Existential ima and nema with the genitive
In short
Existential ima / nema + GENITIVE
| Form | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| there is | ima | Ima hleba. |
| there is not | nema | Nema mleka. |
| is there? | ima li / da li ima | Ima li vode? |
- One fixed form, 3rd person singular, always — singular or plural, does not matter.
- The thing exists or is missing → genitive: hleb → hleba, voda → vode, mleko → mleka.
- nema is one word. Never ne ima.
- With a named subject the same words mean has / does not have, and then the object is accusative: Marko ima sir.
A1 · Lesson 23 · There is and there is not
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
At the market you constantly need two sentences: There is bread and There is no milk. English builds them with there is plus a subject. Serbian does something much simpler — and, once you see it, much easier to say.
One word for "there is": ima
Serbian uses the bare verb form ima. Nothing stands in front of it, there is no it and no there. And the thing that exists does not behave like a subject at all — it goes into the genitive, the case you learned in the last lesson.
- hleb (bread) → Ima hleba. — There is bread.
- sir (cheese) → Ima sira. — There is cheese.
- kafa (coffee) → Ima kafe. — There is coffee.
ima never changes. It is always this one form, whether you are talking about one thing or many, and whether you are talking about a person, a shop or the weather.
"There is no...": nema
The negative is nema — one single word, exactly the fused negative you already met with imati / nemati. You never say ne ima. Here too, the missing thing stands in the genitive.
- Nema mleka. — There is no milk.
- Nema vode. — There is no water.
- Danas nema mesa. — There is no meat today.
With nema the genitive is not a stylistic choice — it is the only possibility. That is why this lesson teaches the genitive for the affirmative too: learn one pattern, use it everywhere.
Asking: is there any...?
Questions use the two patterns you already know for yes/no questions: da li in front, or li straight after the verb. In a shop, Ima li...? is what you will hear most.
- Ima li hleba? — Is there any bread?
- Da li ima jogurta? — Is there any yoghurt?
- The short answers are just as short: Ima. — There is. / Nema. — There isn't.
| Noun | Genitive | Sentence | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| hleb | hleba | Ima hleba. | There is bread. |
| sir | sira | Ima li sira? | Is there any cheese? |
| mleko | mleka | Nema mleka. | There is no milk. |
| voda | vode | Nema vode. | There is no water. |
| kafa | kafe | Ima li kafe? | Is there any coffee? |
| šećer | šećera | Nema šećera. | There is no sugar. |
| meso | mesa | Ima mesa. | There is meat. |
"He has" or "there is"?
You already know ima as he/she has and nema as he/she does not have. These are the same words. What tells them apart is whether somebody is doing the having.
| Sentence | Meaning | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Marko ima sir. | Marko has cheese. | Marko is the subject; sir is the object, in the accusative. |
| Ima sira. | There is cheese. | No subject at all; sira is in the genitive. |
| Marko nema sir. | Marko does not have cheese. | Subject Marko, accusative object. |
| Nema sira. | There is no cheese. | No subject; genitive. |
So the test is simple: if you can point at the person who has the thing, it is have. If nobody is named, it is there is — and then the thing must be in the genitive.
Number makes no difference to the verb. Ima hleba and Ima jabuka both use the same ima; only the noun changes.
Check what you read
6 of the 13 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Kod nas(imati) voća i povrća.
Danas(imati) jabuka i banana.
Da li ovde(imati) jogurta?
Which sentence says 'There is always fish here'?
Nema više mleka.
How is the negative of ima formed?
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Ima hleba.
There is bread.
Nema mleka.
There is no milk.
Ima li hleba?
Is there any bread?
Nažalost, nema jaja.
Unfortunately, there are no eggs.
Zašto nema ulja?
Why is there no oil?
Nema više mleka.
There is no more milk.
Danas nema mesa.
There is no meat today.
Izvinite, ima li krompira?
Excuse me, are there any potatoes?
Ovde nikad nema ribe.
There is never any fish here.
Ima kafe i šećera.
There is coffee and sugar.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 28
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
There is bread.