zvati

See also: zváti and žváti

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *zъvati, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewH-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zʋâti/
• Hyphenation: zva‧ti

Verb

zvȁti impf (Cyrillic spelling зва̏ти)

1. (ambitransitive, reflexive) to call, to be called

   Kako se zoveš? Zovem se Petar. ― What is your name? My name is Peter. (literally, “What do you call yourself? I call myself Peter.”)

   Da je (moja) baba muško, zvala bi se Duško. ― If my grandmother were a man, she would be called Duško. (a rhyming expression about impossible conditions)

2. (ambitransitive) to summon
3. (ambitransitive) to call, invite (as a guest, or on the phone)

   zvati na telefon ― to call on the phone

   Ne zovi me ― Don't Call me (song by Vlado Georgiev)

4. (ambitransitive, colloquial) to decide, call

   Meni je svejedno, ti zovi kuda idemo na kraju.

   It's all the same to me, you decide where we are going in the end.

Conjugation

Conjugation of zvati

infinitive		zvati
present verbal adverb		zòvūći
past verbal adverb		zvȃvši
verbal noun		zvánje
		singular			plural
		1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
present		zòvēm	zòvēš	zòvē	zovémo	zovéte	zòvū
future	future I	zvȁt ću1 zvȁću	zvȁt ćeš1 zvȁćeš	zvȁt će1 zvȁće	zvȁt ćemo1 zvȁćemo	zvȁt ćete1 zvȁćete	zvȁt ćē1 zvȁćē
	future II	bȕdēm zvȁo2	bȕdēš zvȁo2	bȕdē zvȁo2	bȕdēmo zváli2	bȕdēte zváli2	bȕdū zváli2
past	perfect	zvȁo sam2	zvȁo si2	zvȁo je2	zváli smo2	zváli ste2	zváli su2
	pluperfect3	bȉo sam zvȁo2	bȉo si zvȁo2	bȉo je zvȁo2	bíli smo zváli2	bíli ste zváli2	bíli su zváli2
	aorist	zvȁh	zvȁ	zvȁ	zvȁsmo	zvȁste	zvȁše
	imperfect	zvȃh / zòvijāh	zvȃše / zòvijāše	zvȃše / zòvijāše	zvȃsmo / zòvijāsmo	zvȃste / zòvijāste	zvȃhu / zòvijāhu
conditional	conditional I	zvȁo bih2	zvȁo bi2	zvȁo bi2	zváli bismo2	zváli biste2	zváli bi2
	conditional II4	bȉo bih zvȁo2	bȉo bi zvȁo2	bȉo bi zvȁo2	bíli bismo zváli2	bíli biste zváli2	bíli bi zváli2
imperative		—	zòvi	—	zòvimo	zòvite	—
active past participle		zvȁo m / zvála f / zválo n			zváli m / zvále f / zvála n
passive past participle		zvȃn m / zvȃna f / zvȃno n			zvȃni m / zvȃne f / zvȃna 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.

Derived terms

• dòzvati
• izàzvati
• nàzvati
• odàzvati
• pòzvati
• prìzvati
• pròzvati
• sàzvati
• zàzvati

Further reading

• “zvati”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Slovene

Etymology

First attested in the 16th century.

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *zъvati.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zʋàːti/

Verb

zváti impf

1. to call
2. to call, to name

Conjugation

infinitive	zváti
1st singular	zóvem
infinitive	zváti			zvȁt
supine	zvȃt
verbal noun	zvānje
	participle			converb
present	—			—
past	zván			—
l-participle	masculine		feminine		neuter
singular	zvȃł		zvála		zvȃlo
dual	zvȃla		zvȃli		zvȃli
plural	zvȃli		zvȃle		zvȃla
	present			imperative
1st singular	zóvem			—
2nd singular	zóveš			zóvi
3rd singular	zóve			—
1st dual	zóveva			zovȋva
2nd dual	zóveta			zovȋta
3rd dual	zóveta			—
1st plural	zóvemo			zovȋmo
2nd plural	zóvete			zovȋte
3rd plural	zóvejo			—

Derived terms

• nazváti
• odzváti
• pozváti
• prizváti

Further reading

• “zvati”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “zvati”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references