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.^[1]

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)

(intransitive) to be, exist
Bog postoji - God exists

Conjugation

Conjugation of *postojati*
		singular			plural
infinitive		postojati
present verbal adverb		póstojēći
past verbal adverb		—
verbal noun		póstojānje

		1^st	2^nd	3^rd	1^st	2^nd	3^rd
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 ćē¹ póstojaće
future	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	conditional I	póstojao bih²	póstojao bi²	póstojao bi²	póstojali bismo²	póstojali biste²	póstojali bi²
conditional	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*
		singular			plural
infinitive		postojati
present verbal adverb		postòjēći
past verbal adverb		—
verbal noun		postojánje

		1^st	2^nd	3^rd	1^st	2^nd	3^rd
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 ćē¹ postòjaće
future	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	conditional I	pȍstojao bih²	pȍstojao bi²	pȍstojao bi²	pȍstojali bismo²	pȍstojali biste²	pȍstojali bi²
conditional	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 2017

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

[1] Ebert 2017

[1]