# BCS: Aorist tense



## TheTruthWSYF

How does the aorist tense (ie. ja bih) differ from the perfect (ie. ja sam bio) or imperfect (ie. ja bijah)?


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## Vanja

Here's the table of past tenses (in Serbian), if you don't understand it, say, I'll translate it.
http://abc.amarilisonline.com/wp-co...rosla_vremena_u_srpskom_jeziku_150x150_p1.jpg

Perfekat (_ja sam bio _- complited action) is the most used past tense in BCS. 

Aorist is used now and then, mainly for an action that has been just complited. _Samo što izađe - He has just gone out.
_But in standard spoken language, aorist is almost always replaced by perfekat. Aorist of the verb to be (bih) is rarely (if ever) heard.

Imperfekat is used - almost never. It exists chiefly in written literary forms, a pencraft style.
_Ja bijah_, for Ekavian dialect - _Ja b*e*jah_


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## TheTruthWSYF

I see. So,
Perfekat: _ja sam bio_ means _I have been_
Aorist: _ja bih _means _I have just been_
Imperfekat: _Ja bi(e)jah_ means _I was being
_Davnoprošli: _Ja bio sam _means _I had been
_
Is there any way to say, simply, "I was," or does the Perfekat mean that as well? (ie. Perfekat means _I have been _*and *I was)?


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## Tassos

To summarize


TheTruthWSYF said:


> Perfekat: _ja sam bio_ means _I have been_ - Almost always used (for all the following too)
> Aorist: _ja bih _means _I have just been - _rarely used, NOT with biti
> Imperfekat: _Ja bi(e)jah_ means _I was being - _Never used
> Davnoprošli: _Ja bio sam *bio* _means _I had been - _Never used





TheTruthWSYF said:


> Is there any way to say, simply, "I was,"



As far as I know, no.



TheTruthWSYF said:


> or does the Perfekat mean that as well? (ie. Perfekat means _I have been _*and *I was)?



Yup.
Example: Translation of the title _When I was young_ in BCS - _Kad sam bio mlad_


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## TheTruthWSYF

Great, thank you!


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## Vanja

Translation of the tenses depends on the context. _I was _could be translated as _Bio/Bila sam (Dok sam bila sam na putu do X, ...While I was on a trip to X,...)
Or Were you there then? Yes, *I was*. = *Jesam.

*Pluskvamperfek(a)t_ ( The Past Perfect Tense, Eng) of the verb _biti_ is maybe logically imposible ("I had been before I was"). It expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past or shows that something happened before a specific time in the past.

(Thread: Što je aorist pripit)
_Ja bejah (beh) pijan._ I was drunk.
_Ja bejah pio_. I was drinking. Possible translation: I had been drinking.
_Ja popih malo_. I just had/took a few sips. (I'm tipsy) (or drunk-as-a-lord, someone may object)
_Popio sam malo_. (The same meaning but less humorous, perfekat implies seriousness)


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## VelikiMag

> Što je aorist napet?


I advise you not to use Google Translate to translate whole sentences. It gave you a translation of the adjective _tense_, not the noun.
The proper question should be: Što je aorist?



TheTruthWSYF said:


> How does the aorist tense (ie. ja bih) differ from the perfect (ie. ja sam bio) or imperfect (ie. ja bijah)?


The verb _biti_ is an auxiliary verb and the aorist of it is nowadays used almost exclusively to form the conditional mood. Very rarely can it be used to express the past. For this particular verb you should always use _perfekat_.


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## sesperxes

If I'm not wrong, one fixed expression with aorist is the beginning of tales (once upon a time.../ había una vez...):

Bjehu/behu jednom kraljević i prinzesa...


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## Duya

That is imperfect . Aorist is _biše_. But yes, it is fixed.

Now that you mention it, form _[on] bješe/[oni] bjehu_ is indeed rather common in tales and poetry. However, grammar books say that the imperfect is _[on] bijaše/[oni] bijahu_ (I wouldn't know for sure because it's not in my normal native vocabulary, it's archaic). I suppose it's a doublet (and hr Wikipedia confirms, although it's not particularly reliable).


