postojati

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

po- +‎ stojati (old form of modern stàjati : stòjīm "to stand") with lengthening of the prefix syllable and subsequent accent shift (po- + stòjati > postòjati > póstojati) among some speakers due to the fact that prefixation does not entail perfectivization.

The formation was possibly influenced by German bestehen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pǒːstojati/, /postǒjati/
• Hyphenation: po‧sto‧ja‧ti

Verb

póstojati impf (Cyrillic spelling по́стојати)
postòjati impf (Cyrillic spelling посто̀јати)

1. (intransitive) to be, exist

   Bog postoji - God exists

Conjugation

Conjugation of postojati

Infinitive: postojati		Present verbal adverb: póstojēći		Past verbal adverb: —		Verbal noun: póstojānje
Number		Singular			Plural
Person		1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
Verbal forms		ja	ti	on / ona / ono	mi	vi	oni / one / ona
Present		póstojīm	póstojīš	póstojī	póstojīmo	póstojīte	póstojē
Future	Future I	póstojat ću1 póstojaću	póstojat ćeš1 póstojaćeš	póstojat će1 póstojaće	póstojat ćemo1 póstojaćemo	póstojat ćete1 póstojaćete	póstojat će1 póstojaće
	Future II	bȕdēm póstojao2	bȕdēš póstojao2	bȕdē póstojao2	bȕdēmo póstojali2	bȕdēte póstojali2	bȕdū póstojali2
Past	Perfect	póstojao sam2	póstojao si2	póstojao je2	póstojali smo2	póstojali ste2	póstojali su2
	Pluperfect3	bȉo sam póstojao2	bȉo si póstojao2	bȉo je póstojao2	bíli smo póstojali2	bíli ste póstojali2	bíli su póstojali2
	Imperfect	póstojāh	póstojāše	póstojāše	póstojāsmo	póstojāste	póstojāhu / póstojāhū
Conditional I		póstojao bih2	póstojao bi2	póstojao bi2	póstojali bismo2	póstojali biste2	póstojali bi2
Conditional II4		bȉo bih póstojao2	bȉo bi póstojao2	bȉo bi póstojao2	bíli bismo póstojali2	bíli biste póstojali2	bíli bi póstojali2
Imperative		—	(póstōj / póstoji)	—	(póstōjmo / póstojimo)	(póstōjte / póstojite)	—
Active past participle		póstojao m / póstojala f / póstojalo n			póstojali m / póstojale f / póstojala n
1   Croatian spelling: others omit the infinitive suffix completely and bind the clitic. 2   For masculine nouns; a feminine or neuter agent would use the feminine and neuter gender forms of the active past participle and auxiliary verb, respectively. 3   Often replaced by the past perfect in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped. 4   Often replaced by the conditional I in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped.   *Note: The aorist and imperfect were not present in, or have nowadays fallen into disuse in, many dialects and therefore they are routinely replaced by the past perfect in both formal and colloquial speech.

Conjugation of postojati

Infinitive: postojati		Present verbal adverb: postòjēći		Past verbal adverb: —		Verbal noun: postojánje
Number		Singular			Plural
Person		1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
Verbal forms		ja	ti	on / ona / ono	mi	vi	oni / one / ona
Present		postòjim	postòjiš	postòji	postòjimo	postòjite	postòjē
Future	Future I	postòjat ću1 postòjaću	postòjat ćeš1 postòjaćeš	postòjat će1 postòjaće	postòjat ćemo1 postòjaćemo	postòjat ćete1 postòjaćete	postòjat će1 postòjaće
	Future II	bȕdēm pȍstojao2	bȕdēš pȍstojao2	bȕdē pȍstojao2	bȕdēmo pȍstojali2	bȕdēte pȍstojali2	bȕdū pȍstojali2
Past	Perfect	pȍstojao sam2	pȍstojao si2	pȍstojao je2	pȍstojali smo2	pȍstojali ste2	pȍstojali su2
	Pluperfect3	bȉo sam pȍstojao2	bȉo si pȍstojao2	bȉo je pȍstojao2	bíli smo pȍstojali2	bíli ste pȍstojali2	bíli su pȍstojali2
	Imperfect	postòjāh	postòjāše	postòjāše	postòjāsmo	postòjāste	postòjāhū
Conditional I		pȍstojao bih2	pȍstojao bi2	pȍstojao bi2	pȍstojali bismo2	pȍstojali biste2	pȍstojali bi2
Conditional II4		bȉo bih pȍstojao2	bȉo bi pȍstojao2	bȉo bi pȍstojao2	bíli bismo pȍstojali2	bíli biste pȍstojali2	bíli bi pȍstojali2
Imperative		—	postòji	—	postòjimo	postòjite	—
Active past participle		pȍstojao m / pȍstojala f / pȍstojalo n			pȍstojali m / pȍstojale f / pȍstojala n
1   Croatian spelling: others omit the infinitive suffix completely and bind the clitic. 2   For masculine nouns; a feminine or neuter agent would use the feminine and neuter gender forms of the active past participle and auxiliary verb, respectively. 3   Often replaced by the past perfect in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped. 4   Often replaced by the conditional I in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped.   *Note: The aorist and imperfect were not present in, or have nowadays fallen into disuse in, many dialects and therefore they are routinely replaced by the past perfect in both formal and colloquial speech.

Related terms

• pòstati pf

References

Ebert, Klaus (2017): L'accentuation des verbes préverbés d'aspect imperfectif en BCMS (bosnien, croate, monténégrin, serbe)