# Croatian/Serbian/Montenegrian/Bosnian: volim te



## Tavshan

Hi there - I was wondering: is the Croatian/Serbian/Montenegrian/Bosnian expression "volim te" used only to express romantic/sexual love, or is it (as I think) something that you can say to express generic (non-romantic/sexual) affection, for example saying it to your parents, to your children, to your pets, etcetera? 

Hvala...


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## Zec

It's perfectly normal to say it to your parents or your children, as for pets I wouldn't say it because I'm not that close to my pets... maybe an animal lover could provide some input?


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## Tavshan

Thank you!


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## Allienella

More to it: what about "obozavam te"? May it be used not only for people but also for things unlike the English word adore?

And i have also faced "mnogo volim te" in a text. What other expressions do you have for a strong affection? Can "mnogo volim" be replaced with "puno volim"?


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## Zec

Q 1: I personally wouldn't say "obožavam te" to anyone. In fact I think "obožavam" usually refers to things someone really likes.

Q 2: The correct word order would be "mnogo te volim", since clitics (like "te") generally come after the first accented word in the sentence, and "mnogo volim te" breaks that rule, since "te" comes after the second accented word in the sentence. This is according to my intuition completely wrong.

"Mnogo volim" is (IIRC) the usual Serbian variant. The usual Croatian variant would be "Jako volim". I don't think I ever heard "Puno volim", but "puno" can be used with other verbs. In general, in Croatian "mnogo" only means "a lot of", while in Serbian it can also mean "very (much)", in which case Croatian would use "jako" or "puno".


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## Allienella

Thank you,it was useful,especially for me as I am learning the language only myself and I have been doing it only for 2 months.

An indirect question for this subject: may the verb milovati be used not only for people but also for animals? Like "On je milovao psa". Or is it too..hmm...intimate? I am confused as I have found only a couple of examples,not sure if they're correct


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## Zec

I can't answer this reliably, since that's a literary word and where I live we use another word... However, I think it can be used for animals as well.


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## Allienella

And what do you use? Indeed, I saw it in a book,thus it may be too literary.


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## ajitam

I assume they mean "dragati". "Dragao je psa" would sound more natural.


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## nimak

And what about _maziti_, "_Mazio je psa._"?


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## Vilenjak

Maziti can be literally "cuddling or caressing", but it can also mean "to take good care of/ to dote on /to pamper /". (If you overdo it then the verb is "razmaziti" - lit "to over-coddle" i.e. "to spoil". 

To go back to the original Q, it's perfectly fine to use "volim te" to express fondness or affection that isn't romantic in nature. Where the usage of "voliti" differs from "to love" is, e.g., in expressing an opinion. In English it's very common to say "I loved her book" but in BCS it's more natural to say "svidjela mi se njena knjiga", similar to "me gusta" in Spanish.


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## JEUSDI

hello 
I have a question about serbia language and the " Volim Te" word I would'like to know if is it the same word to say I love you in Croatia and why in this song Molitva "Da te ne volim" if Volim Te is correcte if I undestand well when you say a negative sentence the word are switch.
Exemple: Volim Te means I love you but to say I don't love you you muste switch "Volim" and "te" and add "da" and "ne". Thanks for your help .


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## Zec

JEUSDI said:


> hello
> I have a question about serbia language and the " Volim Te" word I would'like to know if is it the same word to say I love you in Croatia and why in this song Molitva "Da te ne volim" if Volim Te is correcte if I undestand well when you say a negative sentence the word are switch.
> Exemple: Volim Te means I love you but to say I don't love you you muste switch "Volim" and "te" and add "da" and "ne". Thanks for your help .



1. It's the same in Serbian and in Croatian.

2. _da te ne volim_ isn't  "I don't love you", but "that I don't love you". _A lažem ako kažem da te ne volim_ "And I lie if I say that I don't love you". "I don't love you" is simply _ne volim te_. Now, why _te_ moves when you add _da_ is rather complex. Basically enclitics (word such as _te_) must come after the first accented word in the sentence, whichever word that is. So in _volim te_ it's _volim_, so _te_ comes after it, and in _da te ne volim_ it's _da_, so _te_ comes after it instead. I hope this is clear enough.


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## JEUSDI

ok is complexe but you will be clear thanks a lot .


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