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## Vanja

And in the Bible (Imperfekat and now and then aorist)

_U početku beše Reč, i Reč beše u Boga, i Bog beše Reč.

Jovan svedoči za Njega i viče govoreći: Ovaj beše za koga rekoh: Koji za mnom ide preda mnom postade, jer pre mene beše._


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## jadeite_85

I saw that aorist is pretty common in modern songs, but I didn't find any imperfekt as for now. It is interesting that it is mostly used in the first person singular. Is this use normal also in colloquial language or is a prerogative of literature, even if modern?

Bijelo Dugme - Selma (htjedoh; rekoh)
Bijelo Dugme - Ako Ima Boga (čekah)
Aca Lukas - Lična Karta (rekoh)


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## Duya

Aorist is actually pretty common in spoken language (well, in some areas more than in others). It tends to express speaker's emotional attitude towards the event: surprise, anger, laughter. It also expresses a sudden nature of event. For example, when one saws a stranger on the street dropping his keys, one would probably tell him "_*Ispadoše* vam ključevi._" than "_Ispali su_". 

Then, the aorist gets lost in everyday written language and in media: when we report events in writing or in media, we tend to erase that emotional component. And then, it resurfaces again in literature, poetry in songs, as a poetic means of expression. It is quite common in story-telling of any kind.

On the contrary, imperfect is utterly dead in spoken language, and survives only in fine literature. Although most people would recognize it, hardly anyone would know how verbs conjugate in it, particularly exotic one like _peći: pecijah_. About the only verb with certain frequency in modern language is the above-mentioned _biti:bješe (beše)_. It has an archaic sound, and it is well suited for works like Bible, Greek or Roman tales, or _Lord of the Rings_.


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## TheTruthWSYF

sesperxes said:


> If I'm not wrong, one fixed expression with aorist is the beginning of tales (once upon a time.../ había *érase* una vez...):
> 
> Bjehu/behu jednom kraljević i prinzesa...


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## sesperxes

I'd like to appreciate your correction but it happens that in Spain, where, as you probably know, people speak Spanish since a long time ago (even before Canada or Perú existed) we say "había una vez" along with the bookish "érase una vez". I suggest you to watch in internet "Los payasos de la Tele", a Spanish circus series from the '80s where every episode started with this sentence that you tried to correct. Greetings from the cradle of the Spanish language.


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## TheTruthWSYF

You are quite right my good sir, thank you for your correction.


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## Diaspora

For all practical purposes you need to know only the Perfect as it's used for general past regardless of the situation. You do not need to know the aorist even though I hear it on television and everyday speech it's not as common as the Perfect. The aorist as I hear it is used in very recent past or to form quasi-future sentences such as Odoh po poštu (lit. means I went to get the mail but to me sounds like I will get the mail). The imperfect is basically dead, it signifies continuity but unless you are reading Gorski vijenac it is useless.

I'd appreciate if other BCS speakers would comment on my opinion that the Aorist can sometimes imply a future meaning.


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## Duya

I don't think it is a sole characteristics of aorist. For me, all of these are possible and synonymous:

_Odoh po poštu.
Otišao sam po poštu.
Idem po poštu._

They all have connotation "I'm on my way", "I'm about to go". But, as far as I see, that only works with verbs of movement. You cannot say *_kupih hleb_ meaning 'I'm going to buy bread'.


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## mmbata

Hi everybody
Even you can hear aorist (similar to preterite simple) here and there, it is pretty archaic today and not so frequent in everyday use. You will successfully survive without it.


