Verb negation with ne
In short
ne + present tense. Separate word, immediately before the verb. The verb form itself never changes.
| igrati (a) | trčati (i) | skakati (e) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | ne igram | ne trčim | ne skačem |
| ti | ne igraš | ne trčiš | ne skačeš |
| on/ona | ne igra | ne trči | ne skače |
| mi | ne igramo | ne trčimo | ne skačemo |
| vi | ne igrate | ne trčite | ne skačete |
| oni/one | ne igraju | ne trče | ne skaču |
With nikad / ništa the ne stays: Nikad ne igram tenis.
biti is the exception — nisam, nisi, nije, nismo, niste, nisu, never ne sam.
A1 · Lesson 15 · Saying you do not do something
The full explanation, from the lesson that teaches this rule
You already know how to say what you do: Igram fudbal. — I play football. To say that you do not do it, you put one small word in front of the verb and change nothing else:
- Igram fudbal. — I play football.
- Ne igram fudbal. — I do not play football.
That little word is ne. It is a separate word, written with a space, and it stands immediately before the verb — nothing may squeeze in between them.
The verb itself does not change
This is the easy part. Whatever ending the verb has, negation leaves it alone. All three verb classes you have learned behave exactly the same way: take the present-tense form and put ne in front of it.
| igrati (a-class) — to play | trčati (i-class) — to run | skakati (e-class) — to jump | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | ne igram | ne trčim | ne skačem |
| ti | ne igraš | ne trčiš | ne skačeš |
| on / ona | ne igra | ne trči | ne skače |
| mi | ne igramo | ne trčimo | ne skačemo |
| vi | ne igrate | ne trčite | ne skačete |
| oni / one | ne igraju | ne trče | ne skaču |
So there is no negative conjugation to memorize. There are six present-tense forms, and each one takes the same ne in front.
In questions too
Negation works inside questions the same way. With da li, the ne stays glued to the verb:
- Da li ne igraš košarku? — Don't you play basketball?
- Zašto ne trčite? — Why aren't you running?
Two negatives are correct here
In English, never or nothing replaces not: you say I never play tennis, not I don't never play tennis. Serbian does the opposite. When a word like nikad (never) or ništa (nothing) is in the sentence, the ne must stay:
- Nikad ne igram tenis. — I never play tennis.
- On ništa ne gubi. — He loses nothing.
- Ona nikad ne gleda fudbal. — She never watches football.
Leaving out the ne because there is already a nikad or a ništa is the classic English-speaker's mistake. In Serbian the negative particle never disappears: Nikad igram tenis is simply wrong.
Careful: biti is different
You met the negative of biti back in lesson 5, and it does not use ne as a separate word — it has its own fused forms: nisam, nisi, nije, nismo, niste, nisu.
| ordinary verb | biti |
|---|---|
| ne igram — I do not play | nisam — I am not |
| ne trči — he does not run | nije — he is not |
Rule of thumb: for every ordinary verb, write ne plus a space plus the verb. Only biti (and two more verbs you will meet soon) fuse the negative into one word.
Check what you read
3 of the 15 questions this lesson asks in the app. Type the form or pick the answer.
Ja ___ igram fudbal.
Marko ___ visoko.
Vi ___ dovoljno.
Examples from the course
The marked word is where the rule applies. Press play to hear the sentence.
Ne igram fudbal.
I do not play football.
Zašto ne trčite?
Why aren't you running?
Ti nikad ne gubiš.
You never lose.
On ništa ne gubi.
He loses nothing.
Nikad ne igram tenis.
I never play tennis.
Ja ne plivam brzo.
I do not swim fast.
Zašto ne treniraš danas?
Why aren't you training today?
Ne igramo karte večeras.
We are not playing cards tonight.
Vi ne vežbate dovoljno.
You do not exercise enough.
Danas ne idemo na bazen.
We are not going to the swimming pool today.
Sentences in the course that use this rule: 93
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
I do not play football.