekosmo | dođosmo |
| vi (2pl) | napisaste | vratiste | rekoste | dođoste |
| oni / one / ona (3pl) | napisaše | vratiše | rekoše | dođoše |
- Stem ending in a vowel (napisa-, vrati-): add -h, —, —, -smo, -ste, -še. The 2sg and 3sg are just the bare stem.
- Stem ending in a consonant (rek-, dođ-): add -oh, -e, -e, -osmo, -oste, -oše. Before the -e of 2sg and 3sg a k becomes č: rek- → reče.
Learn the signal endings and you will spot the aorist anywhere: -h is always "I", -smo "we", -ste "you all", -še "they".
No gender, no pronoun needed
The ordinary past changes with the gender of the subject (rekao sam / rekla sam). The aorist does not: a man and a woman both say Rekoh. And since every person has its own ending, the pronoun is normally dropped: Dođosmo kasno. can only mean "We came late."
The trap: the 2sg and 3sg forms are identical. Reče can mean "you said" or "he/she said". Context decides — and when a speaker means "you", they very often add ti: Ti prvi reče… (You were the first to say…).
Negation works as with any simple verb: ne goes right before it — ništa ne rekosmo (we said nothing). Clitics keep second position: Mi se pogledasmo.
Check what you read
6 of the 16 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Ja(pročitati) tvoju pesmu do kraja.
Mi(doći) kasno.
Oni(reći) istinu.
Ja ti ___ da je knjiga dobra.
Vi ___ pismo.
Starac ___ i ode.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Ti opet zaboravi ključeve!
You forgot the keys again! (to one person)
Stigosmo kući kasno uveče.
We got home late in the evening.
Kad ču vest, majka zaplaka.
When she heard the news, the mother burst into tears.
Kako nađoste put do sela?
How did you find the way to the village? (to several people)
Vi dođoste baš na vreme!
You came just in time! (to several people)
Zašto mi ne reče istinu?
Why didn't you tell me the truth? (to one person)
Pročitah ceo roman za jednu noć.
I read the whole novel in one night.
Onda se začu glas iz šume.
Then a voice was heard from the forest.
Rekoh ti da će padati kiša.
I told you it would rain.
Junakinja otvori vrata i ugleda čarobnjaka.
The heroine opened the door and caught sight of a wizard.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 30
Try it yourself
Translate a sentence that uses this rule. The check marks the word that went wrong and names the rule behind it, as in the app.
Sentences
Write it in Serbian
When she heard the news, the mother burst into tears.
aorist