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## nonik

Interesting, that perfecat ( ja sam bio) is in today Serbian used as a complited past action and aorist (ja bih) mainly for an action that has been just complited before now as it is in table http://abc.amarilisonline.com/wp-con...150x150_p1.jpg

I thought that perfecat ( ja sam bio ) is/was used for describing past action that has connection to the present (action that was in past and was completed right before now, ja sam + ja bio= ja sam bio= I have just been)

and aorist for action that was completed in past,( ja bih= I was)

and imperfecat (ja bijah) for completed past action with some durative meaning, something like I was listening radio for 1 our.

and the similar construction for plusqvamperfecat with durative and nondurative meaning (ja bih govorio = similar to .. I had spoke ) (ja bijah govorio= similar to .. I had been speaking )

Very interestingly for me, thanks.


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## mmbata

nonik said:


> Interesting, that perfecat ( ja sam bio) is in today Serbian used as a complited past action and aorist (ja bih) mainly for an action that has been just complited before now as it is in table http://abc.amarilisonline.com/wp-con...150x150_p1.jpg
> 
> I thought that perfecat ( ja sam bio ) is/was used for describing past action that has connection to the present (action that was in past and was completed right before now, ja sam + ja bio= ja sam bio= I have just been)
> 
> and aorist for action that was completed in past,( ja bih= I was)
> 
> and imperfecat (ja bijah) for completed past action with some durative meaning, something like I was listening radio for 1 our.
> 
> and the similar construction for plusqvamperfecat with durative and nondurative meaning (ja bih govorio = similar to .. I had spoke ) (ja bijah govorio= similar to .. I had been speaking )
> 
> Very interestingly for me, thanks.



Hi,
I know that Serbian could be confusing, but let's be more practical.
To express past just use *perfekt *(the preterite equivalent) and *pluskvamperfekt *(the past perfect equivalent). All other past tenses are barely used in common (contemporary) speech (news, TV...) - only in literature.
Perfekt - completed action in recent or distant past (ja sam radio - I worked, I was working)
Pluskvamperfekt - completedaction in long distant past usualy before some other action in the past (ja sam bio radio - I had worked, I had been working)
We don't have the tense to express the action which started in past and still last (the present perfect in English - I have worked, I have been working), instead we simply use prezent (the present) or perfekt (the preterite) depending on what we want to emphasize (past or present).

Regards


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## mmbata

sesperxes said:


> If I'm not wrong, one fixed expression with aorist is the beginning of tales (once upon a time.../ había una vez...):
> 
> Bjehu/behu jednom kraljević i prinzesaprinceza...



Saludos


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## nonik

We don't have the tense to express the action which started in past and still last (the present perfect in English - I have worked said:
			
		

> Yeah, I understand.
> 
> And that is what stroke me, because in OCS and old Czech those constructions.... já jsem + byl  .....  was past action with duration to now, something like in english  I have been.
> 
> and aorist....Ja bih was something like I was.
> 
> Thanks you very much for clearing this.


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## mmbata

nonik said:


> Yeah, I understand.
> 
> And that is what stroke me, because in OCS and old Czech those constructions.... já jsem + byl  .....  was past action with duration to now, something like in english  I have been.
> 
> and aorist....Ja bih was something like I was.
> 
> Thanks you very much for clearing this.



You're welcome
Example:
Radim _(present)_ u toj fabrici već pet godina. I've already been working _(present perfect)_ in that factory for five years.


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## Vukabular

Aorist was the most used past tense in Serbia until the communists' rise to power in 1945, when its usage became stigmatized and excluded from official use.
Reference:
Aco Nevski, _"Past Tenses in Serbian language and modern trends of their use"_

Even so, it is still widespread in rural areas of Serbia, especially among older and less educated part of population.
Reference:
Ацо Невски, _"Аорист као псовка"_

Aorist is used for witnessed actions in past, mostly with verbs of perfective aspect.

In modern forms of communication, the aorist has experienced something of a revival among younger speakers of Serbo-Croatian, as its forms are simpler and shorter to type out than the perfect.
Reference:
Dr Branko Tošović, "_Zbornik Matice srpske za slavistiku", knjiga 71-72 ,           Archived: March 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine_


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